'1. Do you believe that porn tagged with racial themes (which looks to be a huge
amount) is inherently 'racist' in some way ? For example, asians make up less
than 5% of the US population, yet asian females account for a huge slice of
porn production. Is this a form of racial targeting of a vulnerable minority,
and is it abusive?'
Mika answered, "Porn "DVD lines" or titles are all compiled to hit target
markets. The racial titles have gotten a little crazy over the years with
companies trying to find different names to refer to the same thing: Asian
girls. DVD's cannot have the same title, so I think these production companies
sit and study a thesaurus to come up with eye-catching, simple, yet ORIGINAL
titles. When I am booked for a scene, all I only told the genre (i.e. fetish,
asian, schoolgirl - so I know what kind of wardrobe to bring) and the titles
are done later when the movie is released. I almost never have any idea what
the title of the DVD when it is being filmed, unless it is a sequel.
"You must understand that the racial target is not directed to the
performers...the target is the consumer. Many, many men absolutely LOVE Asian
women. PERIOD. The movies are made for them. I am in the business of fantasy
fulfillment. There is a large demographic of military/business men who fell in
love with the quintessential "Asian whore" while in Southeast Asia. You would
not believe how many times I have been hired to speak in broken English. They
sometimes have language coaches on set to help the more Americanized Asian
girls speak with Asian accents. We are performers. I said it before and I will
say it again, porn is not necessarily for men like you who have an Asian girl
already. Porn is for the guy who loves Asian women and cannot get one. For
some, porn is the only outlet to get the kind of sex they like."
2. Could it be argued that the type of work you do perpetuates and strengthens
the absolute worse stereotypes in this country about Asian women?
Tan responded, "What are the stereotypes? I have been a dominatrix (several
times over), a prostitute, a schoolgirl, a businesswoman, a CEO, a doctor, a
nurse...the stereotypes in porn far exceeds race. You can take these same
characters I have played and put it on a blonde or a Mexican or a black girl.
All pornchicks have all played the same fantasy role at one time or another. I
have played very strong and very submissive roles."
3. Do you believe it increases the prevalence of sex tours to Asian countries,
and increases the odds of Asian girls being targeted for sexual abuse?
"Sex tours in Asian countries are being perpetuated by these Asian countries
and companies who exploit these Asian women. American porn does not have
anything to do with that. Those have been going on longer than porn has been
around. Some people seem to believe that Asian-based porn is the only window
men have to see Asian women in a sexual way. Prostitution in Thailand, Vietnam,
the Phillippines, and South Korea have been around for a very long time,
keeping many thousands of GI's happy since the early 1950's."
"Okinawan schoolgirls have been targeted my US Marines for years. Japanese porn
who show all the schoolgirls in uniform might have a hand in that one. I don't
know. "
"I hope that for every guy who gets off and rolls over to sleep at home, that
one less guy trolling the bars with the intent of getting rid of his sexual
frustrations on any woman who happens along."
"Rape is an issue of control, not sex -- by the way."
4. Do you believe the rough 'gonzo' style and mysogynist attitude of most porn
(google also shows you on 18inchesofpain.com) and its focus on the 'pain'
inflicted on the actresses promotes women as objects of sexual humiliation?
Mika answered, "I also work on a website called meninpain.com and
meanbitches.com. Men are the subject of humilation there. Please get it in your
head that porn does not target only one sex or one gender."
"After almost 10 years in the business, I have noticed trends toward more
mysogynistic roles. I think it is the change in American society's views on
women. Women are more powerful than they have been over the last 50 years. Most
television sitcoms show the wives are the smart ones, while their husbands are
simple-minded dolts. While women's roles in the home and the workplace are
changing, the average porn consumer is still between 30-45. The stronger women
get, the more men want to fantasize about them being put back in their place,
so to speak."
"Porn tries to accommodate different kinds of niche markets. One gonzo DVD
costs about $16K to produce. They do not make DVDs unless their market research
shows they will be able to sell their film. Porn does not create fetishes, it
caters to them. I believe there is a market for average Asian men having sex
with pornstars to the point where I kerplunked $15K of my own money to produce
a DVD, but I cannot get distribution because no company so far feels that it is
a strong enough market."
5. Do you think that consumers of porn will try to reenact these scenes with
asian sex workers or girlfriends? Do you think that some of them have lost any
idea of what a 'real' sexual relationship could be?
Mika said, "I would hope some people use porn to spice up their sex lives! Lots
of people whether or not they watch porn have a twisted view on what a normal
sexual relationship should be. I dated a guy in college who never watched porn
and yet he loved spitting in my mouth and wanted anal sex all the time, because
his ex-girlfriend liked it. People learn for other sources aside from porn."
6. Do you think porn could some day be colorblind? Or will porn consumers in
this country always seek racial combinations that highlight domination /
submission of one race to another? Especially Asian women?
"Porn will never be colorblind, because the men who shop for porn are looking
for their type of women. Guys who like Latinas does not want to pick up a DVD
with black girls in it. The end consumer is the person we want to make things
easier for. This is kind of a repeat of Question #2." Tan said.
7. Final question: If you could do it all over again, would you?
Mika says, "Absolutely. The only thing I would have changed is that I should
have saved more of it. Some of the dumb things I spent money on: I traveled
extensively through Europe and Asia when I first started, bought a new car for
a stupid ex-boyfriend, a $1250 Queen Amidala costume for Halloween, which my
cat pee'd on and I ended up throwing it away! That sucked."
