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Asian American Women: Why We Are Everywhere
Every now and then I am asked, Is there an Asian American women's movement? My answer is always the same: Yes, of course there is. I can answer confidently, not because there is a single, monolithic women's movement-there is none, Asian American or otherwise. Rather, my certainty comes in knowing of the countless dedicated Asian American women who are working to improve the lives of women and girls. The question reminds me of the days I worked at Ms. Magazine, when Gloria Steinem would say that "the women's movement is simply women moving." At Ms. we referred to women's movements, not "The Women's Movement." This latter term is so often equated with an exclusionary "white women's club" that many Asian American sisters decline to call themselves "feminist" even if they espouse a feminist agenda. Indeed, I suspect this is the real question being asked of me: Do Asian American women have a place, as equals, in the women's movement? This question I would answer differently. Find some Asian American women who have worked in coalition with or inside of "mainstream," i.e. mainly white, women's organizations, and out will come dozens of stories of racial ignorance, insensitivity, tokenization, and plain old racism. I know this the same way I know that my Confucian-trained mother will always put the interests of other family members first no matter how much we ask her what she wants; just as I know that my loud Chinese aunt will ask me, once again, why I'm not married yet even though I tell her again that I am "married" to a woman; how I know that my non-Asian colleagues think of me as serene, Zen-like and balanced even when I'm so angry I could spit; the same way I know that the multiple oppressions that Asian American women face will never end unless we actively take them on. I know many of the ugly stories by heart: how Irene Natividad, a Filipina who was elected president of the powerful National Women's Political Caucus in 1985, didn't get the support of "liberal" caucuses because she represented the "wrong image" for the group. How Asian American leaders and other women of color were rarely asked to attend strategy sessions for national rallies and marches, yet would be conveniently remembered at show time. Even when intentions are noble, race gets in the way. It did in 1989 when Dong Lu Chen won a sentence of probation after killing his wife by pounding her head with a claw hammer; his attorney argued that this was culturally acceptable behavior in China. White feminists joined in our outrage, but then called for an end to cultural defense arguments-something Asian American women could not support. I have my share of stories. At Ms. we debated whether the South Asian feminist mother and daughter presented the "right image" for the cover. This would never have been a question had they been white; at least the cover stayed. Or the time Jimmy Breslin attacked a Korean American reporter, calling her a "little yellow dog" and a "slant-eyed cunt" when she criticized his columns as sexist. I was disappointed that few of my Ms. sisters or other feminists condemned his obscene sexist and racist remarks. One of my coworkers, an African American, merely shrugged and said, "It's not my ox that getting gored." So why should we be part of this women's movement, this feminist thing? Because we have other stories too. I don't know how many times my Asian American brothers in the struggle have said, "fighting racism is 'primary,' fighting sexism will come later." Yet not many guys stepped up to protest Dong Lu Chen's probationary sentence, or his claw-hammered wife-murder. I remember the awkward silences when, at anti-Asian violence meetings, I raised the question, "Where are the female victims of anti-Asian hate violence?" Only Asian American women bothered to seek an answer. As the nation reluctantly slogs through continuing charges of Presidential sexual harassment, and accusations of rape emerge even after the impeachment trial, what of our willingness to protect the harassers in our community? We have ours, on campuses, in workplaces and among elected officials. Some of them are well known in and protected by our communities. We tell ourselves they are aberrations, anomalies, exceptions-but the conspiracy of silence is collective, a stifling burden on our gender. Saying even this feels like an invitation to trouble. Yet invisibility and silence are never solutions. I welcome the day that our Asian American brothers, fathers, husbands and sons will do the right thing and fight sex discrimination with energy equal to their fervor against racism. In the meantime, Asian American women aren't exactly waiting for Mu Lan. We've created organizations and movements tackling violence against women, "mail order brides," sweatshop labor, health care, the environment and every conceivable issue. We are in the forefront of global efforts against sex trafficking, sex tourism, forced migrant labor and other world concerns. Asian American feminists led the battle to protect battered immigrant women from deportation for leaving abusive relationships; they won a victory for all of us in the federal Violence Against Women Act of 1994. Organizations of Asian American women continue to emerge--I learned of a new one just last week. All of this is why I say, without hesitation, Yes, of course there's an Asian American women's movement. We are everywhere, because we have to be.
Other Readings by Helen Zia @ AAV
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