The Erotic Work of Asian American Activism: Harnessing Kink, Queer, and Sex Worker Praxis
This thesis discusses the harnessing of alternative, kink, and queer sexualities within the Asian American community towards anti-racist and sex work positive activism during the COVID-19 pandemic era of anti-Asian violence. It opens by tracing the shooting on Asian massage parlors in Atlanta, Georgia in 2021 to historic immigration legislation such as the Page Act of 1875 that enshrined hypersexualized racism. The paper then analyzes the role of race and racial representation in the history of the BDSM (Bondage/Dominance, Dominance/Submission, and Sadomasochism) subculture from the 1950s to 2020s, tracking the emergence of groups like the Asian American Feminist Collective (AAFC) and the Asian Leather and Kink Alliance (ALKA). The intersection of kink and activism is further explored in contemporary Asian American organizations that campaign for anti-racist causes, sex worker rights, and kink de-stigmatization like Red Canary Song. In addition, the thesis surveys performances of racialized sexuality and deployments of Orientalist tropes in Chinese American nightclubs from the 1930s to 1970s in conversation with contemporary Asian American kink practitioners and sex workers who work with the Sacred Wounds erotic theatre troupe. Finally, it examines the Private Practices: AAPI Artist and Sex Worker Collection at the Los Angeles Contemporary Archive (LACA) as a self-historicizing effort by Asian American creators to historicize kink and archive non-normative Asian American sexualities. This thesis argues for the historical, cultural, and political value of non-normative sexual practices and identities in Asian American activism, recognizing the forms of community care, sexual activism, and anti-assimilation politics that erotic work embodies.
activism, Asian American, kink, queer, sex work, sexuality, Asian American Studies, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies, United States History
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