Join us for a thought-provoking book talk with Kaila Yu on her memoir Fetishized, exploring identity, representation, and reclaiming her voice as an Asian American woman. She will be in conversation with journalist, Ben Lei.

Like most young women, Kaila grew up with big dreams set in a big world experienced through movies, television, and glossy magazine pages. As a teenager and through her most impressionable years, she turned to these sources for women to look up to—for beautiful, strong, smart, and talented women worthy of the world’s attention that looked like her. But the only Asian representation Kaila had to choose from in the late 90s and early 2000s were women that were reduced to overtly sexual and submissive caricatures; women with background roles that spoke in broken English, or in barely-there outfits. Kaila learned that to show her body was to be seen.

Thus, she plunged into a career of import modeling where her value was reflected through the male gaze. Through heartbreaking and poignant prose, Kaila begins to learn to love herself and attempt to rectify the world’s objectification of Asian Americans, providing a space for everyone to learn, grow, and heal.

"Yu’s debut fuses critique, historical examination and feminist contemplation with an unsparing account of her personal journey... This is an unstinting and necessary read, a memoir that sits as a natural companion to Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings." – The New York Times

“In a series of essays on her personal experience, [Yu] explores Hollywood stereotypes and the history of colonization in a voice both raw and lyrical.” —New York Times, 22 Books to Read in August

Kaila Yu is a freelance writer for the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, Business Insider, Conde Nast Traveler and more. Formerly, she was a model and the lead singer for the all–Asian American female rock band Nylon Pink. Fetishized is her first book. You can find Kaila online @kailayu.

Ben Lei is a journalist and marketing executive passionate about film, pop culture, and representation. In 2025, he launched United By Rice, an online magazine and podcast dedicated to amplifying Asian American voices in entertainment. Within its first year, the podcast earned an HCA Award nomination and featured guests including Lee Jung-jae, Olivia Munn, Ronnie Chieng, and Ejae.

As a senior writer at Awards Focus, Ben has interviewed artists such as Noah Wyle, Carrie Coon, Paul Giamatti, Anna Sawai, Joan Chen, and Mikey Madison—always with an eye toward spotlighting underrepresented voices.

Drawing on his background as a senior marketing executive, Ben brings a storyteller’s lens and a strategist’s vision to United By Rice, with a mission to celebrate, elevate, and archive the stories of Asian American creators for audiences today and generations to come.