Fetishization of Asian American Women: A Discourse Analysis on the Media Portrayal of the Victims of the 2021 Atlanta Spa Shootings

Asian American women have an intersectional identity that creates unique experiences, including discrimination and violence with a history of fetishization. In 2021, eight people were shot and killed in three spas in Atlanta, Georgia. Seven of the eight victims were women, six of whom were of Asian descent. While the shooter stated his actions were the results of sex addiction, and not racially motivated, the shootings occurred during a rise in attacks against Asian Americans amid the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic. The Atlanta Spa Shootings provide a unique case where we can apply an intersectional lens to determine how identifiers, such as gender and race, shape Asian American women\u27s experiences in America. The study specifically analyzes Asian American women\u27s experiences of violence in the media\u27s framing of their narrative as victims through qualitative discourse analysis. By analyzing news discourse in the Atlanta Spa Shootings as covered by American newspapers over a period of one year, the study highlights the way both racism and misogyny, exemplified by the fetishization of Asian American women, may have compounded into the attack and its portrayal