From Margin To Awaking—A Study Of The Asian American Women Movement In1970s-1990s

In the middle of the19th century, Chinese women first set foot on the United States, the land of freedom and hope. Subsequently, Japan, the Philippines, Korea, and other Asian women reached the same land. Although they reached the United States in different time, and the reason and the way of their immigration were different, their experience was very similar, that is, they were in the’double edge’in the mainstream and the Asian communities. Due to the influence of the racial discrimination, Asian women were like’the invisible man’ in the United States society. In the Asian communities, due to the strong patriarchal tradition, Asian women existed only as a male client.After the World War II, there were a series of changes in the United States society and the Asian community. First of all, the United States Immigration Bill changed after the Word War II, from prohibiting Asian immigrants especially female immigrants to gradually ease restrictions, which led the number of Asian female immigrants increase. In the1960s, the movements of the USA were turbulent, such as the civil rights movement for black rights, the women’s liberation movement fighting for equal rights of women and the anti-war movement against the Vietnam War. These movements influenced the Asian women greatly. The Asian American Movement, which fought for the equal rights of the Asian Americans, led the Asian American women feel the need to fight for their own rights as minority women. All of these changes promoted the Asian American women awakening. In the1970s, they launched the Asian American Women movement, which was in order to fight for their equal rights and fight against the racial and gender discrimination.The Asian American Women Movement was divided into three phases. The first stage was from the early1970s to the mid1970s. In this phase, the main content was organizing the "complaint" and "study group", and implemented the "women’s plans" in order to improve the living conditions of Asian American women. The second stage was from mid1970s to1980s, mainly for the establishment of a series of National Asian American women’s organizations. The third stage was in1990s. The campaign of this stage was more specific, such as promoting the Asian American women’s health, promoting environmental justice and fighting against domestic violence in the Asian communityThe Asian American Women Movement was contributed to the awakening of Asian American women. The movement encouraged them to get rid of "double edge" situation. The Asian American Women were inspired by the campaign, gradually getting rid of yoke and making a new contribution in politic, literary, artistic and academic research area. They had made a big step on the road from the margins of society to the social center.