Then, a few days ago, a friend opened an online discussion about how women in this industry are possibly not smart enough to get a decent education so they could arm themselves for better jobs. Apparently, the conversation sparked when she and her friend began talking about Maria Ozawa. This led me to think about Sex-positive Feminism and eventually to one of the most intelligent porn stars of all time: Asia Carrera.
As of this writing, Asia Carrera, born to a Japanese father and a German mother, is 37 years old, weighs 128 lbs., and is about 5 feet 8.5 inches tall. Most hentai fanatics would probably recognize her face on the covers of Inmu and Shusaku, as she has been the voice actress responsible for giving life to the English versions of the characters.
The more suitable inquiry should be: Who in this side of the anime stratosphere does not know Asia Carrera? Heh.
She would not have been chosen for these roles if she weren't an accomplished adult video actress:
- Adult Video News (AVN) Awards 1995, Best Female Performer of the Year
- AVN 2000, Best Couples Sex Scene
- AVN Award 2000, nominee for Best Actress
But did you know that Asia Carrera had a full academic scholarship from Rutgers University and is, in fact, a Mensa member? For those who didn't know, you'd probably stop in your tracks upon reading this. Then the next question will hit you a mere split-second after:
"How the hell did she get into pr0n???"
She actually answers this question in her official website, asiacarrera.com:
My parents wanted me to go to Harvard and be a doctor or a lawyer, and I wanted to play piano and hang out with friends.
Needless to say, my parents and I butted heads. My father was born in Japan, and my mother was born in Germany. They were from the "old school", strong on discipline, and overachievers themselves, so they were in no way being hypocritical with their demands on me. (My dad went to Caltech on full academic scholarship for math and physics. He's the biggest nerd I know)
I was grounded for every "B" I got, and beaten for getting anything lower than that. I was not allowed to socialize at all, or go to parties, because they said there'd be time for that after I got into a good college. Well, I did what any red-blooded American kid would do, I'd sneak out. And get caught. And get beaten. And get grounded again. Without launching into too much detail, let's just say I was unhappy. (I tried to kill myself a lot) (Asian kids everywhere have e-mailed me to verify that this is standard practice in Asian households - what a relief to find out I'm normal, huh!)
*Sigh* I'm a huge fan of the Tiger Mom
, actually. I believe that she instills discipline so that her kids will grow up to be responsible adults that do not think the world owes them everything. This, however, is the other side of Tiger Mom's upbringing...though I think this is more the result of the Tiger Mom (German) + Tiger Dad (Japan) combo.Am I complaining? Well, in this situation, I think the Tigers instilled incredible resiliency in their child even if she rebelled. She survived so many unfavorable circumstances and but emerged very much empowered, sans the self-entitlement of many spoiled brats.
For all that, I salute Asia Carrera. She could actually be one of the activists for Sex-Positive Feminism.*
(If you want me to write more about Sex-Positive Feminism, what it is and the issues surrounding it, do drop a comment. Thanks!)
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Actually, it makes perfect sense that most Porn Stars come from conservative and/or restrictive backgrounds. After all, if you've been confined and repressed most of your life, the first thing you will most likely do when you're finally on your own free of your parent's influence is to get drunk and sleep with people.
ReplyDeleteFemale sexuality, when unleashed, is actually much more potent and active than a man's. However, there is a pressure for women to appear "pure", so most women act pruddish in order to not give the wrong idea.
Though I like female sexuality and female expression of love and sexuality, I am not really all that hot about "Third Wave Feminism". The reason: While the female sexual nature is being glorified, the male sexual nature is being demonised. Men are being labelled "Perverts", "Creeps" or "Potential Rapists" if they even look at a woman in the wrong way. A woman can accuse a man of rape without any proof and destroy his life without any consequences.
As Stan Marsh once said: "I am all for equality, freedom and all that gay stuff, but seriously (expletive deleted)". This isn't equality, it's supremacy.
You are welcome to convince me otherwise.
The thing about "Third Wave" feminism is that it is so diverse, a lot of us argue. The demonizers of men are from another group. I have a Third Wave feminist classmate who's so in love with her husband, her femininist beliefs have strengthened their relationship because she's all about nurturing her family, her sons, her husband and maximizing her feminine traits.
ReplyDeleteI think you might want to read up on Judith Butler and Michel Foucault (he's a guy, by the way, who unfortunately died before he can finish his last books) to grasp the kind of Third Wave feminism I am talking about because there really are lots. People have already made hasty generalizations about feminism per se (one of them that we are man haters when a whole chunk of us aren't), so I think it's best to read up on the subject matter while using a defined conceptual lens. It's all a matter of framing.
