A commentary published in the women’s magazine, Marie Claire, about “younger Asian women marrying old white men” has received criticism from Asian American journalists, Sing Tao Daily reports. Ying Chu, the author of the commentary “The New Trophy Wives: Asian Women,” cited Woody Allen’s marriage to Soon-Yi – who is 35 years younger than the famed film director – to suggest that Asian women enter such marital relationships either to seek opportunities, or to gain affection from father figures. Chu added that older white husbands feel more secure when married to submissive and domestic Asian women. Asian American journalists described such comments as offensive and stereotypical. Jeff Yang, a magazine founder, defended Asian women, saying women like Rupert Murdoch’s wife, Wendi Deng, Bruce Wasserstein’s wife, Angela Chao, and actress Ziyi Zhang, who were mentioned in the commentary, all have successful careers and should not be depicted with the stereotypical Asian women image. Taiwan Times reporter, Catherine Chu, also said she found the commentary problematic because it portrays Asian females as weak and materialistic social climbers..
