Desi Dating
16 May 06
Desi babes are the new “it” girls on the American dating scene, at least according to The Telegraph:
Amisha Upadhyaya’s fine-featured dusky face and cascading waist-length black hair would turn any man’s head. But Upadhyaya, a young New York-based writer-director, admits it helps that Americans consider Indian women to be beautiful and strong. This favourable reputation has certainly contributed to propelling Indian women’s success in the United States, she says.
Indian women are the saucy new dish on the American dating scene. Until recently, American men had a taste for east Asian women — Japanese, Chinese, Korean and so on. Now, their appetites whetted by Aishwarya Rai’s pout in popular fashion magazines and hip hop artist Maya Arulpragasam, aka MIA’s, gutteral crooning, Western men are craving desi babes.
What I find alternately frustrating and amusing about these articles is their continual focus on the mating preferences of white men, as if “exotic” women don’t exist until white men discover them. Much is made of the stereotype-driven appeal of the exotic flower, and then towards the end of the piece we get the reaction of the lust-object. Men of different races are of course invisible, unless we’re talking about the endlessly fascinating phenomenon of black men plucking innocent white flowers.
In general, American men perceive Indian women as being feminine, demure, sensual and family oriented. A typical Indian woman’s physical characteristics — straight hair, sharp features, petite form and lighter skin tone — are valued among other minority groups.
As always, these articles center around the politics of skin color and supposed universal racial characteristics. Lighter is better. Sharper (i.e., more European) features are better. White is right. Even more disturbing is that the article was apparently written by someone of Indian descent, someone apparently ignorant of the world beyond Bollywood. I’ve met plenty of Indian women who are neither petite nor light-skinned.
I’ve noted before that I take a pretty dim view of dating as big game hunting, but there is a certain logic to it. When men feel threatened and intimidated by women of their own culture, it’s only natural for them to fantasize about a greener shade of grass.
[Via Mixed Media Watch]
More: Stereotypes, Interracial, Dating, Indian, White
# JonasParker 17 May 06
“What I find alternately frustrating and amusing about these articles is their continual focus on the mating preferences of white men, as if “exotic” women don’t exist until white men discover them.”
Word.
# Mike 18 May 06
From what I can see, it’s not just a “white man/ desi woman” thing. The brothers are playing as well—like they think it’s the best of all worlds, brown skin AND straight hair!!