(Mis)Representation of Chinese Women in the United States: America Today Magazine and the Cultural Cold War in Asia, 1949-1952

《今日美國》雜誌對在美中國女性的形象塑造與亞洲文化冷戰(1949-1952)

葉秋伶(Chiou-Ling Yeh)

Cultural Cold War ； America Today magazine Chinese female students ； war brides ； wives of American-born Chinese ； 文化冷戰 ； 《今日美國》雜誌 ； 中國女學生 ； 戰爭新娘 ； 華裔美國公民的妻子

近代中國婦女史研究

31期（2018 / 06 / 01）

107 - 157

英文

This article analyzes America Today, a United States Information Service publication that was distributed to Southeast Asian Chinese between 1949 and 1952. It argues that the magazine promoted the idea that Chinese immigrant women could develop their professional careers in the United States, which differed from the dominant scholarly narrative of Cold War domesticity that championed women's primary responsibilities as mothers and wives. Featuring mostly middle-class women and their successful careers, America Today sought to showcase the United States as a land of opportunity for these women to flee oppression in China and develop their professional ambitions in the United States. The reality, however, proved otherwise. The US government had no intention of changing the dismal annual Chinese immigration quota of 105 persons or accepting a large number of Chinese refugees. Moreover, war brides and wives of Chinese American citizens accounted for the preponderance of postwar Chinese immigration. They mostly toiled in working-class employment after their arrival. The War Brides Act of 1945 enabled Chinese veterans to reunite with their long separated wives, barred from immigration due to the Chinese Exclusion Acts (1882-1943). The law also motivated many Chinese veterans to rush to China to get married. The Chinese Alien Wives of American Citizens Act of 1946 gave wives of American-born Chinese a legal means to immigrate. Nonetheless, America Today failed to report their stories. In addition, this article contends that America Today emphasized that Chinese immigrant women could showcase their Chinese femininity in the United States, because the People's Republic of China encouraged women to be masculine. The effort to equate Chinese femininity with traditional Chinese clothing served to Orientalize Chinese American women.

本文藉《今日美國》(America Today)雜誌（美國新聞局在1949到1952年間，針對東南亞華人所出版的刊物。）來探討美國對東南亞華人的文化冷戰宣傳。它的策略是宣傳中國移民婦女可以在美展發展她們的職業。學界強調冷戰期間婦女的主要責任是作個賢妻良母(cold war domesticity)。本文則認為《今日美國》只報導中產階級職業婦女卻忽略了勞工婦女。實際上，大多數中國難民並沒有機會移民美國。因為美國政府沒有打算提高每年給中國移民一百零五人的限額，也不願接受大量的中國難民。此外，第二次世界大戰後，來自中國主要的移民是勞工階級的戰爭新娘和華裔美國公民的妻子。以前她們因為《排華法案》(Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882~1943)而無法和丈夫團圓。在1945 年美國國會通過的《戰爭新娘法案》(War Brides Act)規定華裔退伍軍人的妻子可以移民美國。這條法律也促使了華裔退伍軍人趕回中國結婚。1946 年的《允許公民華妻到美國法案》(Chinese Alien Wives of American Citizens Act)也讓華裔美國公民的妻子可以移民美國。可是，《今日美國》並沒有報導她們。再者，《今日美國》強調中國婦女在美國可以繼續保持她們的中國女性傳統，因為中華人民共和國的婦女更多地展現出男性化的特徵。不過，《今日美國》以中國傳統婦女服裝來代表中國女性的傳統。由此可見這個雜誌把華裔美國婦女「東方化」(Orientalize)。

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