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"Loveliest daughter of our ancient Cathay!": representations of ethnic and gender identity in the Miss Chinatown U.S.A. beauty pageant
Journal of Social History, Fall, 1997 by Judy Tzu-Chun Wu
16. David Lei, Telephone Interview, San Francisco, 23 November 1993; Shirley Sun, "Jumbo Banana Split Proves Too Much for Beautiful May Chiang," East West, 21 February 1967, p. 5.
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17. In 1971, 41 percent of Chinatown's population fell below the federally defined poverty level partly because of the low wages paid to immigrant workers. Immigrant men commonly found service jobs, such as waiters, and tended to work "ten hours a day, six days a week, for wages that average from $350 to an occasional high of $700 a month." Immigrant women usually worked as garment workers, receiving pay not by the hour but by the piece. These low wages as well as the lack of cultural familiarity made it unlikely that immigrant families would move out of Chinatown, despite the fact that 77 percent of the housing was considered substandard by city codes. In 1970, the population density of the community was the second highest in the country with 120 to 180 persons per acre. These crowded conditions created enormous health risks as demonstrated by the fact that Chinatown had the highest tuberculosis and suicide rates in the nation. To service its population of over forty thousand people, Chinatown had only one hospital with sixty beds. Nee, Longtime Californ', pp. xxi-xxv.
18. "The Most Visible Event," East West, 14 February 1973, p. 2; George Chu, "A Wild Night in Old Chinatown," San Francisco Chronicle, 9 March 1969, pp. 18, 21. The racial tensions between Chinatown residents and white tourists and police officers were not necessarily new. However, the growing numbers of Chinese American youth as a result of immigration and the increased awareness of racial injustice during the 1960s raised the volatility of inter-group contact.
19. "Liberate Holiday Inn," Getting Together, February 1971, p. 2; Jade Fong, "The CHI-am Corner," East West, 3 February 1971, p. 3.
20. Sara Evans, Personal Politics: The Roots of Women's Liberation in the Civil Rights Movement and the New Left (New York, 1979), p. 214, and "No More Miss America! August 1968," in Sisterhood Is Powerful, ed. by Robin Morgan (New York, 1970), pp. 521-524.
21. "A Queen for the Year of the Canine," East West, 10 December 1969, p. 1; Ben Wong-Torres, "Miss Chinatown - a Few Immodest Proposals," East West, 11 March 1967, p. 3; Judy Yung wrote under the pen name, Jade Fong, "The CHI-am Corner," East West, 1 March 1972, p. 3; Mabel Ng, "The Chinatown Pageant . . . A Miscarriage of Grace," East West, 30 January 1974, p. 10; Wei Chih, "Queen Contestants," translated from the Chinese Pacific Weekly, 16 January 1975, printed in East West, 22 January 1975, p. 2; Curtis Choy, The Year of the Ox: The 1973 Livestock Show (Oakland, 1985).
22. Lisa Fangonilo, quoted in "What Do You Think about the Miss Chinatown USA Beauty Contest?" East West, 27 January 1971, p. 9; Pam Lee, "Letter to the Editor," East West, 15 April 1970, p. 2.
23. Louella Leon, conversation with author. As of 1987, "the average height of Miss Chinatown U.S.A. winners is 5 feet 5.3 inches." Miss Chinatown U.S.A. Pageant Souvenir Program, 1987; Paul Hui, "Alice Kong Also Ran . . .," East West, 20 February 1974, p. 5; Curtis Choy, The Year of the Ox; "Oriental Eyes Get Western Look," Chinatown News, 3 December 1969, p. 4.
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Most Popular Articles in Reference
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