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When we imagine the activities of Asian American women in the mid-twentieth century, our first thoughts are not of skiing, beauty pageants, magazine reading, and sororities. Yet, Shirley Jennifer Lim argues, these are precisely the sorts of leisure practices many second generation Chinese, Filipina, and Japanese American women engaged in during this time.
In A Feeling of Belonging, Lim highlights the cultural activities of young, predominantly unmarried Asian American women from 1930 to 1960. This period marks a crucial generation—the first in which American-born Asians formed a critical mass and began to make their presence felt in the United States. Though they were distinguished from previous generations by their American citizenship, it was only through these seemingly mundane ''American'' activities that they were able to overcome two-dimensional stereotypes of themselves as kimono-clad ''Orientals.''
Lim traces the diverse ways in which these young women sought claim to cultural citizenship, exploring such topics as the nation's first Asian American sorority, Chi Alpha Delta; the cultural work of Chinese American actress Anna May Wong; Asian American youth culture and beauty pageants; and the achievement of fame of three foreign-born Asian women in the late 1950s. By wearing poodle skirts, going to the beach, and producing magazines, she argues, they asserted not just their American-ness, but their humanity: a feeling of belonging.
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A Feeling of Belonging
a m e r i c a n h i s t o ry a n d c u lt u r e general editors: Neil Foley, Kevin Gaines, Martha Hodes, and Scott Sandage Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Now? Multicultural Conservatism in America Angela D. Dillard One Nation Underground A History of the Fallout Shelter Kenneth D. Rose The Body Electric How Strange Machines Built the Modern American Carolyn Thomas de la Peña Black and Brown African Americans and the Mexican Revolution, 1910–1920 Gerald Horne Impossible to Hold Women and Culture in the 1960s Edited by Avital H. Bloch and Lauri Umansky Provincetown From Pilgrim Landing to Gay Resort Karen Christel Krahulik A Feeling of Belonging Asian American Women’s Public Culture, 1930–1960 Shirley Jennifer Lim
A Feeling of Belonging Asian American Women’s Public Culture, 1930–1960
Shirley Jennifer Lim
a N EW YO R K U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S New York and London
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new york universit y press New York and London www.nyupress.org © 2006 by New York University All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lim, Shirley Jennifer, 1968– A feeling of belonging : Asian American women’s public culture, 1930– 1960 / Shirley Jennifer Lim. p. cm. — (American history and culture)— Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN–13: 978–0–8147–5193–0 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN–10: 0–8147–5193–8 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN–13: 978–0–8147–5194–7 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN–10: 0–8147–5194–6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Asian American women—Social life and customs—20th century. 2. Asian Americans—Cultural assimilation—History—20th century. 3. Young women—United States—Social life and customs—20th century. 4. Single women—United States—Social life and customs—20th century. 5. Leisure—United States—History—20th century. 6. Popular culture—United States—History—20th century. 7. United States— Social life and customs—1918–1945. 8. United States—Social life and customs—1945–1970. I. Title. II. Series. E184.A75L56 2005 305.48'895073'0904—dc22 2005020727 New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. Manufactured in the United States of America c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1