This has led the "it's not what but where" theorists to the argument that if there were Western girls available in the Orient on a par basis, Western men would prefer them.
Much to the chagrin and embarrassment of many American women subjected to this test, it has been proven numerous times that Western men choose Oriental women when given a free choice. During the weird, wonderful years of the U.S. military occupation of Japan just after World War II, when there were thousands of American women there amidst hundreds of thousands of love-hungry GI's, most of the women found they could not compete with the petite, compliant Japanese lasses—even though many of the American girls resorted to the last weapon in their arsenal. Similar circumstances have since proven the same point in several other Asian countries.
The Oriental girls referred to in this book include Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Filipina. The nationalities are covered separately in the order in which the American traveler is most likely to meet them on a routine tour of the Orient.
My purpose has been to attempt to discover and analyze what it is that makes Oriental women so attractive and exciting to Western men, as well as to briefly describe the social and economic environment in which the girls live so the viewer can better understand and appreciate them.
BOYE LAFAYETTE DE MENTE
WOMEN OF THE ORIENT
1
THE
WOMEN
OF
JAPAN
Two things immediately strike the girl-watcher newly arrived in Japan: the doll-like stature and the cute faces of most of the girls he sees. The traveler quickly notes that the petite figure of the typical girl is made up of a gracefully curved neck and shoulder line, a tiny waist, svelte hips, small feet, attractive legs, and a modest but harmoniously proportioned bust. The girl-watcher also notes the presence of tall, long-legged willowy girls of the type so often seen in international beauty contests, but he learns later that they are more representative of fashion model groups and cabaret girls than the average girl in the street.
Although there may be perfectly normal exceptions, men apparently prefer women smaller than themselves. The reasons for this are not particularly important but the fact that the preference exists is very important because many Western women are both taller and heavier than many Western men. Of course, Western women can point out that many men are also fat, and that their husbands and boyfriends like them plump. But I suspect this is nothing more than rationalization. At any rate, when pinned down most Western men appear to have a deep aversion to large women. When the American girl-watcher is confronted by thousands of small-bodied Japanese girls, who more often than not are also shapely, both his ego and his libido expand as if by some dark magic.
Perhaps the next most important physical asset of Japanese girls is their complexion. The skin of the typical Japanese girl, almost always smooth and clear (Japanese girls have fewer pimples and other skin blemishes because of their different diet), is just enough off-white to provide a special thrill to Caucasian Westerners. At the same time, it is white enough to also be especially attractive to Black Americans and other dark-skinned Westerners. Actually, Japanese girls may have one of three distinct complexions: a kind of reddish olive, a yellowish olive, or a creamy white. Girls in this latter category are usually from northern Japan.
The reason why the generally darker complexion of Japanese girls sensually excites Caucasian Westerners is deeply rooted in their psyche, and may have something to do with the fact that there is often a nature-based attraction between opposites. Whatever the reason and whatever the particular shade of a Japanese girl's complexion, there is usually enough of a difference in the texture and color tone to stimulate the interest of the average Western girl-watcher.
The Japanese bust brings up two points. First, most Western men, particularly Americans and Latins, seem to have a fixation for female breasts which would appear to be a serious handicap in their admiration of Japanese girls. But such is not the case. These men are apparently able to repress or completely purge the fixation where Japanese girls are concerned, perhaps because the psychological conditioning responsible for the fixation does not carry over to them. Second, the bust of the average Japanese girl is not as small as many Westerners often believe it to be.
This underestimation of the size of the Japanese bust came about because in addition to not wearing stiff brassieres (or brassieres of any type in many cases), the Japanese have traditionally de-emphasized the breast. The kimono, Japan's traditional female costume, makes no allowance for breasts at all. To prevent the breasts from protruding—if they are large enough to protrude—the kimono wearer ordinarily wraps a wide band of cloth around her chest to keep the breasts flat. As geisha buffs know, the kimono led to the development of the nape of the neck as the focal point of sexual attraction in Japan.
Most young girls in Japan today wear bras, but the most common type is made of thin, soft material that still de-emphasizes rather than exaggerates the bust. Older women, especially in rural areas, seldom wear bras. On hot summer days in both rural and urban Japan, older women will often work or sit around outside their homes with their breasts exposed to the cooling breezes. This traditional custom is well summed up in a popular senryu poem: Ko ga dekite kara wa arawa ni hada o dashi —After a woman has had a baby she exposes her nakedness (breasts) in public.
While generally small by Western standards, the Japanese bust is usually well-proportioned for the frame it adorns. In contrast, many Western women are burdened by oversized breasts; or they are embarrassed by breasts that are small in comparison to their overall body size. Only rarely are Japanese women bothered by either of these maladies. When a Japanese girl does have a proportionally small bust, which is by far the greater handicap where Western girls are concerned, the lack is not as conspicuous and is seldom ever considered a serious deficiency. All things considered, the Japanese bust more often than not serves its purpose.
No girl-watcher's manual on Japanese girls could be complete without some comment on their legs. The legs of most Japanese girls are proportionately shorter in relation to their body trunk than the legs of typical Western girls—although an improved diet and new living patterns are changing this among the younger generation. In some cases, such as when they wear certain types of Western clothing or compete in international beauty contests, their shorter legs would probably be judged a handicap. But these same legs accent the beauty of the traditional kimono and yukata (a thin cotton, all-purpose robe), adding an especially seductive aura to the area of the hips. Few Western men who have been in Japan have failed to appreciate the provocative appeal of the kimono-clad low-slung Japanese oshiri.
One might at first assume that the shorter legs of many Japanese girls would seriously damage their image in the eyes of Western men because for the last several decades Westerners have been subjected to elaborate advertising campaigns attempting to convince them of the extra special beauty, desirability, and virtue of long slender legs. But these campaigns and other considerations notwithstanding, Japanese girls appear to be even more popular among Western men—no doubt because their shorter legs contribute a great deal
