Last updated 12/27/2024
Racial fetishization is treating particular people as being attractive specifically because of what the fetishist believes is normal among people of that race. Because it relies on stereotypes, generalizations, and other distorted or false perceptions, it ends up objectifying and dehumanizing the very people that fetishists claim to love.
Blanket content warning for racism, objectification, and dehumanization. Many of these links may discuss racist violence, misogynist violence, colonialism, slavery, and various types of sexual violence.
1. General and various
Various commentary
Writing With Color has tags for ”hypersexualization” and ”fetishization”
Avoiding Hypersexualizing POC Characters | Writing With Color (August 2014)
You Could Be Fetishizing Your Dates Without Even Knowing It by Tayi Sanusi | Elite Daily (June 2020)
The Jasmine Diaries Part I: Colonial Legacies and Modern Dilemmas | Irresistible Revolution (September 2011)
Racial Fetishization Is A Big Problem Online. Here's What Dating Apps & Users Can Do. by Griffin Wynne | Bustle (July 2020)
Is it possible for someone to fetishize their own race? | This Is Not Japan (August 2015)
The Jasmine Diaries Part II: 'Exotic' is not a Compliment | Irresistible Revolution (September 2011)
Fetishization's negative effects on women of color by Annya Loya | The Daily Lobo (February 2022)
Sexual Harassment and Women of Color (Blog Post) by Katherine Giscombe, PhD | Catalyst (February 2018)
Praising Beauty Without Fetishizing PoC | Writing With Color (July 2016)
What Is Fetishization And How Does It Contribute To Racism? by Janice Gassam Asare | Forbes (February 2021)
Black Jewish Boyfriend, Fetishized and Othered | Writing With Color (December 2014)
What are some red flags for someone fetishizing me? | This Is Not Japan (August 2015)
Pet Names for Characters Of Color | Writing With Color (April 2015)
Appreciating Accents: Avoiding Exotifying and Othering | Writing With Color (March 2015)
How Queer Men of Color Deal with Being Fetishized by Naveen Kumar | Vice (October 2017)
Fat Black Women Stereotypes and Sexualized Asian Women | Writing With Color (January 2015)
Interracial Relationships & Avoiding Fetishizing | Writing With Color (August 2014)
Racist + Sexist "Adult Novelties" | Aida Manduley (July 2012, NSFW, product descriptions include creepy rape fantasies, plus transmisogynist and intersex-antagonistic slurs)
Sexualized Vodounista And Human Voodoo Doll Powers | Writing With Color (November 2015, mentions self-harm)
5 Signs You're About to Be Racially Fetishized by Maiysha Kai | The Root (January 2016)
Erotic race play reveals how white supremacy is a perversion of unmatched proportions by Sherronda J. Brown | Black Youth Project (October 2017, discusses Nazis and the alt-right)
"We're Not Here For White People's Pleasure." On Race, Fetish and Objectification. by Stella Harris | Willamette Week (November 2017)
The Semiotics of Race, or: Walks on the Wild Side by Aaminah Khan | Black Girl Dangerous (April 2014)
Stop comparing it to legitimate sexualities | Dear White Friends (November 2016)
The Problem With Racial Fetishization by Sarah Gladstone | Ravishly (June 2014)
[”i want x to punch me in the face”], x = | Tumblr thread (December 2016)
Calling me ethnic/spicy is not a compliment | Dear White Friends (September 2016)
Opinion: Purity culture disproportionately affects women of color by Logan Anderson | Reveille (February 2015)
Walking the Tightrope: Good Indian Girls, Race, and Bad Sexuality by Chaya Babu | The Feminist Wire (May 2013)
”You're So Exotic”: A Brief History of Racial Fetishization by Alex Reaves | Affinity Magazine (August 2018)
Calling people ”exotic”
Post the Sixty-Ninth or On Why Exotic is NOT a Compliment | A Trip to the ”Morg” (April 2012)
On Why Calling PoC ”Exotic” is Offensive | Writing With Color (July 2016)
Why I Hate Being Called an "Exotic Beauty" by Beth Shapouri | Glamour (March 2017s)
What Is "Exotic" Beauty? Part I by Goali Saedi Bocci Ph.D. | Psychology Today (April 2011)
The Issue With ”Exotic” Beauty by Sable Yong | Teen Vogue (September 2016)
[video] 3 Reasons Being Called Exotic is NOT a Compliment | MTV Decoded (December 2018)
Dear White Boys | Dear White Friends (February 2015)
Comparing non-white people's skin to food
Writing With Color: Description Guide – Skin Color Part 1:POC And Food Comparisons (August 2014)
Writing with Color: Description Guide – Skin Color Part 2:Words for Skin Tone (September 2014)
So you want to describe a POC character... | The random musings of a 1973 Original (May 2016)
