The New Suzie Wong: Normative Assumptions of White Male and Asian Female Relationships

摘要

This study critically examines explicit and implied romantic relationships between Asian females and White males in television advertisements, using several examples to illustrate the historical and contextual impact of these images. This interracial relationship, popularized in the 1960 film The World of Suzie Wong, depicts the subservient Asian female prostitute having a romantic relationship with the White male. The Asian female being subservient and romantically associated with the White male has become internalized in society today, an assumption often extending to modern relationships. The critical textual analysis of the selected advertisements will add another element to understanding and interpreting the depiction of the relationship between Asian American females and White males.