Racing Romance
Love, Power, and Desire among Asian American/White Couples
Rutgers University Press
Despite being far from the norm, interracial relationships are more popular than ever. Racing Romance sheds special light on the bonds between whites and Asian Americans, an important topic that has not garnered well-deserved attention until now. Incorporating life-history narratives and interviews with those currently or previously involved with an interracial partner, Kumiko Nemoto addresses the contradictions and tensionsùa result of race, class, and genderùthat Asian Americans and whites experience.
Similar to black/white relationships, stereotypes have long played crucial roles in Asian American/white encounters. Partners grapple with media representations of Asian women as submissive or hypersexual and Asian men are often portrayed as weak laborers or powerful martial artists. Racing Romance reveals how allegedly progressive interracial relationships remain firmly shaped by the logic of patriarchy and gender inherent to the ideal of marriage, family, and nation in America, even as this ideal is juxtaposed with discourses of multiculturalism and color blindness.
A provocative, insightful, and richly-detailed study. This book should be required reading for anyone studying race and romance in contemporary society.
Kumiko Nemoto is an assistant professor in the department of sociology at Western Kentucky University.
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Interracial Relationships
Part I Asian American Women with White Men
The Good Wife
A Woman Ascending
Part II Asian American Men with White Women
A Man's Place
Playing the Man
Men Alone
Conclusion
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Introduction
Interracial Relationships
Part I Asian American Women with White Men
The Good Wife
A Woman Ascending
Part II Asian American Men with White Women
A Man's Place
Playing the Man
Men Alone
Conclusion
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index
