The Hypersexuality of Race

In The Hypersexuality of Race (Duke University Press, 2007), Celine Parreñas Shimizu urges a shift in thinking about sexualized depictions of Asian/American women in film, video, and theatrical productions. Shimizu advocates moving beyond denunciations of sexualized representations of Asian/American women as necessarily demeaning or negative and argues for a more nuanced approach to the mysterious mix of pleasure, pain, and power in performances of race and sexuality. The talk will include clips from early Hollywood cinema, stag films, gonzo pornography and independent Asian American feminist film and video.

Q&A with Celine Parreñas Shimizu follows the talk, moderated by Gayatri Gopinath, Associate Professor and Director of NYU’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Program at the Department for Social and Cultural Analysis.

Celine Parreñas Shimizu is Associate Professor of Asian American, Film, and Women’s Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara and an award-winning filmmaker. Her publications include articles in Theatre Journal, Wide Angle, Yale Journal of Law and Feminism and Signs: Journal of Women, Culture and Society.

Supported by the NYU Department of Cinema Studies at the Tisch School of the Arts.

SAVE THE DATE

Tuesday, April 14, 2009
A/P/A Institute at NYU
41-51 E. 11th Street, Floor 7
between Broadway & University Place
6PM-8PM

FREE to the public. RSVP by Friday, April 10, 2009 to apa.rsvp@nyu.edu or 212-992-9653. For more information or to rsvp online, visit www.apa.nyu.edu.