--- title: "The New York Times Just Published Some Bizarre Race Science About Asian Women" description: "The New York Times published an article with a strange and bigoted claim about Asian women and manufacturing at Apple." date: "2025-05-26" modified: "2025-05-26" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/new-york-times-racism-apple" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "apple" - "china" - "journalism" - "new york times" --- # The New York Times Just Published Some Bizarre Race Science About Asian Women ![The New York Times published an article with a strange and bigoted claim about Asian women and manufacturing at Apple.]() *Photo taken on Oct 24, 2023 shows the Foxconn Industrial Park in Kunshan City, East China's Jiangsu Province. China's tax authorities have recently conducted tax inspections of Foxconn Group's key enterprises in Guangdong and Jiangsu, and natural resources authorities have conducted on-site investigations on the land use of Foxconn's key enterprises in Henan and Hubei. (Photo credit should read CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images) \Image: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images\* The *New York Times* published an article this week with a strange and bigoted claim about Asian women. The claim came when the [news]()[paper reported](), in line with the [industry consensus](), that for Apple to move any serious amount of iPhone production to the United States from Asia would result in making its gadgets prohibitively expensive. That's true, for reasons ranging from the United States' lack of specialized manufacturing equipment to its lack of properly trained workers. But alongside those reality-based issues, the *NYT* decided to throw in some bizarre race science. "Young Chinese women have small fingers," the article reads, "and that has made them a valuable contributor to iPhone production because they are more nimble at installing screws and other miniature parts in the small device, supply chain experts said." For one thing, it's not even clear that the claim that Chinese women have small fingers is even true. Research on global hand size is lacking, but [one study]() found that the average Chinese person has a hand size approximately equal to that of the average German. An [analysis of hand size]() around the world, though it didn't include China, found that even the largest average differences in women's hand size between countries was negligible. And even if it was true, there doesn't seem to be a lick of evidence — or, for that matter, [even anyone online making the claim]() — that small hands are preferable for manufacturing small devices. The closest thing we could find was a [paper]() that found that surgeons with smaller hands actually had a *harder* time manipulating dextrous operating tools, which would seem to contradict the *NYT*'s claim that small hands are an advantage for small specialized movements. Unsurprisingly, the *NYT*'*s* bigoted claim went viral. One particularly compelling counterargument that emerged there: the smartphone repair technicians who engage in microsoldering fixes for broken iPhones are often men, and their larger fingers don't seem to be causing any issues. "My favorite part is that \[there are\] adult men, in America, that do iPhone repair, and they often do repair tasks much more intricate than what assembly requires," one user [noted](). "Like nobody even thought about this for a second." Sarah Jeong, an editor at *The Verge* whose outrage at the *NYT*'s assertion helped propel it to virality, pointed out that men do all kinds of skillful tasks on a tiny scale — such as for Warhammer 40K and other role-playing games that require users to hand-paint tabletop minifigurines. "Grown ass men with sausage fingers are also out there painting tiny dolls using nail art brushes so they can play house... with their friends," [Jeong joked](). "American men have plenty of manual dexterity." Julia Carrie Wong, a senior reporter at *The Guardian* who also blasted the wild take, [revealed]() that she emailed the newspaper to give them a piece of her mind. In response, a [communications director there told her]() that the *NYT* "does not make racial or genetic generalizations" and was simply "\[citing\] experts who have experience with the industrial process in US and Chinese factories." That's a pretty wild claim even on its face: that the *NYT* is publishing race science based on anonymous experts. It also raises an ugly possibility: that the newspaper's use of the word "young" to describe the Chinese women working in Apple factories was supposed to insinuate something dark. Apple has a [long history]() of getting caught [employing child labor]() at its factories, who actually *would* have smaller fingers because they were minors — so it could be, whether the *NYT* understood it or not, that its "experts" were simply winking at the reality that it's hard to build affordable gadgets in a country with robust labor rights. **More on Apple outrage**: [*Apple's AI-Powered Siri Is Such a Disaster That Employees Have Given the Team Developing It a Rude Nickname*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()