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The Asian Branding of SexualityPage 2: Contemporary Representations of Asian Sexuality in Adult Products
Continued from Page 1: The Asian Branding of Sexuality
Japanese Craft in Detail
Marcia Jackson, Marketing Director for the adult product company Xandria Collection, described the representation of Asian product in the 2002 Holiday catalog. "Often, we offset the Asian product because it attracts attention to the product. The Asian toys sell well and deserve high profile placement." Some of these products include Chinese-style pleasure balms and ben-wa, the spheres that are generally presumed to be Japanese in origin, but Xandria's historical research suggests may have been developed in China. One popular toy in Xandria’s catalog is the Original Deluxe Japanese Beaver. Crafted in Japan – as it clearly states on the package – it is imported by an American importer and distributor, Vibratex. Vibratex did not concept or create this product, but imported to the U.S., unpackaged, so that it could package and brand it with distinct Asian flavor. This high-end vibrator is the ultimate combination of Asian-inflected design and marketing. Vibratex Marketing Director Dan Martin asserts that its traditional Japanese styling is the most emulated in the market, and is quick to identify the differences between the "Original Japanese Beaver" and its imitators. While the products’ ultimate goal is the same, the durability, and the detail in the design and the Asian-specific packaging of the Original Japanese Beaver distinguishes it from its competitors. The background image for the product description is a line-drawing of a Geisha, framed by ornate floral patterns, against a background texture not unlike a rough paper used in some Japanese scrolls. An articulately worded explanation attributes the incorporation of human and animal forms to a historical prohibition Japanese against making toys resembling real genitalia. Words like "centuries-old," "tradition," and "ancient" convey that this product is more than just a vibrator: it is an Asian orgasm waiting to be discovered. Vibratex’s well-produced catalog features 49 imported Japanese sex toys, many evocative of Asian cultures in their names – the koi, the "Big Indian" – or even their crafting, some carved with faces that clearly exhibit East Asian features. Its "Rabbit Pearl" model is currently one of the hottest products on the market thanks to the toys prominent role in the HBO series Sex in the City. But according to Audrey at Boston's Grand Opening shop, Vibratex's pricey products are among the most popular because of their high quality and durability.
Asian Odyssey: An American-Asian Sex Toy
West coast adult toy manufacturer, California Exotic Novelties Incorporated – Cal Exotic – is another distributor of Asian-themed sex toys. Unlike the importer Vibratex, Cal Exotic concepts and designs its "Asian Odyssey" toys in the U.S., has them manufactured in Taiwan, and returned here for packaging. It designed a product line based on a seductive Japanese model named (or at least trademarked as) Fujiko. A Marketing Director at Cal Exotic described the concept for the line as an opportunity to target a niche market that would respond to the peculiar styling of the products and the ethnic appeal of the spokeswoman. The most popular and unusual product in the line is "Fujikos’s Asian Odyssey with Dual Prong Stimulator." This purple, battery-powered toy’s design is highly unusual, with teeth-like stimulators flanking a short, thick, bumpy center with a large, globular tip. The packaging features the suggestively dressed Fujiko, and wording that seems purposefully clumsy, fabricated to feel like the translation of Japanese writing into "Engrish". All the product’s elements seem emphasize the foreign-ness of the product, and the notion that Asian Odyssey-branded sex toys are like no others.
An American-Chinese-Indian GuideTechnology has broadened the category of sex instruction in the centuries since the Kama Sutra, adding instructional videos to the expanding list. Romantic Arts, Inc. produces videos that are designed to arouse, educate, and mostly entertain the viewers. Capitalizing on the marketing appeal of Asian sex aids, it produces a video entitled, Kama Sutra - The Sensual Art of Lovemaking: Positions of the Tao, referencing two very different Asian representations. The video features three couples – including one Asian woman and a white man – demonstrating a variety of sexual positions which commentary that references the Tao, occasionally intercut with illustrations of Indian figures from the Kama Sutra and talking head sex therapists. The incongruous pairing of these Asian icons emphasizes this video’s intention to evoke the Far East. The general consumer, however, is unlikely to question the pairing of Indian and Chinese doctrine, and more likely to focus on the entertaining aspect of the video. These are not the typical sex aids found in roadside sex shops, where top-selling items are movies and magazines – products that seem to require little or no pro-activity, and contain very little cultural specification. In traditional sex shops, educating oneself about Asian culture is likely the last thing on the consumer’s mind. These three items, however, represent a newer, more sophisticated sex toy being marketed to educated, discerning consumers who are obliquely aware of cultural differences and willing to experiment. The ideal marketing channel for these products is an online distributor such as Adam & Eve, Good Vibrations, and Xandria Collection.
Orientalism or Cultural Openness?Why the American fascination with Asian sex toys? One possible explanation is the manifestation of classic Orientalism. Described by Edward Said, Orientalism is the scholarly thought system created by the first Orientalists – those who translated the writings of "the Orient" into European languages. Orientalism held that by knowing the culturally backward and inferior Orient, the West was thought to be able to dominate and own it. The female in the Orient is similarly seen as exotic, sensual, passive, and willing to be dominated. Said’s representation includes East and South Asia, as well as the Middle East and Muslim culture. Applying these concepts of Orientalism to the American fascination with Asian sex toys is plausible on the surface: mainstream Americans may want to demystify or dominate the Orient or Asia by literally owning a small piece of its culture. The marketing approach of companies and websites in lumping together all parts of the Orient is also directly descended from an Orientalist viewpoint. Distinctions are blurred, for example, between the origins of the Kama Sutra in India and the Tao in China, as the Romantic Arts videotape illustrates. Although some products occasionally distinguish between Indian and East Asian women, cultural motifs, and philosophies, few distinctions are drawn among Japan, China, Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines. But if this Asian cultural branding is not always accurate, it may still have an educational value. The fascination with Asian sex toys on the surface appears to be a fascination with the mystical and the different. Marketing of Asian-styled sex toys is frequently targeted at the middle- to upper-income segment of American women and couples. Those who seek out and use Asian sex toys may be more open to culturally diverse experiences than other types of consumers. Perhaps the popularity of ancient Asian materials reflects the sexual immaturity of American collective culture, searching for a deeper understanding of our own sexuality.
In the end, what are we to make of the American fascination with Asian sex toys and Asian sexuality – literally inviting mechanized fabrications of sexuality in to our most intimate spaces? Globalization expert Thomas Friedman believes that bridging the gap between cultures is capable if, and only if, we are able to "protect our cultures and environments while getting the best out of everyone else’s." If the net effect of mainstream America inviting Asian sexuality into its lives and bedrooms results in a deepening and enrichment of our individual and collective sexualities, then the benefits would outweigh the risks. In the end, we should be comfortable embracing, at least with regard to our sexuality and our bedrooms, the oft-repeated mantra, "Think globally, act locally."
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