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Given what you have learned about Asian immigrant history, how significant a factor do you think gender is in understanding the experiences of Asian immigrants? How did the experiences of Asian immigrant men and women compare? What similarities and differences do you see? How important do you think it is to consider gender when drawing any general conclusions about the experiences of Asian immigrants?

Asian Americans have been in America for over 400 years. (Chan, page 192) They are as diverse as the immigrants from Europe; ranging from China, Japan, Korea, Cambodia, Philippines, India, Vietnam and Laos. (Takaki, page 7) When many people think of American Immigrants, Asians are typically not at the top of their lists. In The Uprooted, Harvard historian, Oscar Handlin, prize-winning book with the subtitle, “the Epic Story of the Great Migrations that Made the American People,” –completely left out the “uprooted” from the lands across the Pacific Ocean. (Takaki, page 10).

The truth is that these uprooted people that now call America their home, have groups that differ from each other in language, customs and culture, physical appearance and in the ways in which they have entered American society. Some groups have experienced levels of discrimination and rejection that approach those endured by the colonized and conquered groups of other nationalities. Others have developed strong enclave economies, and still others more closely Blauner’s immigrant minority group. (Healy, page 226)

Indeed, some groups have followed all three pathways or modes of incorporation. For example, the present situation of Chinese Americans is strongly shaped by high rates of immigration, but their history includes strong elements of colonization combined with an elaborate enclave community. (Takaki, pages 257-269)

Learning about the different groups within Asian immigration is important, but understanding the experiences of the difference because of gender is a significant factor. US Congress placed numerous laws not only banned by race, but by sex as well. Immigration from other countries was not always extended to females, because of the need for cheap, male labor. Females and males jobs and lives were different, and still are. The anti-miscegenation laws were struck down in the mid-1950’s –making it completely, one-hundred-percent legal for a man and a woman of different races to have their marriages recognized in all fifty states of the union.

Immigrants from China to the United States began to arrive in the early 1800s and were generally motivated by the same kinds of social and economic forces that have inspired immigration everywhere for the past two centuries. (Chan, page 192) Chinese immigrants were urged to leave their homeland by the disruption of traditional social relations, caused by the colonization of much of China by more industrialized European nations, and by rapid population growth. (Takaki, page 80) At the same time, these immigrants were drawn to the West Coast of the United States by the Gold Rush of 184 and by other opportunities created by the development of the West. White owners of small businesses, feeling threatened by Chinese-owned businesses, supported the Chinese Exclusion Act. Following the Chinese Exclusion Act, the number of Chinese declined as some immigrants passed away or returned to China and were not replaced by newcomers. (Takaki, page 100) At the end of the 19th century, males outnumbered females in high margin. The scarcity of Chinese women in the United States delayed the second generation.

The minority of Chinese women holds a very different story in comparison to the men. For example, immigrant Chinese women in New York City are heavily concentrated in the garment industry. (Takaki, page 244) Unlike their male counterparts, they experience no measurable benefits (specifically, no increase in income) from becoming Americanized. Chinese immigrant males who were more Americanized and had better job qualifications tended to receive greater rewards. (Takaki, page 257) These differing income returns between the genders might be because of the culture.

Chinese women, and other Asian women, had a triple role: wife, mother and moneymaker. The women gravitated towards jobs that gave them the flexibility they needed to fill their domestic roles and support other family members. The women did not generate income for themselves, but for the benefit of the family as a whole and especially for the younger family members. (Takaki, page 286)

Benefiting families helped with population growth within the states. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan applauded Asian Americans for being the “model minority.” (Takaki, 474) He praised them for holding the principles and values of America: “…the sacred worth of human life, religious faith, community spirit and the responsibility of parents and schools to be teachers of tolerance, hard work, fiscal responsibility, cooperation, and love.” (Takaki, 474)

The model minority image has become the most persistent and popular stereotype associated with Asian Americans, regardless of gender. On the surface, the stereotype seems to be a positive and complimentary one. It portrays Asian Americans as a group that values family, education and hard work. Unfortunately, these are stereotypes and not fact. (Takaki, 475)

There are numerous detrimental effects because of this stereotype --One of them being the model minority stereotype’s portrayal of Asian Americans as super students. Asian American applicants to universities and colleges have faced discrimination due to Affirmative Action laws. Some believe that since Asians are smarter, they have an even more unfair advantage when colleges are trying to fulfill minority quotas. Also, Asian American students with average achievement feel as if their performance is extremely low because they are not meeting model minority expectations, leading to negative psychological consequences.

Since the beginning of film, Asian American stereotypes have been made, remade and enforced in media. Non-fiction leads us to believe that Asian Americans are “forever victims.” (Xing, page 89) The stereotypes are numerous but constant in everyday media. There is a stereotype that Asians and Asian Americans are stoic, emotionless people and they all know kung fu. Yet, Asian American women have received the brunt of the media stereotypes, due to their popularity in film.

Asian women were burdened with the “sexy-Oriental-woman mystique,” a “mysterious image,” according to Arthur Dong, a filmmaker. (Xing, 98) As we begin a new century, the time has come to dispose of lumping all immigration together in the same group. It has come time to recognize the realities of the Asian American experience –the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Cambodian, Filipino, Indian, Vietnamese and Laotian experience –and commit to remembering the different pasts of both men and women.

Works Cited

Chan, Sucheng. 1991. Asian Americans: An Interpretive History. Boston: Twayne Publishers.

Healey, Joseph F. 2003. Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Class. Pine Forge Press.

Takaki, Ronald. 1998. Strangers from a Different Shore.” Little, Brown and Company.

Xing, Jun. 1998. Asian America Through the Lens. Altamira Press.