SINGAPORE and BANGKOK: It's sex, sex and sex. And it's no good, said a group of Singapore-based Asian university students in the city-state, who argued that the rise in porn and its frequent watching by men in the world have given Asian women a harmful image as submission and weak figures. “It is so often that we have been in relationships and we try to assert ourselves, but are questioned,” said Kristi Kim, a Korean student at National University of Singapore. She, along with five other students studying political science, told Bikyamasr.com that they believe porn and sex is responsible for this image. “I don't know how many times I have seen television programs talking about the Asian woman, and stereotypes are all there,” added Xi, a Chinese student who argued that she has caught a number of her male friends checking out “sex blogs” and “how to get Asian women to be submissive” online. In her words, “we Asian women are career minded and want to go on to have great jobs and then maybe get married and have a family, but the media is not helping to give us empowerment by always talking about the negatives or reducing us to sexualized symbols.” The girls point to the controversy over the porn film of a Chinese medical student, whose identity was revealed over by media to be former lingerie model Wang Li Danni. The film went viral across Asia after local media published her identity, saying she was making the films in order to pay for medical school in Hong Kong. The revelation of Wang as the woman in the video led to anger among women in Asia. They argued that by revealing her identity it could threaten her future The student had featured in a Hong Kong 3D youth sex comedy “All the way West." Touted as “Mainland's Amy Yip", the actress shocked everyone when she revealed she was doing pornographic movies not for fame but to become a doctor. Shin Min Daily News reported that Wang's goal is to accumulate 400,000 yuan (S$80,000) by the time she graduates next October. The money will be used towards getting her medical licence and opening a clinic. The former lingerie model also said she will stop filming such movies in Hong Kong if her studies are affected. “She said her ultimate goal is to be a doctor but expressed concern that her filming such movies could affect her future medical career," the newspaper reported. “I just find it wrong on many levels because if the woman wanted people to know who she was she would have come forward and talked about it," said a female activist in Thailand. Monica Tesvanatri told Bikyamasr.com that young women are struggling in the region, “and if they want to do porn films that is their choice, but if they don't want the whole world to know who they are, that needs to be respected." According to Kaspersky Security Network (KSN), in Asia there are 60 million attempts to access sex sites in the continent, more than double the next often searched topics. For women, parents and others, this is a worrying trend that has the future of women's rights in the region threatened. In Malaysia, women say that the rise in men and boys watching porn on a more regular basis has given way to sexual violence directed at women and they have called on the government to help crackdown on the industry in order to push women's empowerment. “Asian women are often seen as objects and nothing more than weak bodies in this region," said female blogger and activist Mona Hamza Aziz. She argued that the region must come to understand that Asian women “are strong and are able to be in positions of power where their bodies and looks are not the talk of the media. We deserve better." Like her, other women in Southeast Asia lament the rise of numerous articles and reports that sexualize the female population. A recent series on sex addiction published by AsiaOne.com highlighted the fear that women are viewed in a negative light. The issue for them is how the series was promoted. In one headline, AsiaOne.com writes how a woman had a “random 4some with three men" in what the young girls argued was an “attempt to get men to read it, looking for juicy details I am sure." Jumana, who volunteers her time in the summer working with a local women's shelter that helps former sex workers integrate back into society, told Bikyamasr.com that for her, the issue is not about sex, but about women “not being given equal standing by society." “Look at how we are treated. We are used as objects for men to have and conquer as they want. We are sexually assaulted, used for business deals and forced to do things we don't want to do in order to please men," she said. At the heart of the issue, the focus on women has been angering, partly because they don't buy into the idea that sex addiction is a real disease. “We are all sexual people and we enjoy sex, this is the fact. Having sex with our loved one is what people really want. We all could be diagnosed with sex addiction if we aren't getting enough, right?" Jumana added. “The articles were written to shame and blame women for enjoying whatever they want to do in their personal and private lives." For now, governments in the region appear unwilling to take action against porn. Although the Philippines has made efforts to end illicit activities online, by banning cyber-sex sites – but is facing a legal battle over the move – the overall feeling in the region among women is that the media is playing to readers in an attempt to gain visitors to their sites. “Across the region, we see women in lingerie and in provocative positions, even when it is a somewhat serious article. This needs to end if we are to have societies that honestly deal with women in an equal manner," said Aziz.
