IN THE INDUSTRY,
the representation of the men, who consume these "Lotus Blossom Babies," is of the intelligent and enlightened male. Gary Clark's web site definitely wants to make the consumers of mail-order brides feel good about themselves. Browsing through the page, one can see that there are numerous places that sites Davor Jedlicka's study that the men were "above average." A page even has a successful medical doctor being asked why he would want a mail-order bride. He responds, "I have become very disenchanted with the American woman. There are no more old-fashioned values, no commitment to a long-term relationship." Hence, one gets the assumption that these men could find wives in the U. S. but that they just do not wish to. Under "Lies and Misconceptions," the web site states:
The idea that most men who seek "mail-order brides" are just "losers" who couldn't attract a woman at home is not only a lie, it's ridiculous. The reason you keep hearing this is because the lying feminists and their supporters in the liberal media keep repeating it. It's one of the craziest of the feminist-inspired misconceptions.
Clark goes on to say that the only "real losers" are the men who are "hoodwinked by the liberal pro-feminist hogwash that the ideal family should be headed by a husband and wife who share power as equals." Thus, the representation of the men, who consume mail-order brides, is that they are above average and enlightened to what a real family should be like.
THESE TWO IMAGES
of the "Lotus Blossom Baby" and the intelligent, enlightened male are the representations of the Asian mail-order bride industry. Yet, most of the time, these representations are not true to life. In particular, no Asian woman can and should live up to the image of the "Lotus Blossom Baby." Dr. Timny Thein of the National Network of Asian and Pacific Women states that men who shop for Asian mail-order brides only want "old-fashioned, submissive, cook-and-clean types." She goes on to say, "We're not commodities for sale, and we're not a monolithic group. We don't want to be stereotyped as loyal family women." For example, a mail-order bride named Merides claimed she did not live up to the standards of her husband. She says, "My husband wanted me to obedient, but I've never been obedient." In this case, Merides had never been the stereotyped Asian woman, but in other cases, women just change when they come to experience Western society. Gabriela, a mail-order bride from the Philippines, divorced her husband. Of her ex-husband, she says:
Movie that follows an Asian female's journey to follow her own dreams.
My husband said western European women are lazy, expect you to work 16 hours a day, and still complain about lack of money. At the time, I agreed. But I know better now. Before I was a submissive Asian woman, but now I am an emancipated woman. Now he is divorced from his second emancipated woman, from ME.
When it comes to marriages through this industry, the wife usually cannot be what the husbands want them to be. The representations of these Asian women as "Lotus Blossom Babies" are false and eventually become shattered when it comes to every day life.
RECENT INFORMATION SHOWS
that the Philippines and China, the two poorer countries, have a much higher number of women who are Asian mail-order brides than the more affluent countries of South Korea and Japan. My parents know many women who become mail-order brides from Vietnam. I could not personally get in contact with these women, but I did interview my parents about them. They told me that the perception in Asia of the U. S. is a land of affluence and easy living in contrast with life in Vietnam. Hence, these women seek any way they can to get to the U. S. "so poor that [they] see no other alternative." Hence, the reason these women sign up to become mail-order brides is their poverty and hardship not necessarily, that they want to please Western men. These Western men then have very high expectations of the women who advertised themselves to be so compliant and obedient. But when the women cannot meet the standards of the men, the women can become the subject to domination and even abuse.
IN CONCLUSION,
the circuit of culture of the Asian mail-order bride industry does in fact reveal that the industry has further contributed to the long-standing stereotypes against Asian women. The production, consumption, identity, representation, and regulation present in this industry show the mail-order bride industry's contribution to the stereotypes of Asian women. The image of the "Lotus Blossom Baby" is rooted in century-old attitudes about Asian women being the faithful wife, the self-sacrificing mother, but all the while the sensuous lover. Confucian philosophy requires the woman to fulfill these family roles. Foot binding in China can be seen as a part of this image of Asian women. Not only are the feet small and crushed to be petit, but also they do not allow for mobility of the women.
THE SPOILS OF THE LATEST WARS
of this past century have further perpetrated this image through the prostitution that ran rampant. As the popular media witnesses this portrayal of Asian women in their own countries, the popular media brings this image to Western countries. Books, movies, plays, television, and other mediums of the mass media then add to this stereotype of the Asian woman. From Miss Saigon to the Adventure of Suzy Wong, the "Lotus Blossom Baby" has been rooted in the popular imagination. Now with the advent of the Asian mail-order bride industry, these stereotypes are only furthered and made more rooted.
WHAT CAN BE DONE
about these falsely based stereotypes? Only education and the attempt to stop industries, such as the mail-order bride industry, pornography industry, and prostitution industry, can fight stereotypes rooted in such time and mass belief. All of these industries play on the subordination of women to meet men's desire, and all women not just Asian. The lesson that can be learned from the analysis of the Asian mail-order bride industry is that an industry that might seem benign in that it only allows for "women and men to meet and fall in love" can truly be dangerous to the well-being of the people of this world.
A