Thu 17 Sep 2009
Asian Trophy Wives: Every Moguls Fantasy?
Posted by Models & Moguls
Marie Claire’s Ying Chu calls it “The Woody Allen Effect”…
According to Chu, when the comedian/writer/director ditched his wife Mia Farrow for their adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, Allen “may as well have sent out a press release: Asian-girl fantasy trumps that of Hollywood royalty!”
Then you have:
- Media titan Rupert Murdoch hitching up to Wendi Deng only 17 days after divorcing his second wife
- CBS Mogul Leslie Moonves locking down TV news anchor Julie Chen.
- Actor Nicolas Cage tying the knot with Alice Kim.
- Billionaire investor George Soros scooping up violinist Jennifer Chun
- Producer Brian Grazer dating concert pianist Chau-Giang Thi Nguyen.
Now throw in finance mogul Bruce Wasserstein/Angela Chao and the engagement of venture capitalist Vivi Nevo to Chinese actress Ziyi Zhang, and according to Chu “we’ve got a curious cultural ripple”.
So Chu is asking the question…and so are we at Models & Moguls…
Are Asian women some sort of status symbol, fetish or what?
Okay so the stereo type of submissive, “me so horny”, mail-order Asian doll hooking up with rich “American Guy” has been around forever and kept going in film, music and art:
- The World of Suzie Wong
- David Bowie’s “China Girl”
- Remember Full Metal Jacket “Me love you long time“?
Here’s Ying Chu’s take as an Asian Woman:
I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry at the cheeky blog stuffwhitepeoplelike.com, which ranks Asian girls at number 11 because “Asian women avoid key white women characteristics, such as having a midlife crisis, divorce, and hobbies that don’t involve taking care of the children.”
Sure, I’m petite and was in fact born in Shanghai, but — to the shock of more than one guy I’ve gone out with — I’d rather down an icy beer and burger than nurse bubble tea and eat dumplings while massaging his back with my toes.
According to Bich Minh Nguyen, author of Short Girls: “This is a common experience among Asian-American women. They’re dating a white guy, and they may not know if it’s a fetish thing.”
C.N. Le, professor of Asian-American Studies at Amherst states: “It’s like a curse that Asian-American women can’t avoid. From an academic point of view, the perception still serves as a motivation for white men.”
In researching his new book, The East, the West, and Sex, author Richard Bernstein found that the Orientalist illusion continues to influence. “Historically, Asia provided certain sexual opportunities that would be much more difficult for Western men to have at home. But it remains a happy hunting ground for them today,” he says, citing one phenomenon in the northeastern region of Thailand called Issan, where 15 percent of marriages are between young Thai women and Western men well into their 60s.
Once again, Ms. Chu has another interesting insight…she suspects that what’s really seducing Western Moguls is Globalization.
Economically and educationally speaking, Asia is kicking ass right now and in Chu’s words
…these Western men are hungry for a piece of that mystical Eastern formula…Asians (in addition to African orphans) are hot commodities right about now — status symbols as prized as a private Gulfstream jet or a museum wing bearing your name (neither of which goes so well with a frumpy, aging first wife).
Chu also points out that these Asian trophy-wives aren’t just “exotic arm candy.”
They are accomplished musicians and journalists, they have Ivy League MBAs and hail from prestigious political families (Mrs. Wasserstein’s older sis is former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao).
So why are they falling for these rich, old, white dudes and risking the stigma of coming off as gold-diggers or “concubines”?
Is is strictly for the money or are they actually falling in love with these guys?
Maybe these outsized, world-class moguls are stand-ins for emotionally repressed Asian dads (one cliché that is predominantly true). Or…are these women just glorified opportunists? What’s so perverse is that while Asians have always revered their elders, sleeping with a guy old enough to be your grandfather is just creepy — in any culture.
Ms. Chu has a way with words doesn’t she?
Wait there’s more:
While I’m sure that real love and affection is sometimes the bond in these culture-crossing May-December romances, could it be that power divorcés of a certain ilk make the perfect renegade suitors for these overachieving Asian good girls — an ultimate (yet lame) attempt at rebellion?
Ultimately, Chu chalks up these relationships as a good thing that helps unify and develop Western/Eastern trade and culture.And the haters are just going to have to get used to…aging mogul and foxy Asian wife flaunting a double-wide with newborn and adopted Malawian tot. What’s next — the token trophy pet? I hear endangered Burmese rabbits are exceptionally cuddly.
Boy…that Ms. Chu is a trip.
Be sure to read her entire article here!
Tell us what you think?
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