School of Theatre & Dance’s Statement on Anti-Asian Violence and the Atlanta Murders

Madama Butterfly (1904)
South Pacific (1949)
Pacific Overtures (1976)
Miss Saigon (1989)

Ever since Giacomo Puccini’s adaptation of David Belasco’s adaption of John Luther Long’s adaptation of Pierre Loti’s 1887 novel Madame Chrysanthéme, the trope of the Asian woman as prostitute has become a longstanding figure on the American stage. Against a background of military violence, the on-stage stereotype of Asian women as sexual objects who are both readily available and easily discardable continues to circulate and affect the lives of Asian women in their everyday lives. The recent murder of 8 people, 6 of whom are Asian women at three spas outside of Atlanta, Georgia and the characterization of the accused murderer by a Georgia police official as “having a bad day” due to a sex addiction exemplifies the persistent belief that the natural state of Asian femininity is death.

Murdering people is NOT “having a bad day,” but the following examples are:

Being attacked, harassed or murdered for being Asian
Being attacked, harassed or murdered for being a sex worker
Being attacked, harassed or murdered for being an Asian sex worker
Being attacked, harassed or murdered because someone thinks you are a sex worker
Being attacked, harassed or murdered because someone thinks you are an Asian sex worker

Our hearts go out to the victims and their families and friends.