Race is a particularly fraught aspect of attraction. When a person comes to feel like an interchangeable object, it can be difficult for them to maintain a sense of individual self-esteem. Zheng suggests we can think about this depersonalisation in terms of the category of objectification. “It always crosses my mind that I’m replaceable,” reports one Asian-American women who has encountered yellow fever. They have recounted experiences of depersonalisation, whereby they don’t feel desired as particular individuals – only as placeholders for some fantasy of Asian femininity.
Why not simply think of these preferences as an innocent quirk of personality? Women who are the objects of such attraction can see things rather differently. The political philosopher Robin Zheng directs our attention to ‘yellow fever’: a fetishistic attraction to Asian women, which is typically found among non-Asian men who regard them as particularly exotic or submissive. Going undesired is not the only problem that racialised desire brings into view.
So long as our encounters and relationships with others are consensual, shouldn’t they be free from shame and overbearing moral judgement? He suggests we approach both as a matter of injustice where fundamental human interests are at stake. Sonu Bedi compares being denied opportunities for romantic intimacy as a result of one’s race with being denied a job for the same reasons. Philosophers have worried about the racial preferences which can seem to motivate such behaviour. OkCupid found that on average its users would engage less with black women and Asian men. SUGGESTED READING Why Sexual Morality Doesn't Exist By Alan GoldmanĪ closer look at online dating uncovers some less anecdotal but potentially more troubling findings. But people can’t help who they find attractive, right? He suspected that being short had something to do with it. A man added that this hadn’t been a problem for him: he’d had little luck getting matches in the first place. One woman told me that she didn’t know how to stop herself sleeping with every match who she met up with. Among those who’d been single in the last few years, the conversation would inevitably turn to dating apps. When I started writing about sexual desire, people I met at parties were suddenly a lot more interested in my academic work. Instead, we need to reshape the environment and culture to find ways to address the real political dimensions of desire, writes Tom O'Shea. But what about those who are systematically undesired? This problem isn't one of individuals and personal tastes. Sexual desire is an incredibly personal and seemingly unchangeable part of who we are.
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