The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient

By Sara D Sadhwani
May 27, 2006

Los Angeles - Asian enthusiasts gathered last month to learn about the new book, The Asian Mystique, by journalist and author Sheridan Prasso at the UCLA Asia Institute. The academic circle proved to be a tough crowd for the mainstream work that attempts to decode the misconceptions of Asian women in a provocative way.

In her book, Prasso uncovers the lives of sex workers in Bangkok, devoted housewives in Tokyo and the truth behind the woman who inspired Arthur Golden’s best selling book and now film, Memoirs of a Geisha. A history of exoticizing and sensationalizing “the Orient” has colored the East-West relationship. “A demeaning relationship develops between Western powers and Asian countries…when Hollywood films and popular media portray submissive and sensual Asian women and emasculated Asian men,” Prasso said during her talk.

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