Salary and Living in Beijing

Western dominance versus Asian submission

Old stereotypes prove hard to resist

Western mass media and cultural consumer entertainment were compelled to strengthen the objectification of Asia: Asia as an all-perverted –  animalistic if you like –  place of Western sexual dominance versus Asian sexual submission.

During the age of colonialism, Western powers conquered the people of Asia and objectified their women. This is well documented in literature, film, and scholarship: Here the dominant, masculine West; there the submissive, feminine East. This is the second part from a chapter on ‘Gender’ taken from the East-West dichotomy. [...]

Read Full Article at Big Think: The East is femine

Image credit: The World of Suzie Wong (1960)/Paramount Pictures

Monogamy as a Western Invention? (Big Think)

Revival of Chinese Mistress Culture (Scene from Jin Pei Mei)

We know that views and habits on sex, gender, and relationships are (partly) culturally enforced, and thus not necessarily everywhere the same. There are trends and favorites, and rules and obligations set by religious beliefs, folklore, family values, and group norms. This said, before the arrival of the European imperialists in Asia, the Hindu, the Chinese and Mongols, the Japanese, the Persians, the Arabs, etc. all preferred many wives, or one wife and concubines on the sideline, often as much as a man could afford. This all changed when the Western powers conquered the Eastern civilizations, but it is worthwhile mentioning that what the West practices and believes in when it comes to gender roles, it is far from universal and in all probability won't last forever. In fact, we are already seeing the Western departure from the Christian dogma of monogamy toward a more liberal (or shall we say "promiscuous") society in which divorce is common and having mistresses in vogue.

Read at Big Think: Monogamy as a Western Invention?