Hawaiian Fever "The Fetishization Line"

[updated 2009] The artwork depicted is Steve Simon and many of the things above can be difficult to unravel. The products in Hawaii tend to have double meanings with the origins of the Blue Hawaii being great in culinary history as well as a double edged sword to people not caring to understand its importance and see it only as a drink. The hula girl and the pineapple are Hawaii icons that represent both the authentic and inauthentic at the same time with nuances that can tip that idea to either perspective. It is important to have the discussion of what is Hawaiian Fever that is a mental disease and what is Hawaiianophilia the respectful studies of Hawaii.

Description: Hawaiian Fever is a serious attitude disease transmitted by "Racial Fetish" and primarily found in tropical regions and communities of the United States. There can be people who really are into the entire big picture Hawaii and then those who look at the small picture and fantasy. Someone who has Hawaiian Fever shows symptoms first in the way they prefer their friends, partner, or dating, and there are different grades of it. Symptoms can range from a mild-romantic preference (favor, option, leaning), moderate-romantic preference (choice, clear, searching), and high-romantic preference (absolute, intense, desiring).

Hawaiian Fever:  Hawaiian Fever is not Hawaiianophilia, because Hawaiianophilia in its purest form is a genuine and profound interest in the unique way of life found in the Hawaiian Islands. What it isn't is a strong sexual or romantic preference for those of Polynesian or Hawaiian descent, by non-Pacific Islanders. It is considered a American Racial Fetish because the preference is deeply ingrained in mainland-stereotypes, racial objectification, and perceived cultural traits. Someone with Hawaiian Fever is completely oblivious to anything about Hawaii and its people, Hawaiian, Local, and Residents.

Confusion of the Philias: The word that is attached "philia", especially when it has to do with cultural philias exists on a spectrum, with a fine and often blurred line separating authentic appreciation from problematic fetishization and cultural appropriation. Weaponized Hawaiianophilia is a "Anti-Race Sediment", which is a negative attitude or feelings towards another person who has a genuine interest. This escalates as a perceived verbal-attack or even worse a physical one by another person showing prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism against a person in a "Racist" manner. This sort of racist behavior is often a sign of a lack of understanding the other person and quick to point fingers at what they are without getting to know them properly. 

History of Hawaii's Commodification: A Historical Trajectory, the seeds of problematic ideas were sown early in the islands' history of Western contact. The arrival of European explorers in the late 18th century, followed by missionaries and traders, began a process of cultural transformation and, eventually, subjugation. The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893 by American and European businessmen, supported by U.S. Marines, marked a pivotal moment. This act dismantled a sovereign nation and ushered in an era of "Class Warfare" where Hawaiian culture was often suppressed, romanticized, or commodified for external consumption for the finances of a few at the sacrifice of the everyday working person.

Origins of Hawaiian Fever: As tourism began to flourish in the early 20th century, particularly after Hawaii became a U.S. territory, the image of Hawaii was heavily curated for Western audiences. The "hula girl" stereotype emerged—often depicted as an exotic, subservient figure, far removed from the sacred and storytelling traditions of authentic hula. This would have many similarities to the problematic "geisha girl" stereotype emerging in Japan as an exotic, subservient figure, and the question is the lense of who and what. It was easy to blame things like the rise of interest in the era brought upon by "Tiki culture" on the mainland, but that inauthentic period was not judged by the global-society trends that are hyper-responsive today. Today acknowledging Tiki Culture as Fantasy Category is essential in enjoying it. But Tiki Culture is a quick way to derail the original argument about racial stereotypes with no deep understandings of having them other than aesthetic ones.

Mental Disease: This is a sort of mental disease in a way as people push-forward, uplift stereotypes, and are stubborn to acknowledge anything deeper. Someone with authentic Hawaiianophilia is all opposite of someone with Hawaiian Fever and of course this sort of naming comes from other similar American Color-Wheel problems of stereotypes where people even have Yellow Fever, White Fever, Red Fever, you name it. Anyone can have a lense with blinders and just follow fantasy instead of reality and it can manifest itself in various forms, often fueled by social media and the desire for "exotic" personal branding. So a quick way to filter out anyone with Hawaiian Fever is if they describe something through the negatives of the "Exotic" like over sexualization of Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women as a priority in preferred discussions that happen all the time. 

Harmful Generalizations: This can lead to objectification and harmful generalizations, reducing individuals to a romanticized fantasy rather than recognizing their full humanity and cultural identity. Its part of the reason there is a sort of complexity to the misunderstanding of ones own cultural identity in Hawaii and it contributes to that problem. Another way to diagnose this disease of Hawaiian Fever is if they portray Hawaii as a simple, untouched paradise, devoid of modern challenges or complex history, because that's called projecting "infantilization". This often comes from a place of ignorance, where the rich, evolving culture is reduced to a stagnant culture that never moves with time. It really can lead to many discussions that are incredibly shallow, finger pointy, and it gets all messy for no real reason at all other than ignorance.