messyvictory asked: I guess I'm just a little confused. Why is "China Doll" offensive? I'm not attacking your claim, I'm just curious. I figured it was in reference to China Dolls. Like Porcelain Dolls, made out of what is typically called China because of where it comes from. Not an attempt to objectify Chinese women.

This is what a doll made out of china looks like and this is what the “China Doll” stereotype entails and is portrayed as. The Chinadoll campaign to me obviously draws from the latter, not only in appearance, but in the names of the individual shades (Dragon Fly, Parasol, Jade-o-Lade, Goldfish, Lotus Noir) and the promotional description of the image. The description draws heavily from stereotypes of Asian women has being passive in public but are somehow hiding another “side” in private which is often sexualized.

Don’t let her milky skin, pouty mouth and flushed cheeks fool you; underneath the poised façade, there lies a heart of a tigress…

Even worse is the fact that these stereotypes don’t exist in just literature or old movies - they’re still presented time and again in modern works as well. From my own personal experience, I can also say when I studied abroad in Asia I was appalled by the number of men who had traveled there because they believed these stereotypes to be true and believed that all Asian women were willing and eager to “please” them. You can also watch a video about “How to hit on an Asian girl/How not to harass an Asian girl” which documents similar incidents if my personal story isn’t convincing. Mai has also done an excellent job discussing the campaign in full, so good in fact Xenia is discussing the problems with the campaign with her.

So in short, the campaign presents a stereotype that is painfully untrue, culturally inaccurate, and uses descriptive language that has and continues to demean Asian women.