Sorry Buddy, There's No Oxford Study
By Caitlynn Sue Nov. 13, 2024
An Asian woman posts a TikTok of a day in her life while on vacation—going to the beach, trying new foods and enjoying a hike in the mountains. She is traveling with her white boyfriend who happens to be in the frame for a split second. The next day, the woman opens the comment section, expecting remarks on the lovely scenery or delicious food. Instead, she is instead met with a flood of comments: “OXFORD STUDY,” “stop getting colonized” and “another Asian woman falling for a mid white man.”
Her situation is one of many stemming from yet another disturbing TikTok trend—
ridiculing Asian women for dating white men, exhibited by the belittling phrase “Oxford study.” This refers to the belief that there is a formal academic study published by Oxford University documenting the disproportionate attraction of Asian women to white men compared to other races, specifically the 2010 study “The New Suzie Wong: Normative Assumptions of White Male and Asian Female Relationships.” However, upon closer examination (merely reading the first sentence
of the study’s abstract), one discovers that the study has absolutely nothing to do with real-life relationships between Asian women and white men. Rather it examines those portrayed in television advertisements.
One of the study’s authors spoke out against its recent online attention, explaining that the study is being misinterpreted and is not relevant to modern relationships. Yet, this has done little to stop social media users from using “Oxford study” comments to scorn and stereotype the personal lives of Asian women. These social media users do not care for truthfulness—they deliberately search for any information that can be twisted to support their attacks.
“The men who continue to reference the ‘Oxford study’ are just resentful due to their own lack of dating success. Asian women dating white men is not a big deal. These men are simply irritated that these Asian women are not attracted to them,” Junior Anya Shah said.
The “Oxford study” comments reveal the extent of misogynistic prejudices, particularly within online Men’s Rights Asian (MRAsian) groups. Many leaving “Oxford study” comments are MRAsian men who claim Asian women should be “first dibs” for them. This seems to be a response to their own insecurity in the dating realm: in Western society, Asian men are generally viewed as less attractive due to emasculating portrayals of them in media.
In the eyes of many MRAsians, Asian women are the prize in their patriarchal competition with other men, leading to their bigoted beliefs that Asian women are “betraying” them by choosing to date white men. This follows the deranged pattern of men throughout history viewing women as objects that can be “theirs” rather than human beings who can make their own relationship choices.
In addition, MRAsians insist that an Asian woman’s choice to date a white man reflects anti-Asian attitudes and a compliance to white supremacy as they believe Asian women are foolishly catering to hypersexualized Western fetishes of Asian women. It is an extreme overgeneralization to assume internalized racism behind every interracial relationship involving a white man. Numerous factors contribute to someone’s unique dating preferences and it is never anyone else’s business to judge who a person chooses to date—especially complete strangers on social media. The audacity of social media users to simplify a woman’s entire relationship journey to two words is illogical and insensitive.
“On social media, people are often more judgemental because of the lack of face-to-face confrontation. Regardless, it is wrong to make immediate judgments on the nature of a relationship seen on social media since it is such a small snippet of what is otherwise a much more complex and layered connection,” Senior Quynh Do said.
Ultimately, “Oxford study’” is a toxic and counterproductive term that reduces Asian women to stereotypes while worsening the reputation of Asian men. No one should be judged for harmless dating preferences. It is time to move beyond immature assumptions and treat everyone with more empathy.
About the Contributors
Caitlynn Sue
front page & opinions page editor
Caitlynn Sue is a Junior at Leland High School and a page editor for journalism. This is her second year in journalism and she loves writing and eating snacks during print night. Outside of journalism, she enjoys baking, violin, and dance.
Dana Lim
art director
Dana Lim is a Senior at Leland High School and the Charger Account's Art Director. She loves the creative aspect of art and this is her fourth year in journalism. She likes listening to music, nights out with friends, and cats.
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