Event

Please join us for the Food for Thought Talks Fall 2023 with the ASAM Fellows 2023-2024. ASAM Fellow Steven Chen, presents: 
"Exploring the Perceived Effects of Consuming Sexually Explicit Materials on Gay Asian American Pacific Islanders’ Well-Being" 

Lunch will be provided for all registrants!

Please RSVP here and join us in person  or  join us by Zoom here!

Abstract: Rooted in Orientalism, racist stereotypes of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) bodies (e.g., gendered stereotypes, perpetual foreigner, emasculation, hypersexualization, exoticization, sexual subservience, and objectification) can contribute to discrimination, internalized racism, and poorer well-being. These racist stereotypes manifest in gay AAPI sexually explicit material (SEM), leading to AAPI actors being cast as racial stereotypes, such as actors performing submissive, dependent, and emasculated roles and being in the “bottom” or receptive position as an act of submission rather than pleasure, and contributing to the continuation of racism and marginalization of AAPI bodies. The content within the SEM may also appropriate, fetishize, exoticize, and aggregate multiple AAPI cultures. This study aims to investigate the perceived effects of consuming gay AAPI SEM on gay AAPIs’ well-being, informing culturally sensitive medical care, sexual health education, and public health interventions. 

Bio: Steven Chen (he/him/his) is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences majoring in health and societies, concentrating in race, gender, and health, with minors in gender, sexuality, and women’s studies and chemistry. He is interested in exploring and combatting health disparities within LGBTQ+, Chinese, and first-generation low-income communities. In his free time, he loves to cook with his friends and explore cafés in Philadelphia!