Trolls are citing a ‘Oxford study’ to demean Asian women

Commenters pepper women’s social media accounts with the misunderstood phrase, fueling anxiety about dating and their sense of self

Over the past year, a peculiar phrase has begun to litter Asian women’s social media accounts: “Oxford study”.

An Asian woman vlogging about her dating life – and particularly about dating white men – gets commenters reacting to her updates with the words “Oxford study”. A young Asian student showing off her prom dress with her white boyfriend sees “obligatory Oxford study comment” on her TikTok. “I can already hear the oxford study comments coming,” one Asian woman captions a video of her dancing with her white partner.