The Problem With Being a Young Asian Woman by Sophie Jones

“I need to see your friend’s identification,” the concierge repeats to the older man

towering beside me. The man’s pale skin contrasts my smooth, honey brown. To the outside eye,

we make an intriguing pair: the old white guy in a suit with the little Asian girl and her overladen

backpack standing in the middle of a hotel in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab

Emirates. To the hotel concierge, we are a crime—the very image of prostitution.

Except, the white guy beside me is my father, and in my backpack are school books and

pencils.

Scenarios like this happen because many people hold biased perceptions—stereotypes—

of Asian women, especially if they look like they come from developing nations like Indonesia,

my birthplace. However, in the UAE, individuals, like the concierge, need to interact with and

make snap decisions about an impressively diverse public. According to Global Median Insight,

almost 90% of the UAE population is foreign. Of the employed expat population, 80% are

South-East or South Asian migrants. Based on the Dubai Statistics Center research, 15% of these

expats are women, most of whom are employed in ‘elementary occupations’ such as cleaning. If

not a maid, the young Asian woman is most likely a prostitute. While the exact numbers are

difficult to determine because of the illegality of sex work in the UAE, one estimate suggests that

prostitutes make up 10% of the female Asian working population. Given the odds, an unfortunate

stereotype emerges: young? Check. Female? Check. Asian? Check. She must be a maid or

prostitute.

Why are these women in the UAE in the first place? Because their homes need new

roofs. Because their children need education. Because they have lost their husbands, and their

family has no income.

This is the reality of poverty.

Women from more developed countries might have better opportunities, but women from

the developing world like Indonesia have a limited choice set. Though forced trafficking is one

cause of prostitution, many women choose to enter the sex industry on their own because other

options are rare. Sex work in Indonesia exists in the grey economy—not quite illegal—and it is

lucrative. As such, it is estimated by UNAIDS that there are around 225,000 prostitutes in the

country. Whereas the average payment for four hours of house cleaning in the UAE is around 32

US dollars, a four-hour stint as a prostitute in Jakarta garners 350. The difference is stark and

more than enough to explain the appeal of prostitution.

How can we blame women for wanting to solve their problems? These problems are

deeply ingrained in not just Indonesia but the world’s economic structure. Women undertake

these degrading jobs, making a sacrifice to provide for themselves and their families, only to be

devalued for fulfilling male sexual desire. We judge these women for taking on these positions,

but the larger society ensures no better choice. We create a stereotype of an Asian woman from a

developing country as either a maid or prostitute, but again the world allows nothing else.

Because of her poverty, she becomes unworthy of quality education, higher pay, and

opportunities. The poverty becomes “her fault,” as though prostitution or cleaning is something

she wanted and not the consequence of deeply rooted economic struggles and tyranny; a cycle in

which the players are forced to perpetuate their own stereotypes and choices. But what kind of

choices are these?

Occasionally, someone can break the cycle. My biological mother made a different

choice that might be considered an equal sacrifice: the choice to give me away so my life could

be different. The concierge may presume I am a criminal, but my backpack is filled with school

books and pencils, ensuring that I have a different licfe than a maid or prostitute. I can become

someone who changes the system. I can change how people see young Asian women, especially

in developing nations. Adoption, of course, is not the only solution. There are other young Asian

women like me whose families chose to break the cycle in a different but equally impactful way.

My sisters and I will lead empowered lives that offer rich choices. Together, we will dismantle

the stereotype.