Blasian/AMBW Couples – AKA The Things I Learned From Youtube Vids…
Sunday, August 19, 2012Posted in: Interracial Relationships
I can’t lie, up until about 24 hours ago, I’d never heard the term Blasian (black and Asian pairings) or AMBW (Asian Men and Black Women) before. But going by the number of Youtube vids out there on this subject, there seems to be a whole movement.
What I found fascinating was the number of Asian men (Korean, Japanese etc) who have made vids on the subject of AMBW relationships. It seems that they feel as if they’re being screwed over when it comes to dating outside their race.
Most of the guys seemed a little bitter about the fact that Hollywood and the media portray Asian men in a really negative way (welcome to the Black man’s world). The majority of the beef was that they were only ever nerds, geeks, asexual Kung-Fu masters, or violent criminals in movies, and so it was no surprise that more black women weren’t interested in them romantically.
Honestly, I’ve never really considered AMBW pairings, but according to the US census from 2010, they are the least common interracial pairing in the United States. Something like 0.22% of marriages were between Asian men and black women. Honestly, that seems quite a lot to me, but apparently there are five times more African American males marrying Asian females. That statistic on the other hand doesn’t surprise me at all.
Anyway, the statistical data for Blasian relationships made my head hurt, so here’s a vid of an Asian guy’s perspective on Blasian couplings. He cusses a lot, so definitely not safe for work.
In terms of romance books featuring Blasian couples, the only one I’ve read was Anne Stuart’s Ice Blue and I’m not gonna lie, that was a DNF for me. I’ve never actually come across an AMBW romance, or if I did, I skipped past it. How about you guys?
I’ve also never come across an actual Blasian/AMBW relationship before in my real life, so it would seem that it’s rare as hell over here in England, how about you guys? Are any of you part of a Blasian couple? Answer honestly, would you ever date an Asian guy?
If I can, I’ll put up a poll for those of you who prefer to answer anonymously, but I’m a little technically challenged so it might not work out.
Seressia
August 19
11:11 pm
Shiree McCarver is the only author that immediately comes to mind. She has written a number of AMBW romance I beleive.
Roslyn Holcomb
August 19
11:57 pm
My most recent book, Hot for Teacher, is a Samoan man, Black woman. Lisa G. Riley has one, After the Morning After, an Indian man and a black woman. Shiree McCarver’s J Pop Love Song was the first one I recall.
I think the Asian dude has a point. I can tell you, finding stock footage of Asian man-titty is damned near impossible. They’re all either geeks, or doing martial arts.Tons of white guys and black guys, even Hispanics, but no Asians at all. I found one, but he was Chinese, not Samoan, so I couldn’t use him. I spent nearly as much time looking for a picture as I did writing the goddamned book! You’d think given the popularity of Samoans like the Rock and Troy Polomalu there would be hot Pacific Islanders everywhere. Not so much.
I’m doing another black woman Asian man pairing in the spring, called Milk and Honey. Hot for Teacher sold well. Clearly there’s an audience for this pairing.
Have you checked out the Blasian Narrative blog? Very interesting.
Brie
August 20
12:45 pm
My first boyfriend was Latino Japanese, his mom was Japanese and his dad Peruvian. I have a feeling I would have married him but he moved to Japan right after high school. You’re making me nostalgic! In college, my friend dated a Korean guy –she is black– but I don’t know of any other Blasian couples.
Is Kimora Lee Simons famous there? Her father is black and her mother Japanese. She married Russell Simmons and I think she’s with Djimon Hounsou now.
che
August 20
2:49 pm
You’re right. I tried thinking of Asian/Black couples I know or knew IRL and couldn’t think of any. Though I did know a handful of Asian/white couples. I’m sure they exist, but I couldn’t think of A/B pairings in the celebrity world either.
Can’t comment to the video because there’s no captioning. Interesting topic.
Toni
August 20
7:49 pm
I don’t think this posting is referring to Samoans or Pacific Islanders in discussing Asian men because they don’t have the same problems of being seen as nerdy geeks, kung fu masters or criminals. Many people don’t even think of Indian men as being “Asian”, though they are.
