Charlie Anders

When Fetishes Collide

On the other yellow fever: Asian transgender women.

“My Asian friends and I sometimes call each other lotus blossoms because that's the big stereotype: lotus blossoms—so fragile, so petite, so delicate, so blah blah blah. I even have a T-shirt with 'Lotus Blossom Lounge' written on it.” Gwen Park's experience might sound familiar to any Asian American woman coping with fetishes surrounding Asians. But Park, a transgender woman, copes with two sets of prejudices at once.