What’s with the Jewish man/Asian woman connection, anyway?
March 4, 2009 8 Comments
You can seduce a man without taking anything off, without even touching him. — Rae Dawn Chong, actress. Daughter of 1970′s Eurasian comedian Tommy Chong. Her mother is Black and Cherokee Indian.
Huh? How does that work? Not even touching? I gotta learn that. Anyway, we all have those inner voices.
Sometimes, and you know you do this, too…sometimes when the world seems crazy out there, we all get that inside voice going. You know what I mean, like the talk bubble in a cartoon.
The one that says…say you’re at a sushi wine bar one night, you’re out alone, single and hot with your creamy caramel colored skin, and you can see the white guy at the end of the sushi bar has his eye on you. It’s been trendy like this for some years now.
So you cozy up your multiracial muttilicious Taiwanese Latina self to the sushi bar two seats away from him. Your inner voice goes, “But would you take me home to your mama?”
Then another talk bubble lights up, that inner voice that’s even deeper in your gut. “And besides,” that voice says, “he’ll never guess that I grew up in a Jewish family either.”
What is that Jewish man/Asian woman connection, anyway?
Thought for the day: Live true to what your heart says. In other words, whatever fits for you, as long as you’re not injuring yourself or others, then live your truth.
Being a Jew is not just about ethnicity,it’s more about faith to the One True Living Elohim whom an authentic Jew ought to know very well like their patriarchs Avraham.Yitzchak & Yaakov. A Jew is a set-apart person for Elohim, meaning he delights & obeys the commandments of Elohim. And one of those commands is not to be unequally yoke with anybody but must go with someone of like precious faith. It’s a fact that an Asian girl or boy is as Jewish as the native of Israel if he or she would put her trust in the Elohim of Israel and would live according to His set -apart standard. And that would made her or him befitting to a home born Jew who is also devoted to his faith in Elohim which guarantees a successful marriage.
I’m an Asian girl who had put my trust on the Elohim of Israel and living according to His Torah.
Hi
I just wanted to first of all, I’m Jewish and I like Asian women because they are exotic looking and because I never was with someone that showed something that I may I have missed with some Israeli woman. Please don’t get me wrong I have dated Religious women and non religious women and I want to try different flavors. I hope i don’t sound like a player or a perv.
because i’m not I’m just looking for my Ms. Right.
Thanks
Great blog — just tripped into it (searching on something unrelated), but glad to find it.
If the page head isn’t a rhetorical question, I got a couple possible answers. Some you might not like, so apologies in advance.
[Obligatory caveat: everyone at this blog clearly knows better than most that when you say anything like "people of this group are like this, people of that group are like that," you're engaging in stereotyping, and are wrong by definition for many, if not all, of the individuals within each group. Stipulated; let's move on.]
A friend of mine who’s ABC (American-born Chinese, or Chinese American, of American of Chinese heritage — take yr pick) had a term for it — “A-fers” — meaning, “Asian fetishers.” Lotsa white guys in the US (and I’d guess in parts of Europe too, but don’t know that for sure either way) fetishize women of east-Asian heritage because of the whole “inscrutable,” “mysterious,” “subservient” presumption set. Among guys who do this, it’s another way of “other”-ing people — and blends very nicely (is there a smiley for “note heavy sarcasm here”?) with the standard patriarchal presumptions about women in general. She had some dating horror stories that were hilarious after the fact, but might not have been so much fun at the time; you’ll find a ton of such narratives on the web if you care to look. (The ones that make it clear that the guys in question usually can’t tell Chinese from Japanese from Korean from VietNamese from Thai, and don’t really care to learn the differences, are some of the best/worst.)
But something I’ve found in my friendships and relationships with people of Asian origin or family backgrounds that might be at least a tad less reductionist is that there are elements of the histories, cultures, and experiences of Jewish* and East Asian people — especially those in the US — that make for a lot of common ground, yet with differences that are broad enough and deep enough to ensure that you’re not just hanging with your own clone.
One huge common element is the historic respect (if not reverence) for intelligence, and for learning. It’s not a coincidence that both Jews and Chinese have, at various points, been referred to as, “the people of the book.” This is especially important in the US, which is historically anti-intellectual, and getting more so every day. People who think it’s a good thing to be a nerd or geek are a rare commodity, and especially valued by others who believe so. (And square or cube it for thinking smart is hot. I can’t remember which comic it was who said, “If ‘smart’ were really the turn-on everyone claims it is, Stephen Hawking would have groupies.”)
Another overlap of experience involves the similarities in family values, and upbringing. I can’t tell you how many classic “Jewish mothers” I’ve met among the parents of friends of mine with Asian-born or Asian-American moms; as far as I can tell, the Jewish guilt thing at its very worst is nothing compared with the manipulations heaped on kids born into Asian families.
This also makes for some overlaps in neuroses — and in senses of humor. I’ve never heard of a dating site asking members to list their fave comedians (it’s usually music and/or movies, I think), so maybe I’m wrong about this, but I’ve got a theory that if two people don’t laugh at the same things, they’re not going to last as a couple…
*This may apply to Ashkenazi Jews way more than to Sephardic Jews. I don’t know enough Sephardim to be able to say anything useful.
What’s with the Jewish man/Asian woman connection, anyway?
I don’t know but I like it. I have studied Kung Fu and other aspects of Chinese culture sense 1980 and have faced much racism because I’m not Chinese in appearance.
Yes, every Jew is related. We are an inbred tribe.
Chinese kosher-certified vegetarian food from the restaurant gust inside the gate of Chinatown in S.F. Is some of my favorite.
The affinity it exists. Asian girls look at me a second time and change their minds deciding not to go out with me after all. I don’t know why.
I would take you home to mama! She would be happy if I just had kidds at this point but it never would have mattered. Being a racist Jew never made seance to me.
Atlanta is home and yes I think I have met Derek Donald Hambrick. No, I do not know him and yes I am a writer, Science Fiction actually. I have brain damage so I wright on dragon.
Yes everyone is from one tribe anyway.
My dad’s Jewish, and my mum’s Chinese… she fasts on Yom Kippur; he loves dim sum. She searched for a Jewish nursing home for his mum; he learned broken, BROKEN Chinese to speak to her mum. I’d say it’s cute, but they’re divorced.
You asked the quintessential question. Would he take you home to his mama? A girl does wonder.
I’m the offspring of a jewish girl and japanese guy.
and my cousins have a jewish dad and vietnamese mom.
HA! One of my best friends in Atlanta is Jewish, and his wife is Japanese from Iwakuni.
Even the colors of the rainbow blend with each other.