Never Seen a Pregnant Chinese Woman
Chinese traditions and beliefs around pregnancy can be complicated. They can have a serious impact on an expectant mother’s life.
For example, pregnant women are not allowed to touch scissors. It is believed that it will bring bad luck to the baby.
They also must not attend weddings, because it is believed that it will cause them to suffer from miscarriage. They are encouraged to surround themselves with positive images and talismans.
1. Chinese women are docile
For centuries, Asian women have been portrayed in American media as either docile and subservient or hypersexualized and exotic. As a result, “American-Asian women have to navigate a tricky dynamic at work,” says Joanne Ahmed, a social worker. She says that the stereotypes surrounding Asian women are “insidious,” and have shaped her workplace experience.
These stereotypes are rooted in history, starting with the Chinese Exclusion Act and continuing through US-led wars in Asia, when films and art emerged depicting Asian women as either duplicitous Dragon Ladies or Madame Butterfly, tragic figures of self-sacrifice and chastity. Despite the polar way that gender is understood as virginal equals good or hypersexual equals bad, representations in between are scarce.
Directing anger towards Asian women is not productive; they are individuals who have free will and should be allowed to make their own choices. Rather, it is more effective to change the attitudes that shape these stereotypes in the first place.
2. Chinese women are submissive
Never Seen a Pregnant Chinese Woman, also known as Asian Women Lay Eggs or Stitches and Duets, is a perception referenced in memes that suggest that women from East Asia don’t get pregnant, instead they essentially “lay eggs” or spawn. This trope has been around for years and has become even more prevalent after the rise of TikTok in 2021.
This stereotype is a product of a geopolitical image that dates back to the 1800s, when American imperialism was ramping up. It was based on the idea that the hyper-masculine West would invade and conquer the feminized, coy, and submissive Asian women. These ideas resurfaced during the Opium Wars and again with US-led wars in the Korean and Vietnam regions.
One of the main reasons why this stereotype persists is because it’s an easy way to denigrate a group of people. It’s less work to assume that all Chinese women are docile and submissive, than to take the time to understand their history and culture. It’s also easier to assume that Asian women are less “feminine” than their Western counterparts, and that they have a lesser desire to be sexually active.
Another reason why this stereotype persists is that it’s rooted in a model minority mythologizing, which is an idea that minorities must adhere to strict family values and be “model citizens” in order to succeed. This concept has been taken up by many different groups, but it’s especially popular among white supremacists. One of the most common models of this theory is the tiger mom, popularized by scholar Amy Chua. The tiger mom is demanding, has high expectations of her children, and – most importantly for white supremacists – she’s ethnically proud.
It’s important to understand the complex roots of these stereotypes in order to dispel them. This will help to reduce the negative impact of these stereotypes on the lives of Asian women and their families. The polarized way that we view gender as virginal equals good and hypersexual equals bad is a prison for Asian women, as it causes them to be seen as objects of desire but also objectified. This can lead to a loss of self-esteem, which can be harmful to their health.
4. Chinese women are asexual
In China, where homosexuality was not decriminalized until 2001 (about 30 years later than in the United States), many asexual people still face stigma and discrimination. At the same time, social media offers a space where asexuals can gather and share their experiences. In addition to blogs, discussion forums, and online chat rooms, a new Web site called “Marriage for Asexuals” has recently emerged. The website features traditional Chinese music and a romantic picture of a man and woman at the top of the page. It also includes discussions of asexual marriage and a contacts section where people can meet each other.
Asexuals use the site to share their dreams and expectations for married life. For example, a user named Peng writes that he and his wife have been in an asexual marriage for four months. They don’t feel sexual attraction and find sex more of a way to communicate. They both work, so they have little time to spend together. In general, he writes, asexual couples tend to be highly educated. They are teachers, civil servants, or white collar workers.
Most of the people who use the site are women, and most of them are in their 40s or 50s. They are from different socioeconomic backgrounds and regions in China. Some are in rural areas, while others live in cities. Some even have children. However, most of the participants at a meeting held by a group devoted to asexuals have told the organizer they are not interested in having children.
The Web site has a number of members, but only about 60 percent are those who can have sex. The other 40 percent are asexuals who want to marry an opposite-sex partner. The organizer says he has received no official criticism or warnings from the government. He says the asexual community is growing fast.
This article introduces an intersectional feminist analysis of asexual identities in China by exploring how assigned-female-at-birth Chinese asexuals construct meanings for their lives across intersecting sites of power, resources, networks, and advantages. These constructions are shaped by globalized discourses of asexual pride, the hegemonic role of heterosexuality in the context of modernization, and the rise of Internet social media.
