Queer. Asian. Both are terms used to identify people, yet they are still so broad. What does it mean to be queer? Is it liking the same gender? Is it being of a different gender from what one was assigned to at birth? Is it not feeling sexual attraction to any genders at all? Could it be all of the above? What does it mean to be Asian? Is it Chinese? Japanese? Filipinx? Bangladeshi? Indian? Polynesian? Is it the flat nose and slanted eyes? Or is it the almond eyes and dark skin?
In a project about otherness, I am looking into my own community, as contradictory as it may seem. The Queer Asian Dating Experience explores the umbrella terms, “queer” and “Asian” and how they intersect as it relates to people’s dating experiences, especially when it comes to being fetishized and tokenized. We may all identify as queer Asians, but how do our experiences of queerness and of Asian-ness differ (or not) from one another?
