The Asian Mystique

A prize-winning journalist and Asia expert issues a provocative critique of the West's eroticised illusions about Asia and how profoundly they colour our social, cultural, business, personal and political interactions. Despite - and because of - centuries of East-West interaction, the stereotypes of [...]
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A prize-winning journalist and Asia expert issues a provocative critique of the West's eroticised illusions about Asia and how profoundly they colour our social, cultural, business, personal and political interactions. 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 colour our social, cultural, business, and personal interactions, and affect East-West relations. This book challenges these images and explores Asia and Asians as they really are, with unclouded, de-eroticised eyes. It demands that we move beyond our misty-eyed myths of exotic difference, and reveals instead the fully dimensional human beings beyond our usual perceptions.