Overview

""Honest, raw, and beautiful.""-Aiko Tanaka, comedian and actress, Fast and Furious- Tokyo Drift A deeply personal memoir-in-essays from former pinup model and lead singer of Nylon Pink Kaila Yu, reckoning with being an object of Asian fetishism and how media, pop culture, and colonialism contributed to the oversexualization of Asian women. A ""raw and lyrical"" (New York Times) memoir-in-essays from former pinup model and lead singer of Nylon Pink Kaila Yu, reckoning with being an object of Asian fetish and how media, pop culture, and colonialism contributed to the oversexualization of Asian women. AN NPR AND DEBUTIFUL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR No one fetishized Kaila Yu more than she fetishized herself. As a young girl, she dreamt of beauty. But none of the beautiful women on television looked like her. In the late '90s and early 2000s Asian women were often reduced to overtly sexual and submissive caricatures-the geishas of the book-turned-film Memoirs of a Geisha; the lewd twins, Fook Mi and Fook Yu, in Austin Powers in Goldmember; Papillon Soo Soo's sex worker character in the cult Vietnam War movie Full Metal Jacket; and pin-up goddess Sung-Hi Lee. Meanwhile, the ""girls next door"" were always white. Within that narrow framework, Kaila internalized a painful conclusion- The only way someone who looked like her could have value or be considered beautiful and desirable was to sexualize herself. Blending vulnerable stories from Yu's life with incisive cultural critique and history, Fetishized is a memoir-in-essays exploring feminism, beauty, yellow fever, and the roles pop culture and colonialism played in shaping pervasive and destructive stereotypes about Asian women and their bodies. Yu reflects on the women in media who influenced her, the legacy of U.S. occupation in shaping Western perceptions of Asian women, her own experiences in the pinup and import modeling industry, auditioning for TV and film roles that perpetuated dehumanizing stereotypes, and touring the world with her band in revealing outfits. She recounts altering her body to conform to Western beauty standards, allowing men to treat her like a sex object, and the emotional toll and trauma of losing her sense of self in the pursuit of the image she thought the world wanted. Candid and intimate, Fetishized is a personal journey of self-love and healing. It's both a searing indictment of the violence of objectification and a tender exploration of the broken relationship so many of us have with beauty, desire, and our own bodies.

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Reviews

“Thoughtful. . . . [Fetishized is] a tough read, but ultimately, it’s a redemptive narrative. Yu, a skillful writer, doesn’t give a pass to the pop culture that shaped her, but she also shows compassion towards her younger self for the exploitation and discomfort she experienced while trying to find an authentic path forward.”—Shondaland “Yu’s memoir is a true examination of the systemic factors that have shaped—and are still shaping—the exotification and fetishization of Asian women in the U.S. today.”— NPR “Candid and intimate . . . [A] voicey memoir-in essays. . . . Yu’s debut fuses critique, historical examination and feminist contemplation with an unsparing account of her personal journey. This is an unstinting and necessary read, a memoir that sits as a natural companion to Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings. . . . [Yu] holds up a mirror not only to herself, but to the West, its past and present. And what a jaundiced reflection it is.”—The New York Times “Kaila Yu’s debut is a hard-hitting memoir-in essays focused on the fetishization of Asian women. . . . She candidly digs into how she sexualized herself to conform to social conditioning and unrealistic Western beauty standards.”—Ms. Magazine “A mirror to the world that packs a punch. Yu reflects with such unflinching candor about glamour, culture, and fetishism it feels like you’re out for coffee with her. She moves through the personal and the global lens with such ease. This book was truly eye-opening.”— Debutiful “[I]ntentionally unflinching . . .Yu grapples thoughtfully with questions of representation—both the lack of it that shaped her youth and her own role in creating it.”—Mochi Magazine “Five stars! This is truly an amazing read. Kaila’s challenging perspective and her truth is an eye-opening experience on each page that keeps you glued and wanting to read more. People from all walks of life can learn something impactful from her story.”—Kiki Wong, guitarist for The Smashing Pumpkins “For too long, Asian women have been objectified, reduced to exotic fantasies rather than seen as complex individuals with their own stories, struggles, and strength. Fetishized is an honest, raw, and beautiful memoir about attempting to find Westernized acceptance and, eventually, discovering true beauty within.”—Aiko Tanaka, comedian and actress, Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift “Yu is fearless and unflinchingly self-aware. In this courageous memoir, Yu has become the role model her younger self was looking for.”—Bianca Mabute-Louie, author of Unassimilable: An Asian Diasporic Manifesto for the 21st Century “[Fetishized] is a raw memoir, and Yu expertly balances visceral, emotional scenes from her life with trenchant social criticism. A disturbing but well-told memoir about the true costs of Asian fetishization.”—Kirkus Reviews “A searing memoir . . . What sets Yu’s musings apart, in addition to their ferocity, is the author’s willingness to acknowledge her complicity in her own fetishization. . . . It’s an immense pleasure to read Yu as she does that unraveling with a ruthless gaze and a razor-sharp pen. This leaves a mark.”—Publishers Weekly

“Five stars! This is truly an amazing read. Kaila’s challenging perspective and her truth is an eye-opening experience on each page that keeps you glued and wanting to read more. People from all walks of life can learn something impactful from her story.”—Kiki Wong, guitarist for The Smashing Pumpkins

“Thoughtful. . . . [Fetishized is] a tough read, but ultimately, it’s a redemptive narrative. Yu, a skillful writer, doesn’t give a pass to the pop culture that shaped her, but she also shows compassion towards her younger self for the exploitation and discomfort she experienced while trying to find an authentic path forward.”—Shondaland “Kaila Yu’s debut is a hard-hitting memoir-in essays focused on the fetishization of Asian women. . . . She candidly digs into how she sexualized herself to conform to social conditioning and unrealistic Western beauty standards.”—Ms. Magazine “Five stars! This is truly an amazing read. Kaila’s challenging perspective and her truth is an eye-opening experience on each page that keeps you glued and wanting to read more. People from all walks of life can learn something impactful from her story.”—Kiki Wong, guitarist for The Smashing Pumpkins “For too long, Asian women have been objectified, reduced to exotic fantasies rather than seen as complex individuals with their own stories, struggles, and strength. Fetishized is an honest, raw, and beautiful memoir about attempting to find Westernized acceptance and, eventually, discovering true beauty within.”—Aiko Tanaka, comedian and actress, Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift “Yu is fearless and unflinchingly self-aware. Bringing nuance to our understanding of Asian fetishization, Yu unveils not only her victimization but her participation and, ultimately, her healing and empowerment from the brutality of objectification. In this courageous memoir, Yu has become the role model her younger self was looking for.”—Bianca Mabute-Louie, author of Unassimilable: An Asian Diasporic Manifesto for the 21st Century “[Fetishized] is a raw memoir, and Yu expertly balances visceral, emotional scenes from her life with trenchant social criticism. A disturbing but well-told memoir about the true costs of Asian fetishization.”—Kirkus Reviews “A searing memoir . . . What sets Yu’s musings apart, in addition to their ferocity, is the author’s willingness to acknowledge her complicity in her own fetishization. . . . It’s an immense pleasure to read Yu as she does that unraveling with a ruthless gaze and a razor-sharp pen. This leaves a mark.”— Publishers Weekly

Author Information

Kaila Yu is a freelance writer for the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, Business Insider, Conde Nast Traveler and more. Formerly, she was a model and the lead singer for the all-Asian American female rock band Nylon Pink. Fetishized is her first book. You can find Kaila online @kailayu.

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