About this episode
Kaila Yu discusses her experiences with fetishization and its implications following the Atlanta spa shootings, alongside sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen's insights on stereotypes in Hollywood.
Kaila Yu spent years as an Asian American pinup model, singer and actress, leaning into a hypersexualized image of Asian femininity and burying her doubts about it. But after the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings, she started reckoning with how fetishization can lead to violence — and interrogating her own role in perpetuating harmful stereotypes. She talks with Anita about her new memoir. Plus, a sociologist breaks down how history and Hollywood built the stereotypes in the first place and what we can do to break free. Meet the guests: - Kaila Yu is a culture writer and the author of " Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism and Beauty " - Nancy Wang Yuen is a sociologist and a professor in the department of ethnic studies at Crafton Hills College and the author of “ Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism ” Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied
People in this episode
Host: Anita
Guests: Kaila Yu, Nancy Wang Yuen
Topics covered
- Asian fetishization
- violence and stereotypes
- cultural identity
- Hollywood representation
- memoir
- sociology
Keywords
- Asian American
- fetishization
- Atlanta spa shootings
- stereotypes
- cultural representation
- memoir
- sociology
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism and Beauty, Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism
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