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Sparkle (1)
While maybe not the most ingenious book, J.C Davies’ I Got the Fever, is interesting in two ways: Not only is it a perspective on contemporary interracial dating from a white female perspective, but it's also a stunning display of how pervasive racial bigotry can be. The former Wall Street analyst's book was described by New York Magazine as “a treasure cove of sweeping generalizations and alleged cultural truisms.” I agree: It (and especially its author) is racially ignorant.
I read about the book through the New York article. I have not read the book itself, and will not read it. There are enough chapter samples and commentary floating around the ‘Net -- not to mention what she's written on her blog -- to give me a clear understanding that it is not a book that I would want or need to spend my money on. The book has chapters titled "Salsa Fever," "Jungle Fever," "Yellow Fever," "Curry Fever" and "Shiksa Fever."
I do understand that, unfortunately, provocativeness sells, and using offensive racial stereotypes seems to sell, too ... hell, that is why I am writing this blog post. If there had not been any buzz about the contents of this self-published book, no one would really care.
Davies writes about her experiences dating men from varied ethno-cultural backgrounds, and she states that she interviewed a number of men and women from these backgrounds to solidify her offensive cultural stereotypes, such as ones that she doles out on her blog (btw, you can seek dating advice from her for $100 an hour):
As for some of the issues you raised about Asian women, let me tell you what I have learned from Asians and from Asian daters:
Asians don’t date brothers. Well we know this can’t be true because how in the hell would we have all these incredibly adorable Blackenese running around? …….Most Asians I spoke to (and those who date them) said that Asians can be pretty materialistic. ……..Of course, this isn’t true for all Asian women and I don’t want to make them seem money-hungry. I don’t actually think it’s that at all. But I do think, culturally speaking, there’s the expectation that men are responsible for the financial aspects of a relationship and that high-dollar material items are also expected. (See the “Keeping up with the Changs” section in I Got the Fever.) [Bolded emphasis mine].
What the hell is a “blackenese?” She makes biracial kids sound like cross-bred, so-ugly-that-they’re-cute puppies, rather than actually being fully functioning human beings.
From her blog post, “Old Men Dig Black Chicks:”
They found that as they got older, men were much more likely than women to date outside of their race. By age 60, in fact, 70% of women dated exclusively within their own ethnicity versus only 38% of men. This leads me to only one conclusion -- old men dig black chicks. Okay, I kid. I am a kidder. [Bolded emphasis mine.]
To me, it's obvious Davies took the discussions that she had with her interview subjects -- those that fitted her initial argument , of course -- and portrayed them as facts. It seems as though it was not because she was seeking out alternate viewpoints, but more to cover her arguments. I also question the validity of her interview subjects -- people what she must know personally (I can’t see her running up to people on the street without getting a verbal smackdown). I am personally dumbfounded that any self-respecting South Asian person would actually confirm her assumption that, because of their diet, Indian men can be smelly -- or at least say that to someone who was writing a book on interracial relationships. Or were her interview subjects being sarcastic, and she took their responses as "truths?"
From her appearance on NPR (thanks to Jezebel for the quote):
But what about black people? Do black women date unemployed men? "You know, with the sisters, I mean, they're really not going to put up with the brother that's unemployed. So, I mean maybe they need to start considering dating white women or something." ("The sisters"? Sounds like Davies could stand to listen to some of her own advice: "Don't introduce 'black topics of conversation' with your black boyfriend's parents. Don't come into the room with, 'Yo moms; yo pops. What's up?'")
Probably the best part was when Davies started to talk about the difference between blacks and "people that are
