Jenny An is the definition of an Asian American sellout. She’s what you might call white washed (pictured) Who’s Jenny An, you might ask.
Jenny An wrote a crassly worded blog for XO Jane titled I’m an Asian Woman and I Refuse to Ever Date an Asian Man. I warn you, this is crude.
I don’t normally make these blogs personal. But when you read An’s blog, you might understand why.
Dating white men means acceptance into American culture. White culture.
I realize my thinking is f***d up. I get that. But as long as men tell me over dinner, “I’ve always wanted to be with an Asian girl” and then still think they’re getting laid, and as long as during beauty countdowns white girls are called “beauties” and Asian girls are called “exotic beauties” — well, then white will still be the societal standard.
And yes, I am Asian, but I’m drinking the same Kool-Aid as everyone else. Junot Diaz describes it as white supremacy. The idea that white is still tops, SAT scores, corporate jobs and fancy degrees be damned.
Pretty provocative stuff.
Turns out she may have totally snagged herself a big fish, namely me and countless others, in an effort to get attention. The blog has been floating around since 2012, but showed up recently on a Facebook post–renewing the passionate discussion over it.
In a follow up post, she volunteers to sit on the Psychologist couch for a little introspection.
I wrote this story because I’ve also been that person who says, “Oh, I’d never date an Asian guy! It’s just not my thing!” — and I’m owning my sh*t. And that’s just what it is. Not bragging rights. Not something to be proud of. But a reality. My own personal dumb shit that I’ve also heard from my Asian female (and male) friends before. I’ve heard a lot of Asian male friends complain about it.
Lots of people don’t realize that it’s a manifestation of self-racism. I wanted to show that. To admit that when I say that, I was racist, too.
As blogger Jeff Yang put it, she was trolling.
It has emerged that the ideal target on which to practice racetrolling is the Asian American community.
Ideal because Asian Americans are still relatively new to media spotlight; there’s still so little attention focused on us at all that when a headline-grabbing phenomenon happens with Asians at its center, it “pops” instantly, becoming the focus of extraordinarily intense attention.
Is trolling the same as being punked? If so, I think I’ve just been punked.