The Australian attitude towards SEA can be best summed up as one of post-colonialism. It's our tropical backyard playground where we go to be feted upon by the brown folk, whom we invariably see as our inferiors serving up mojitos and massages. This is probably best typified by the AAMI Rhonda/Ketut ads (gender roles reversed). Air Asia and Tiger Airways really saw a market tapping into the cashed-up bogan. Going to Thailand as an adult I saw these types all over Phuket. It was basically an exotic version of the RSL back home.
This mentality bleeds into the younger generations 'doing' SEA. I've called Bali the Australian Cancún (or the British Magaluf) and you could say the same about Thailand to a lesser extent. I think even the SWPLs who do more off the beaten track journeys there (plus South Asia) implicitly have a similar colonialist mindset, if more of a white sahib uncovering the frontiers of his empire sort of way.
As a result, I reckon that's partly where the stigma against going after local girls in Asia comes from; the idea that you're 'going native' as being a cop out to putting in the work and picking up on your own terms (lol). After all, who needs game if you're trying to score with a poor little submissive Asian bird that doesn't speak English? The belief amongst us is that the girls there are easy, pov-struck and will fuck anyone with white skin. Probably all working girls.
I even learnt that there's a term: "Loser Back Home" that originated in Hong Kong(?). As Rush said, it's probably a shaming tactic cooked up by Aussie women towards those who can't hack a real woman.
As a slight aside, this imperialist playground theme has extended to Europe over the last decade. Namely Croatia (Split, Sail Croatia), Greek Islands, Portugal (Lagos), Prague and Budapest -- we've marked our territory as Aussie party outposts. Even if Asian birds aren't your thing, the fact that the locals, to a woman, in each of those countries are objectively hotter and more feminine than Aussie women; was lost on the Aussie bloke, is
utterly mind-boggling. The Aussie bloke would be content gaming fellow Anglos at most (after swallowing many a story about how British and American girls go wet over our accent), maybe a German/Dutch/Scandinavian girl at the hostel if he had the cow sense. Those times when I'd gamed locals (Budapest, Kraków), they expressed outright
surprise that we'd been pretty much the only Aussies that gave Hungarian or Polish women the time of day. Just seeing our women, they must've been like "what's wrong with these Aussie guys?!"
I've maintained that you can spot an Aussie abroad a mile off, even before you see their Kathmandu/Black Wolf/Mountain Designs backpack. There's something about the saunter, the stretch fit cap, singlet, RVCA sweatshirt, thongs (flip-flops) and footy shorts that brands one as an Aussie. And the size too. We're noticeably big. Even the women.
Even though the Aussie alpha persona is mostly peacocking, we definitely punch below our weight in terms of dating. Euro dudes are noticeably beta in comparison, if only because they don't have a competitive onus to land a slim, feminine girl. If the Aussie were to realise his potential, he would seriously do some damage in Europe. We like our low-hanging fruit. What the others have said about the tall poppy syndrome is very much alive here.
Quote: (11-17-2015 11:48 PM)Robert Plant Wrote:
Ausies stick to white girls in Asia for the same reason American guys in Europe hang out with American girls in hostels and European guys usually travel with their European girlfriends. Most people just aren't ballsy or adventurous enough to travel alone, go out alone and do the awesome stuff that a lot of us on the forum do.
It's a bit rich for the American to knock Australian travelling habits as unadventurous. Granted, on my second time in Europe, I was blown away by the extent that Aussies travel in groups. But we're way more likely to travel solo, and end up in much more far-flung places. Go to the midsts of the Patagonian pampas, the steppes of Central Asia, you'll meet an Aussie or a Kiwi wandering around. When I was enquiring about hitchhiking at my hostel in Barcelona, I was taken aback by the response that it was Aussies who were mainly keeping that practice alive in Europe. Similarly, we were the impetus behind the Couchsurfing boom in Europe a few years back. You'll find a massive contingent at not just the big overseas festivals (Sziget, Tomorrowland, Lollapalooza) but smaller niche ones too.
Australians might like our comfort zones and herd mentalities but we're much, much more likely to push boundaries too.