"I want foreigners' big hot dog!" Crap like this is why I have no respect for Apple. The final screen is outrageous. YFFM will likely be commenting on this so I will restrain myself. ADDED: Here is YFFM's excellent post.
_______________________
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums! Delenda est, baby.
It's really quite sad that one gets a lot of passive aggressiveness from the dudes around here for something that shouldn't really be a topic/problem.
ReplyDeleteAiyo.
ReplyDeleteI mean I can't say I particularly care for the Brass Monkey/expat bar crowd, but c'mon. Like tons of Taiwanese couples don't go to the same hotels. Making out in a taxi's a bit brash but not exactly worth a news story.
Thanks for the link, Michael. The post will go up sometime Tuesday-to-Thursday.
ReplyDeleteYFFM
Interesting that the foreign men are the only actors here and the girls are cast as inert, passive and innocent. It takes two to tango eh?
ReplyDeleteOh well, it's been a while since the last anti-foreigner smear campaign. It always plays well to an audience willing to hear how wicked others are.
Part of this type of fear-mongering comes from the sort of primitive/tribal mentality that is part of every society. But I think a large part of it is also a sort of fear and insecurity that is a reaction to the realtively-rapid increase in the freedom, autonomy and economic independence enjoyed by women in Taiwan.
ReplyDeleteSeeing women doing things openly in public which men feel they ought to be ashamed of is very frightening to the men who are not yet on-board with gender equality.
Then there is the feeling of unfair competition (inferiority complex?), if it seems that all of the hottest and hungriest la-mei prefer foreign men.
My question is what actions these people think ought to be taken to remedy this scandalous behavior? How about education campaigns in middle school and public service announcements on TV about the depravity of white (and even worse- black!) foreigners? Curfews for attractive women? Lowering quotas for work visas?
I have heard that this kind of fear is much more evident in South Korea.
I tried to show this video to my (Taiwanese) wife. She only saw the bit where the woman in the taxi jumps on the guy.
ReplyDelete"How does that make foreigners look they are sex mad?" Or words to that effect....
She's a beautiful woman, really.
Why complain? This is a great video ... every minute that the mixed couple is in the back seat is another minute that embittered voyeur taxi driver ain't gettin' no pussy. And the editors have obligingly bought into the line that implies taxi driver prob'ly has a tiny pecker. What's not to love?
ReplyDeleteWhen you have a population of men who perceive they aren't getting as much as they should for reasons they don't understand or approve of, there tends to be resentment. You see it in the attitude toward jocks in high school. You see it in the way many men complain about girls prefering to date a-holes. It's only natural that Taiwanese guys, seeing that there are a lot more white male-Taiwanese female couples than Taiwanese male-white female couples would get upset especially if it seems the women are making the choices that determine the ratio.
ReplyDeleteIt brings up the difficult question of individual vs group actions. Consider selection of your baby's gender. Selecting your baby's gender is a very personal choice, but if most people choose to have only boys it leads to huge societal problems.
Shouldn't it be a personal choice how many people you marry? Yet polygamy is tied to some well known societal problems too and most civilized cultures frown on it.
Dating someone of another race can have similar dynamics. It should be everyone's individual choice who they date regardless of race, but if 90% of women were to refuse to date men of a particular race - including women of that same race - it leads to a societal problem.
However, the number isn't 90%. So while I understand the emotional reaction it must be pointed out that that reaction is illogical. A pretty young Taiwanese women is far more often found in the arms of an old rich guy than in the arms of a young white guy. If you're looking to preserve your dating options, complaining about white guys is barking up the wrong tree.
John Scott wrote "I have heard that this kind of fear is much more evident in South Korea."
ReplyDeleteSouth Korea still has US military bases. When you were in high school how would you have felt about having to compete with a bunch of older guys who were paid to work out and look good and who who had annoying tendency to impregnate local girls and leave?
I'm not suggesting that US soldiers are less moral than anyone else, only that they are young males thousands of miles away from home.
Readin, I was not referring to military personnel, and I doubt think the resentment in Korea that was described to me has much to do with politics or foreign policy. I think it is coming from a similar kind of resentment which you see in the video. But since you are interested, I will tell you why I made that comment.
ReplyDeleteI have never dated Korean women, but a friend (an Anglo American)who works in Korea, and was visiting in Taiwan, made some interesting observations comparing certain cultural elements of Korea and Taiwan.
He said that when he is out with an attractive Korean woman in Korea, he gets a lot of resentful stares and even insulting remarks from Korean men (not from the women).
He says that one of his American friends who lives in Korea and is married to a "relatively less attractive" Korean woman does not get that type of reaction from Korean men. So it apparently does not bother them when foreign guys get Korean women they judge as unattractive.
While in Taiwan, he spent most of his time going places together with a friend of mine, a very attractive Taiwanese woman, and what prompted this whole discussion was that he remarked that it felt odd (in comparison with his experience in Korea) that he was out with an attractive local woman, on the MRT, on the street, etc., and no one was staring at them, or looking resentful.
So, his opinion was that Taiwanese women are apparently comparatively more liberated than Korean women, and Taiwanese men have comparatively more respect for women's' independence and autonomy than the typical Korean man, and that Taiwanese men must be comparatively more secure in their own ability to attract a partner (i.e. more confident, and less jealous).
I live in an area where people from a number of cultures interact. I do notice that Koreans attitude toward gender are more severe. The men seem to have less respect for women, and while I can strike up a conversation with married women (just being social - no flirting - too old and married for that) of most of the cultures I meet, Korean women don't want to talk to me. I thought it might be language in some cases until my wife became well aquainted with a Korean women and assured me that she spoke excellent English.
ReplyDeleteLet's face it, two major reasons many foreign dudes stay in Asia is because they have no better job or female prospects in their native lands. But I think Apple left out the part about all the drunk local Taiwanese kids sluttin' it up at the KTV place(s) around the corner(s) from Brass Monkey.
ReplyDelete