I don’t “know” any Asian men with black women in real life. In my totally unscientific opinion, black American women are much more resistant to dating outside their race than other groups of women, though this does seem to be changing.
Lisa G.
August 20
10:02 pm
Roslyn is correct; there is a pretty good market for stories that feature Asian men and Black women as the protagonists. “After the Morning After” did sell well, and a story I had in the 2008 Zane anthology “Honey Flava” still garners me emails to this day.
I occasionally get requests for more pairings similar to those, but like you, Karen, the term Blasian was a new one for me. I’d never heard until someone sent me an email regarding my story.
Didn’t watch the video — way too long, and I’m actually not all that interested in his problems. Rude, right?
Oh, and as for dating an Asian man? Sure. Why not? I guess I should tell you, though, that I’m an Asian woman. Okay, just kidding. I’m black.
Maili
August 21
11:56 am
Yes, I knew and know some Black/EA couples. There are some British black actors with EA partners, e.g. Derek Griffiths (but I think they split up), and the opposite. Such as Lucy Sheen whose husband is black. There’s one you should know. Well, maybe not. I don’t remember his name, but he’s a footballer and his wife is BBC (British-born Chinese). I don’t even know which team he plays for. Embarrassing.
To be honest, I know more EA/black gay/lesbian couples than EA/black heterosexual couples. Definitely EA/black lesbian couples. Off bat, I know six couples who’re still together. There were two more last year and three the year before, but they all split up.
They’re more likely to be found in a major city, such as London, Liverpool and Newcastle, because I don’t think I have ever come across any in major towns.
“Most of the guys seemed a little bitter about the fact that Hollywood and the media portray Asian men in a really negative way (welcome to the Black man’s world).”
They have a right to be ‘a little bitter’. Black characters are frequently seen with romantic interests – some of those romantic interests are Asian – while it’s rare for Asian male characters to be seen as romantic interests or have them, let alone being seen in sexual light.
Granted, Dean Cain, Brandon Lee, Russell Wong, Steven R. McQueen (The Vampire Diaries) and Keanu Reeves can be counted, but all are mixed race–so they don’t count in this respect.
When there’s a major male Asian American role that involves romance and such, a white guy usually gets it. If an Asian actor gets it, the kiss scene is purposely removed. Famous examples: Jet Li in ‘Romeo Must Die’, Jay Chou in ‘The Green Hornet’, Chow Yun-fat in ‘The Replacement Killers’ and so on. All their kiss scenes were edited out of their films.
Glenn (Steven Yeun) from ‘The Walking Dead’ is probably the first male Asian American character in 56 years to have an actual romantic interest *and* a proper kiss scene *and* in positive (sexual) light on a mainstream television drama. Never mind the fact he’s also unusually proactive in major sub-plots. A nice achievement for a Korean boy, eh? 😀
Well, I suppose we can count John Cho (that Harold and Kumar film) and Daniel Dae Kim (I haven’t seen Lost, so I don’t know)? Just realised something, they’re Korean as well.
British films/TV? lol. Not happening.
Roslyn Holcomb
August 21
4:41 pm
The American tv show Flashforward featured a Korean man (John Cho) and a black woman (Gabrielle Union). Of vourse, it was only on for one season.
Jeannie S.
August 21
8:07 pm
Also Tim Kang from The Mentalist (plays Kimball Cho). I only catch the show now and then, but he is great in it. I don’t think he has been in a steady relationship in the show, but there have been some hookups (or almost). I love his character because he just says what he thinks, and doesn’t hold back (in a very deadpan voice). It ends up pretty funny sometimes.
AztecLady
August 22
2:45 am
Re: Daniel Dae Kim in LOST, one word: HOTTTTTTT!!
As in, scorching.
u be
July 13
2:27 am
As a PAC male. Who has live in many countries including Africa
At the time when I was young dating outside race especially Black women was a no no
But when. I move to New York thing change a bit .My second Gf was black her name was Sandra Baker
she was also the second girl I ever kissed
Her skin was creamy cafe her eyes were drack brown
Her hair was in an afro.
This was my introduction to a different kind of live style