Welcome to Breaking Down Patriarchy. I'm Amy McPhee, all the best. When people hear the word fetish,

they might think of something hidden away, private, maybe even taboo. But for Asian women, fetishization

is often out in the open. Think of the way movies like Full Metal Jacket or Madam Butterfly

turned Asian women into two-dimensional sexualized

tropes or how dating apps are flooded with men announcing that Asian women are their quote-unquote

type. The stereotypes of gayjas, schoolgirls, and submissive Asian wives are recycled

endlessly in Western media. The message is almost always the same. Asian women are docile and obedient. They're infantilized and sexualized. And of course, they make better wives than women of other backgrounds. Kaila Yu, the author of the groundbreaking new memoir, fetishized, writes that, quote, the craziest thing about the Asian fetish is how

confidently men announce it with absolutely no shame and a good measure of pride. It's also true

because why should these men be ashamed? It's just a preference, right? Why are we making such a big

deal? It's harmless until it isn't. Today we're going to be discussing

the differences between preferences and fetishes. We're going to dig into some of the most

pervasive and damaging tropes about Asian women. And most importantly, we're going to hear

from firsthand experience how all this reductive, racist, and patriarchal thinking impacts the lives

of women and girls.

And I'm so grateful to be joined in this conversation by the author of fetishized journalist

and former rock star and model, Kyla Yu. Welcome, Kyla. Hi, thanks so much for having me.

I'm so happy you're here. Kyla Yu is an author and on-camera correspondent based in Los Angeles.

She's written for the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Condonass

Traveler, National Geographic, and more.

Her former band, Nylon Pink, has toured in Australia and performed across Shanghai, Costa

Rica, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, and more.

And her debut memoir fetishized, a reckoning with yellow fever, feminism, and beauty,

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