User:Eleos776/Miss Chinatown USA
Criticism
The signature evening gown is a tightly fitted cheongsam, chosen by the New Year Festival's organizer, H.K. Wong, to exoticize the contestants as "the perfect blend of East and West" and draw tourists to Chinatown.[1][2]: 64 [3]: 7 Although the earlier (1948–1953) local beauty pageant featured western dresses, author Chiou-Ling Yeh asserts the new pageant served to reinforce stereotypes: the choice of the cheongsam reinforced sexualized perception of Chinese women through its extra high-cut side slit, and early publicity emphasized the value of traditional, patriarchal ideals for female behavior, referring to the Three Obediences and Four Virtues.[2]: 42–44 [4]: 332 The winners were seen as cultural ambassadors to bridge the gap between Chinese-American immigrants and western society; in one instance, a restriction on the use of firecrackers in San Francisco was lifted after San Francisco Mayor George Christopher kissed the reigning Miss Chinatown in 1956.[2]: 47–48
Additional criticisms of the pageant, including it being not truly representative of the Chinatown population, reinforcing Caucasian beauty standards, and perpetuating the model minority stereotype have arisen since its origins.[3]: 6, 13–17 Pagents affirmed the model minority stereotype by affirming the importance of education as well as how woman were expected to assimilate into society.[5] and The Holiday Inn Chinatown sponsored one of the 1971 contestants; as a publicity stunt, she jumped out of a giant fortune cookie for the opening of the hotel, later drawing jeers and eggs when she rode on a float during the Lunar New Year parade.[1][3]: 14
Performance artist Kristina Wong has crashed numerous events in costume as the character "Fannie Wong, former Miss Chinatown 2nd runner up" since 2002;[1] parodying the stereotype of a quiet, demure Asian woman, Wong describes Fannie as a "cigar chomping, leg humping fast talking beauty queen" that was "often escorted out of venues".[6] Wong grew up in San Francisco idolizing Miss Chinatown, but admits she was "nervous because she did not know how she'd transition from being 'completely sexually repressed and totally awkward' to someone who was beautiful and self-assured. 'I felt like such an embarrassment to my family.'"[7]
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References
- ^ a b c Chao, Eveline (April 7, 2021). "Launched during the Cold War, Chinatown's pageants were about much more than beauty". CNN Style. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
- ^ a b c Yeh, Chiou-Ling (2008). "Three: Constructing A 'Model Minority' Identity | The Miss Chinatown U.S.A. Beauty Pageant". Making an American Festival: Chinese New Year in San Francisco's Chinatown. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. pp. 56–74. ISBN 978-0-520-25350-6. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
- ^ a b c Wu, Judy Tzu-Chun (Fall 1997). "'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. 31 (1): 5–31. doi:10.1353/jsh/31.1.5. JSTOR 3789855.
- ^ Yeh, Chiou-ling (2002). "18 | Contesting Identities: Youth Rebellion in San Francisco's Chinese New Year Festivals, 1953–1969". In Cassel, Susie Lan (ed.). The Chinese in America: A History from Gold Mountain to the New Millennium. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. pp. 329–350. ISBN 0-7591-0001-2.
- ^ Beck, Fanni (2018). "Miss Chinatwon USA". Central European University Nationalism Studies Program: 43–44 – via CDU eDT collection.
- ^ Wong, Kristina (2021). "Fannie Wong, Former Miss Chinatown 2nd Runner Up". Kristina Wong. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ Ip, Florence (April 9, 2004). "Kristina Wong: Not Your Ordinary Funny Woman". UCLA International Institute. Retrieved 15 February 2022.