Attracting Asians: Culture vs biology?

[Marianne]

Okay, here's a thought that has been rolling around in my head; bear with me here lol.

When people talk about attracting Asians with pheromones, the suggestions tend to depend on whether the person in question is 'westernised' or not, right? Because we all know that different kinds of formulas are needed for the two different demographics. (And FYI when I say 'western' here, I'm mostly thinking of anglophone countries that are predominantly populated by Cacausians – such as the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and NZ)

I see it explained, time and again, that it's a cultural difference, rather than a biological one, that causes traditional/non-westernised Asians to require a specialised formula, whereas 'westernised Asians' respond to the same pheros used to attract Caucasians. But what if the difference is biological?

My reasoning is this: If you're an ethnically Asian person growing up in a western environment, that means that you grow up surrounded by the biologies (read: phero signatures) of Caucasians. Wouldn't that influence your own biology?

Perhaps not to the point of having your body secrete the same pheromones as your Caucasian peers, but certainly in the way your body registers and responds to phero input, no? It seems more likely to me, for example, that westernised Asians are more tolerant to enone (or what have you) because they've grown up around it and have had plenty of exposure to it, than because they've been educated culturally to find it more attractive.

Maybe if we found an environment where all the bodies are ethnically Asian yet the culture is completely Western, we could be sure that it's purely culture (and not biology) that causes westernised Asians to be attracted to regular old Caucasian phero signatures... but I'm not sure such an environment exists anywhere in the world right now.

At the end of the day, this distinction is probably non-essential to the actual pursuit of attracting people, but I just wanted to throw it out there. Maybe this has been discussed before on other forums, I'm not sure, but I'd be interested to hear what you guys think. I guess an alternate title for this post could be 'What makes us attracted to the phero sigs we're attracted to – culture or biology?'

Thoughts?

[cryptomones]

Great topic for discussion. One thing I'd also like to throw in is the term "Asian" itself can be quite broad actually. I know most people assume that it applies to east Asians, but there are a lot of other ethnicities and races in Asia as a continent. A Japanese friend of mine told me that any time his Turkish friend would talk about 'Asians' he would remind the Turkish friend that he was also technically Asian

If we're talking about Asians as a race, then it would apply to far east Asians (in accordance with the definition used by the census bureau). I still don't like using the term too much because of how broad it is, and how many neighboring countries to that area could still fall under the general 'Asian' definition.

Personally, I think, at least from my experience, trying to target based on a specific ethnicity/race is flawed, especially since as you pointed there's often a clarification of whether the person is 'westernized' or not, etc.

But I think it's more complex than that. I think it has more to do with the interactions of individuals within the micro-environments they have been raised, their families, friends and general social constructs.

For instance, in the US, there is a slight difference in general social constructs of people who grew up in the southeastern, western and northeastern US states. Just as a gross generalization based on stereotypes, southern women tend to be more friendly and feminine. Women in western US states tend to be more outspoken and progressive. Women in the northeast tend to be more intellectual and professionally driven. That's not to say you don't find discrepancies from these broad stereotypes. And that's my point - I think to really find what works, as in 'attracting a person based on a demographic' ... you have to go further than simply Asians, or even westernized Asians, or even westernized Asians in Massachusetts. Because people who grew up in the city of Boston will have a different social construct, experiences, mentalities, attitudes, personalities, etc. than people who grew up in the small town of Chester, Vermont. Even if both are westernized Asians, the social dynamics of those 2 areas, the political attitudes, etc. are quite different.

And that's just America. Some countries in Europe are probably small enough where this doesn't matter, but I find it even harder to make these kinds of generalizations in 'Asia' because there is a vastly different culture even in the subset of 'far east Asian countries' - even in each of those. For example, I've traveled to and lived in China. Let's remove some variables and only focus on cities. Well comparing to well-known cities, Beijing and Shanghai - there is huge difference between women in these 2 cities. There is also a huge difference in men.

Women in Shanghai specifically are very career driven, leaders of companies, ambitious, etc. It's unlike America where women seek equality; in Shanghai, women rule the business/corporate world. Men in Shanghai are assumed to be more feminine and less aggressive. In Beijing it's the opposite. In my own experiences in these cities, recently with XS products, Exotica was pretty ineffective in Shanghai. Evolve and Vibe worked well. I didn't have time to post much when I was there and note it all, but generally in Shanghai I used a good dose of -enone if I'm looking to flirt with women, and in Beijing, I use more -enone for a business setting to stand apart and gain more respect. Simply being a westerner in these cities is not of much importance because these are international cities full of foreigners.

But in Tokyo, where single women outnumber men, Exotica was far more effective and I didn't go heavy at all. Women there seem to be more timid in general, and it's definitely part of the culture, even in the city. I don't know Japanese women in the US, but that is one case where I think it is more native to the upbringing/culture. In other words, you can take a woman out of Japan, but you can't take the Japanese out of a woman. And hence, I think with them at least less -enone is better.

I don't have experience with other east Asian countries, but I think it would help to break down at least on a country basis. And within countries, break down cities vs. suburbs and assess what the general social interactions are like. If going into a business setting, what are the typical business formalities, and if looking for romance, what are the usual interactions between men and women like?

As a hyptothetical example, we could choose an ethnic group or people from a particular area where the men are timid and women tend to follow old traditional roles and don't get into non-married relationships. In this case, I wouldn't use much -enone in a professional setting, and I would use more social pheromones with women, with only a touch of -enone if that. You have to also consider religion and politics, though I'd rather not delve into those topics. But there are basically some places where it's crazy to even meet people outside your social circle. But there are small towns in middle America that are like that too. Has nothing to do with being Asian or western. So any tiny bit of pheromones, or perhaps the lighter the better, would do the trick.

Also, I think we need to consider the wearer in all these cases. If I were an African American in Asia, I would have to reconcile the fact that there isn't a great opinion of this race in Asia in general (simply because there are so few). So I would need to apply a lot of social lubricants. Perhaps no -enone at all. But an African American man meeting an Asian person in western regions, whether this person was born/raised in Asia would be different due to the general societal attitudes and the common occurence of African Americans.

There's just so many different factors.

I honestly don't know though if there is any scientific basis for targeting based on an ethnicity. I would be curious if there is any greater or lower sensitivity to certain pheromones based on an ethnicity.

[NuTrix]

What a great thought provoking read!

Interesting hypothesis Marrianne, one I wouldn't mind someone investigating and reading their findings on.

I'm still leaning toward upbringing/culture being the strongest link, but that's a great question to chew on none the less! Very interesting way to consider it

[hombre]

i would think that like anything else, there is an inherent factor and a environmental factor.

there will be a different physiological response based on genetic (born with) and epigenetic (can change in one generation or even during life).
and there will be different interpretation of that response based on the persons character.