Indignant Women

Overview

This exhibit is dedicated to highlighting Asian American women throughout U.S. history and providing a platform to women and stories that have been– and largely continue to be– erased, excluded, and silenced in mainstream media. 

I hope to use this exhibit as an opportunity to present both the need for representation and empower other Asian/ Asian American women to advocate for themselves– that we do belong, can take charge, and that there is no singular or uniform way of defining what it means to be an American and a woman.

Discussion of Dataset: Methods, Scope, and Parameters

The data points in my database can be distinguished into two different categories: One third of my database consists of historical context that lay the foundation for why representation of Asian American women is not only important but also necessary. The remaining two thirds are autobiographies, interviews, and articles of Asian American women who have made a significant mark in shaping the U.S. in a variety of fields from politics to science to art.

My most common method of data collection was web search for news articles, journal articles, and personal interviews. The initial stages of data retrieval were driven by broader key phrases such as “important Asian American women in the U.S.” Originally, I envisioned a representation of diverse upbringings, fields, and other intersecting identities to illustrate the heterogeneity of Asian American women; however, throughout my data collection process I started having questions like: how does one determine who gets to be important and who doesn’t? What accomplishment is good enough to be recognized and what isn’t? Who gets to “represent” the Asian American woman identity?

I used these questions to narrow down the scope and parameter of my dataset. As a reflection, this exhibit puts a spotlight on three specific women who may not always come up as a result of searching for “important Asian American women.”

Trigger Warning: This exhibit contains images of sexual violence.

“How does one determine who gets to be important and who doesn’t? What accomplishment is good enough to be recognized and what isn’t? Who gets to “represent” the Asian American woman identity?”

  • the process whereby members of particular social groups (especially racial groups) have been denied equal access to the rights enjoyed by other Americans

    1. Stears, Marc. 2007. “The Liberal Tradition and the Politics of Exclusion.” Annual Review of Political Science 10(1):85–101.

  • dense social networks and a strong collective identity

    "solidarity, rather than insufficient integration, provides the necessary conditions of collective action, and… rebellions, protest, collective violence, and related forms of action result from rational pursuit of shared interests "

    1. Useem, Bert. 1998. “Breakdown Theories of Collective Action.” Annual Review of Sociology 24(1):215–38.

  • The matrix of domination: Systems of race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, ability, and age interlock and make possible the functioning of the other systems (collins 1990). Sexual violence is about domination—across race, nation, class, gender, and other dimensions of inequality.

    "Attempts to remedy violence against women of color fail when they focus solely on womanhood or race/ethnicity and erase intersectional experiences of violence and discrimination."

    Sexual violence pervades male-dominated, hierarchical organizations. Arrangements within these organizations create circumstances in which people come to perceive sexual harassment as to be expected and tolerated. Structural power asymmetries increase opportunities for abuse. Police, employers, and landlords leverage their positions to rape, harass, and assault.

    1. Armstrong, Elizabeth A., Miriam Gleckman-Krut, and Lanora Johnson. 2018. “Silence, Power, and Inequality: An Intersectional Approach to Sexual Violence.” Annual Review of Sociology 44(1):99–122.

    2. Collins, Hill Patricia. 2014. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Abningdon, Oxon: Routledge.

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

Dataset Exhibition

I. Historical Context: What U.S. History didn't teach us

The Page Act (1875)

Prejudice against Asian women can be dated as early as the 1800s, marked by the Page Act of 1875 which was one of the earliest pieces of federal legislation that restricted immigration to the United States. The Page Act prohibited specifically East Asian women, under the assumption that they were brought to the U.S. for “shameful" and "immoral" purposes.

The implications of the Page Act, declaring Asian women (specifically “subject of China, Japan, or any ‘oriental’ country”) as “lewd” convey the beginnings of hyper-sexualization of Asian women in American society that continues to exist and manifest in different ways (e.g., fetishization and exoticization). At this time, prostitution was a legal occupation by California State law in which men would have frequented prostitution houses; however, when the Page Act was introduced, it became far easier and now legal to target Chinese women as threats to the institution of marriage rather than punishing the perpetrators or placing a ban on prostitution itself.

“The Chinese Bill Signed,” reported on The Silver State (Unionville, NV) on May 9, 1882 citing the Page Act.
Photo from the Library of Congress

Tape v. Hurley (1885)

In the fall of 1884, 9-year old Mamie Tape was denied entry to the Spring Valley Primary School in San Francisco, California. Principal Jennie Hurley refused Mami’s admittal to this all-white school citing the existing school-board policy against admitting Chinese children.

When the San Francisco Board of Education ruled that this exclusion was lawful, Mamie’s mother Mary Tape fought for her daughter’s rights; however, even with the California Superior Court decision that required public education to be open to “all children,” the “separate but equal” doctrine was not challenged and thus justified continued segregation. The San Francisco School Board then pushed for a new law to separate schools for “children of Chinese and Mongolian descent.”

The letter to the left is Mary Tape’s response to the outcome above. As shown by the title, the mother is described as “indignant,” conveying her in a negative light and illustrating her anger as irrational and worthless. Women– white women, that is– in the 1800s were expected to focus on domesticity. They were not allowed to vote or be involved in politics and were discouraged from working outside the home. Coupled with such perception of women, Mary Tape, an Asian woman, was fighting not only for her daughter’s right for public education but also against additional prejudice at the intersection of gender and race.

Fighting against the sexism that women should not be involved in politics, the racism that Asian immigrants were “unassimilable,” and the intersecting discrimination that Asian women were “docile,” Mary Tape and her indignance played an integral role in one of the most important civil rights decisions.

Top left and Bottom: excerpts from "An Indignant Mother," written by Mary Tape
Pictured on top right: the Tape Family (Mamie, the 9-year old girl, pictured in middle)
Photo from the Library of Congress

“What an urgent time for a radical soul. What a time to reaffirm that our histories are not that of obedient Orientals. In fact, not any kind of Oriental.”
— Kimiko Hahn

II. Asian American Women We Should Know

I hope that the diversity of upbringings, fields, and other intersecting identities of these women drive home the fact that the Asian American women experience is not a monolith that is generalizable. I also want to reiterate that this exhibit should be treated as a starting point in shedding light on more stories by and for Asian American women, and there should be continued efforts to celebrate the rich diversity of stories and journeys across Asian American women.

Cecilia Chung

"As a transgender woman, I’ve experienced the worst kind of treatment our society has to offer."

In 1992, when Chung decided to transition, she was fired from the Santa Clara County where she worked as a court interpreter when the judge started to notice some of the physical changes that Chung was going through. In her recollection, Chung adds that "It [was] really hard to prove that it was because of [her] transition."

Activist Cecilia Chung opens up about her history with sexual violence.
Photo from abc news