Image of crossed swords

Read the Witcher

The Asian Mystique

Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, and Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient

The Asian Mystique Open the full-size image

Contributors

By Sheridan Prasso

Formats and Prices

Price

$12.99

Price

$16.99 CAD

Format

Format:

  1. ebook $12.99 $16.99 CAD
  2. Trade Paperback $24.99 $31.99 CAD

Also available from:

Few Westerners escape the images, expectations and misperceptions that lead us to see Asia as exotic, sensual, decadent, dangerous, and mysterious. Despite – and because of centuries of East-West interaction, the stereotypes of Western literature, stage, and screen remain pervasive icons: the tea-pouring, submissive, sexually available geisha girl; the steely cold dragon lady dominatrix; as well as the portrayal of the Asian male as effeminate and asexual. These “Oriental” illusions color our relations and relationships in ways even well-respected professional “Asia hands” and scholars don’t necessarily see.The Asian Mystique lays out a provocative challenge to see Asia and Asians as they really are, with unclouded, deeroticized eyes. It traces the origins of Western stereotypes in history and in Hollywood, examines the phenomenon of ‘yellow fever,’ then goes on a reality tour of Asia’s go-go bars, middle-class homes, college campuses, business districts, and corridors of power, providing intimate profiles of women’s lives and vivid portraits of the human side of an Asia we usually mythologize too well to really understand. It strips away our misconceptions and stereotypes, revealing instead the fully dimensional human beings beyond our usual perceptions. The Asian Mystique is required reading for anyone with interest in or interaction with Asia or Asian-origin people, as well as any serious student or practitioner of East-West relations.

Genre:

On Sale
Apr 29, 2009
Page Count
464 pages
Publisher
PublicAffairs
ISBN-13
9780786736324

You May Also Like

Housewife
Housewife $30.00 $39.00 CAD
Ride or Die
Ride or Die $18.99 $24.99 CAD
No Stopping Us Now
No Stopping Us Now $18.99 $23.99 CAD
Belabored
Belabored $26.00 $33.00 CAD
Be Fierce
Be Fierce $15.99 $20.99 CAD

Sheridan Prasso

About the Author

Sheridan Prasso has been writing about Asia for nearly three decades. Her articles have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Fortune and numerous other publications. A Mandarin speaker with an M.Phil. from Cambridge University, Prasso is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. She currently lives in Hong Kong.

Learn more about this author