Making Food Comparisons within Black Characters' Circles | Writing With Color (February 2015)
Chocolate Comparisons and Pick-up Lines | Writing With Color (October 2014)
rind of a butternut squash tho | Writing With Color (September 2014)
hypersexualization and asexuals of color
Asexual People of Color On Their Experiences by Anais Rivero | Affinity Magazine (June 2017, discusses aceantagonism)
How The Colonial History of Hypersexualization Obscures the Possibility of Black Asexuality by Sherronda J. Brown | Wear Your Voice Mag (October 2019)
There's this thing about being brown and being Asexual | I'm Ace Enough (July 2015, discusses aceantagonism in general and racism specifically among asexuals)
The Colonized Asexual – a response to racial trauma by Katie | The Asexual Agenda (May 2014)
Your Assumptions About Black, Queer Masculinity Are Erasing My Asexual Identity by Timinepre Cole | Autostraddle (April 2022, mentions laws and violence against LGBTQ+ people, as well as negative attitudes towards asexuals)
race and sex work
Stripping as sex work, stripping as "race-work" | Civil Undressed (January 2010, requires a Google log-in to verify your age)
Avoiding Hypersexualization with Sex Workers | Writing With Color (August 2017)
Korean Sex Worker: Intersection of Race and Sex Work for East Asians | Writing With Color (March 2021, discusses stigma against sex workers)
Sex Workers, Exotification & Intersectionality | Writing With Color (January 2015)
2. specific to Black people
See this list.
3. specific to Latine people
various commentary
Mexican Male Character Stereotypes | Writing With Color (March 2015)
with Oscar Isaac and Diego Luna becoming fandom faves, I think it's important to take a moment to re-evaluate the way you talk about your latinx faves | sspock (December 2016)
Latina Women on Screen: A Realistic Portrayal? by Alicia Perez | Feminspire (November 2014)
The Hypersexualization of Latino Boys by Gwen Sharp, PhD | | Sociological Images (June 2010, discusses a 12-year old being sexually abused by an adult woman and how stereotypes about teen boys and Latino men were used to blame him for his abuse)
I'm Latinx – & I'm Fed Up With Being Called "Exotic" by Kelsey Castañon | Refinery 29 (May 2018, mentions homoantagonism, dictatorships, and genocide)
calling a latino character your "papi" is not a compliment | Tumblr thread (February 2017)
Sexist Depictions Of Latinas Aren't Just A Hollywood Thing by Daisy Hernandez | National Public Radio (August 2014)
[video] The hyper sexualization of Latinx women | Jess Talavera (December 2021)
Spicy Latinas
Va-Va-Bullshit: How Latina 'Spicy & Sexy' Stereotypes Affect Asexual Latinas by Raquel Reichard | latina.com (November 2014)
I'm Not Your Spicy Latina by Shantyana C. Lledin | The Feminist Wire (April 2012)
4. specific to Asian people
See this list.
4. specific to Native American/First Nations people
Pocahontas Is Not a Sex Symbol by Abaki Beck | Bitch Media (November 2017)
Sexualization of Indigenous women through cultural appropriation and media by Neegahnii Madeline Chakasim | The Indigenous Foundation (discusses colonialism, pedophilia, other sexual violence, abuse, and murder, contains a NSFW image)
Why White Women Tried to Ban Native American Dances by Erin Blakemore | JSTOR Daily (March 2019)
Indian Women as Sex Objects | Blue Corn Comics
Nudie Neon Indians and the Sexualization of Native Women | Native Appropriations (June 2010)
Stereotype of the Month Entry (4/4/05) | Blue Corn Comics
It happens often on Facebook pages dedicated to Native American people | Tumblr thread (February 2017)
5. specific to Romani people
Romani Tropes 101: A Comprehensive Guide to Writing a Romani Character | rroja & ribbons (December 2016, uses slurs)
6. specific to mixed race people
Mixed Race Folks aren't here for you to fetishize | Dildo or Dildon't (August 2018, site is NSFW)
[video] The Many Problems With, "I Want Mixed Babies" | chescaleigh (October 2015)
Stop saying "Mixed babies are the cutest!" Or "I want mixed babies so bad." | Dear White Friends (January 2017)
UNPOPULAR OPINION: 6 Reasons Why Your Utopic Vision for a Mixed-Race Future is My Nightmare by Kristina Wong | xojane (December 2014, archived here and here)
7. specific to Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) people
Veils, Harems & Belly Dancers | Reclaiming Identity: Dismantling Arab Stereotypes (also addresses sexualization of Muslim women)
Sexualization of belly dancing
The Women Fighting Sexist, Racist Stereotypes Around 'Belly Dancing' by Leila Ettachfini | Vice (July 2017, uses some derogatory words for sex workers)
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