Artist’s Statement
Yellow Fever. According to Urban Dictionary, it is a term usually applied to white males who have a clear sexual preference for women of Asian descent. Yellow fever is more of an obsession than a preference. This term generally applies towards Western white men who fetishize and exotify Asian women that might be attributed to looks. However, most people who have yellow fever may usually attribute their fascination to Asian women based on racist, misogynistic, and devaluing stereotypes. They may also have sexual fantisications of Asian women based on how they are portrayed in movies or on television and refer to them as submissive and sexual beings. Either way, this term of attraction contributes to the devaluation and uncomfort of Asian and Asian American women in society. In 2007, multicultural researcher Derald Wing Sue found evidence for the Asian fetish. According to him, “Asian women spoke of white men approaching them and explicitly communicating their ‘fetishes’ of subservience and sexual pleasing… Nearly all members of the focus groups interpreted these microaggressions as: Asian women are only needed for the physical needs of White men and nothing more.” This Yellow Fever phenomenon can generally be adapted in small manifestations, but for the worst of the culprits, it can manifest to creepiness and sociopathy.
For this project, we were asked to identify a social condition or movement that we strongly identified with to create a garment that communicates our feelings about it visually. I wanted to portray the meaning of the Yellow Fever social condition through making a sexualized traditional Asian garment representing the type of clothing that these Caucasian men, that are subject to yellow fever, view Asian women wearing. I wanted to keep the garment traditional because I thought that was the whole point of why white/caucasian males exotify Asian women. I decided to recreate the dudou, translated as the belly band, an old-fashioned Chinese bra that dates back to the Ming Dynasty. Unlike today’s times, the dudou was worn to flatten the breast of Asian women because flat-chested women were thought of as beautiful and desired in ancient China. This form of artistic ancient underwear is basically a small apron in the shape of a diamond that covers the bust and the belly. In today’s society, they can be compared to halter tops. In companion with the dudou, I decided to make a satin skirt to match the undergarment top in order to give it a more wearable feel.
In terms of making the actual garment, I wanted to keep in mind that I wasn’t just making a halter top, I was making a dudou. The way in which they are different is because a dudou only covers the belly and bust, whereas a halter top is a bit more modest. I actually found an amazing Chinese inspired fabric in the garment district which allowed me to make the dudou reversible. Overall, I’m happy with how my piece came out and am really impressed by how well it conveys the message of the social problem of Yellow Fever. I think my performance aspect of having it being worn by a white/caucasian male exemplifies the theme all the more because of the irony that I played into the piece. Also having the background audio of documentary related to Yellow Fever testimonials really showed how real the problem is in society.