I also wrote about Ayn Rand, who hates feminism, and didn't know that when she'd die, she'd actually be one of those who had Third Wave opinions. Her belief was that, if you were a strong woman, you would want your man to be stronger than you are so that you can stop being strong for a while and get some rest.
Hey, I love Ayn Rand. I must have read “Atlas Shrugged” a dozen times. I don’t agree with everything she writes but I like her writing. And, hey, did you know that Iron Man 2 plagiarized her?
ReplyDeleteOK… Now back to the topic of feminism… This is going to be a long one… Please bear with me...
I am sorry, but whenever I see something like this on television it prevents me from taking feminism, especially its third-wave incantation seriously.
Yes, I am fully aware that feminism is not a monolithic entity and that it comprises a wide variety of opinions and philosophies. Some feminists might read from the gospel of Mary Daly and Andrea Dworkin, while others like Justin Butler just want a fair deal for women. However, this does not explain why all those ostensibly conflicting ideologies are referred to by the same name: feminism
Very recently, a feminist blog tried to contend that people like Mary Daly weren’t really feminists because they advocated sexual bigotry, discrimination against males, not to mention an all-out male genocide. However people like Mary Daly describe themselves as feminists, define themselves as feminists and, most importantly, other people view them as feminists and invite them to give lectures. Revoking their “feminist” status, years after their words and books became accepted as “feminism” seems a bit hypocritical especially when that person happens to be dead and can’t defend his/her position. People like Daly, Dworkin and other radicals are still feminists and nobody has the right to take that away from them.
And herein lies the biggest problem with the “Feminism is not monolithic” argument: It becomes apparent that anybody who describes him/herself as a feminist and defines him/herself as one is one, no matter how extreme his ideas are, as long as he advocates some sort of female equality/superiority. No matter how crazy and sexist the ideas are, you really can’t say that “this person is not a feminist” especially when other people view him/her as one and buy whatever crap he’s/she’s selling. In the end the only one’s feminist status that you can revoke is your own.
Furthermore, stating that feminism is non-monolithic sidesteps the issue of how all these different sub-feminisms relate to each other and to feminism as a whole. Would feminism still be feminism if one of its sub-feminisms were removed? Possibly. The death of eco-feminism would not spell disaster for feminism in general, or for any other sub-feminism in particular. But what about the two main prongs of feminism - Radical Feminism, which is openly misandric, and Earnest Feminism, whose supporters "just want a fair deal"? Could feminism survive the death of either of these? Or does the ideology as a whole owe its existence to their reciprocity? Is their relationship inherently and intrinsically symbiotic?
I contend that both “Earnest” and “Radical” feminism are essential to feminism as a whole.
To use an analogy, a car has an engine in its core that makes the car run and takes it to places as well as an outside cover which makes it marketable and appealing. However, both are part of the same car and both are essential. The engine makes the car work, and the cover attracts customers.
Likewise feminism has a “Radical Core” which drives it to where it’s supposed to go and an “Earnest Outside” that makes itself appealing to the general public. The “Radical Core” is the one that pushes for extreme sexist legislations, while the “earnest outside” is the one that convinces people that “everything is OK”. Without the “Radical Core” feminism wouldn’t be able to achieve anything and without the “Earnest Outside” it would collapse under the weight of its own hate.
LOL, that's actually pretty short. My papers are very long but I'm always on the lookout for the positive side.
ReplyDeleteWhat we usually do as scholars is...well, for me, I look at it as a study in discourse. And if I need to write a paper on radical feminism, I will use radical feminist theories to frame my argument and make it visible on paper (even if I don't believe in it), just so I'd have something to pass or say that I can reason using this or that perspective. Of course, I usually make it clear to my colleagues what my real stand is, it's just that I guess being a researcher allows me to look at things from different conceptual lenses.
When I read this sentence: [The reason: While the female sexual nature is being glorified, the male sexual nature is being demonised. Men are being labelled "Perverts", "Creeps" or "Potential Rapists" if they even look at a woman in the wrong way. A woman can accuse a man of rape without any proof and destroy his life without any consequences.]
I was thinking, "That's a woman with a HUUUUGE chip on her shoulder."
On an interesting note, after I'm done with my PhD dissertation using Third Wave feminism as an angle for video game studies (I did this because every other feminist video game theorist keep harping about how women are oppressed when we're really not), I will start studying Masculinism. I find it sexist that subjects that have the title "Gender and Sexuality" only talk about women when there isn't only one gender.
As for Ayn Rand, I dunno what drew me to her. Though I don't believe many of her philosophies (sometimes they sound really torturous), I really loved her book "Atlas Shrugged". I just haven't had the time to read her other works, which I do also have.
If you're interested in reading my paper about her (it's quite long, though), just drop me a line. I haven't edited it yet (so many typos), but it's pretty much done.