(Left:
Female Owner of a restaurant; Center: Open Bath House owned by two women; Right:
Clara Lee, one of the founders of the CWJA)
(All
photos are selected from Unbound Feet and Unbound Voices by Judy
Yung)
Throughout time, women have been second compared to men. In China, women were taught three things: to cook, clean and have children. Being a Chinese women was the lowest a Chinese person can be, she would have been taught to be chase, delicate (most likely by having her feet bound) and know when to hold her own tongue. Once a Chinese women was married, she was in simple terms a servant for her husband, if he need a foot rub she would have to give it to her husband; if not she would look like a terrible wife. If a woman could not bear a child, then her husband could leave her for another women. In American when Chinese men were building railroads and tending to wealthy white landowners, women were prostituting. Most not of their own feel will, jobless Chinese men realized there was more money to be made from female prostituting, since the ration of males to females were 20:1. In China it was illegal to for prostitution, America it was still legal. Usual families that were starving would sell the youngest daughter in the family for a few piece of silver, which would help the other family members to a loungei or little sister. To escape the unbearable fate that has been dealt for them, they would commit suicide. Many prostitutes had rescue homes for women like the Women’s Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church or the Presbyterian Mission Home. Anna May Wong changed the views of many people since she is both a women and was Chinese, she was the first Chinese American movie star. Times have “improved”, now since there are now Chinese female doctors, lawyers, CEO and maybe in a few years or so there will even be a Chinese woman for senator or maybe even president.
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(First Women's Group of the YMCA) |