An Odd Situation: Dealing with inappropriate behavior and racism.

This particular issue... probably arises as much in America as it does China. I begin with an excerpt from John Howard Griffin's Black Like Me:

All but two picked me up the way they would pick up a pornographic photograph or book - except that this was verbal pornography. With a Negro, they assumed they need give no semblance of self-respect or respectability... All showed morbid curiosity about the sexual life of the Negro, and all had, at base, the same stereotyped image of the Negro as as an inexhaustible sex-machine with oversized genitals and a vast store of experiences, immensely varied. They appeared to think that the Negro has done all of those 'special' things they themselves had never dared to do... I note these things because it is harrowing to see decent-looking men and boys assume that because a man is black they need to show him none of the reticences they would, out of respect, show the most derelict white man (Griffin 86).

Now. Everything I've experienced at home is similar, but in a petri dish - much purer, thus much more amplified, and increasingly frustrating. I already questioned what it would be like to be black in China. Also, I've noted how drastically different it is to be a black American and the frustrations that must ensue. At home, I've also indirectly experienced great discomfort from witnessing discussions of blackness and sexuality, of the constant objectification of the black member - the Mandingo complex. I could go on about blackness, femininity, and sexuality, but today, that's not what I witnessed and issue with (and actually, I've only seen two black females here - one African, one American).

Today, I was determined to go to Chunxi Lu, one of Chengdu's most popular shopping districts. I was supposed to meet up with Donald at 11, but due to my inability to stay awake and some retarded travel antics, I didn't make it until almost 1pm. He showed me some really cool malls and places I hadn't known about already, and we wandered through some of the cheap markets for a while. Everyone stared, many people rudely commented on our presence/appearance/etc., and some excitedly ran up and tried talking to us (complete with extremely doofus laughter). In one store in particular, they began staring at us, looking at each other, talking, looking back at us - to which Donald responded, in English - "I can understand you. I speak Chinese." (A good number of young people speak English, even if it's only "Hello" and "NICE TO MEET YOU!") We stood there awkwardly, too frozen by their extremely blatant discussion of us to look at the clothes, until one pulled me aside. Numerous times, she pointed at my crotch. At first I thought she was trying to let me know I had something on my pants, then I thought she was trying to ask me if I was male or female, and then, when she pointed at my cohort... I realized what she was trying to ask me.

Greatly annoyed, I responded as such.
“噢! 阴茎！他的阴茎！很大。 很大。 你要/有看吗？！” 
Oh! Yīnjīng! Tā de yīnjīng! Hěn dà. Hěn dà. Nǐ yào/yǒu kàn ma? ! 


When I said "yinjing," she nodded, flushed pink, before I continued loudly fabricating answers to her rude question... to which she grew more and more embarrassed - until she hid her face in her suddenly-apparent boyfriend's chest. As we quickly exited the store, laughing in shocked disbelief, we saw the couple leave in a huff, allegedly with a very angry boyfriend leading the way. Not only did this girl have the audacity to equate my friend to a stereotype of his genitals - by assuming that as two foreigners in each others' company we must be physically involved and that she should ask me - she did so in front of her boyfriend. What the fuck, please. :(

Also, when I say petri-dish... If you've seen the awesome video by RecklessTortuga called "Racism in the Elevator," or unknown's video "White Girl Work-Out" - it definitely applies here. And it is just as hilarious. So I thank Donald for showing me how much fun can be had as a foreigner in spite of these stereotypes, and I'm very glad to have met him. But how the hell do these stereotypes spread like this?

It definitely needs to be addressed... 

These things are every-fucking-where.