Unbound Feet: A Social History of Chinese Women in San Francisco (17 page)

Living in Chinatown encouraged the continuation of Chinese cultural practices and provided a sense of security and cultural sustenance for immigrants like Law. At the same time, however, it impeded their
acculturation into American societyS° Compared to Chinese women who
lived outside Chinese communities, women in San Francisco Chinatown
continued to speak Chinese only, eat Chinese food, dress in Chinese
clothing, and maintain Chinese customs much longer. Although by the
r g z.os most of them wore their hair in short, pageboy cuts or in marcelled waves and walked in Western shoes with low heels, many, like Law,
still wore Chinese clothing-colorful shirts with high collars and flared
sleeves that stopped at the elbows, and lightly gathered skirts that fell
below the knees.81

Since their first responsibility was to their families, immigrant wives
like Law found themselves housebound, with no time to take advantage
of English classes offered by the churches or to engage in leisure activities outside the home. While her husband worked in a restaurant that
catered to black customers on the outskirts of Chinatown, Law stayed
home and took in sewing. The only other job opened to women like her
was shrimp peeling, which earned them half as much as sewing.82 Like
other immigrant women who followed traditional gender roles, Law believed that "nice Chinese ladies always stay home and take care of the
house chores, children, and husband."83 This arrangement was also preferred by employers, who made larger profits when they could pass overhead costs such as space, lighting, equipment, electricity, and supplies
on to employees working at home.

At first someone from the Low family clan brought me things to sew by
the dozens and taught me how to do the seams and how to gather. This
one teacher I had specialized in baby clothes with beautiful decorations,
embroidered pockets and all. He taught me well, and I made over two
dozen pieces a day. The pay was over a dollar a dozen.84

Even working twelve hours a day, her husband was bringing home only
$6o a month, barely enough to cover rent and food. As she had one
child after another, it was easier for her to stay home and sew, even though
increasing numbers of women were working in Chinatown sewing factories that paid more than home work. When her husband didn't have
time to do the shopping, she would pay to have groceries delivered. "That
way with children at home, you didn't have to go out and waste time,"
she explained. "They would deliver pork and vegetables, and you could
then cook it." When asked whether she felt imprisoned, she replied,

There was no time to feel imprisoned; there was so much to do. We
worked like crazy. We had to cook, wash the clothes and diapers by hand, the floors, and sew whenever we had a chance to sit still.... Who had
time to go out? It was the same for all my neighbors. We were all good,
obedient, and diligent wives. All sewed; all had six or seven children.

Large families, which added to the burden of immigrant wives, were
the norm in the 19 zos. The Chinese birth rate in San Francisco was twice
as high as the city-wide rate because of cultural values that favored large
families and sons as well as the lack of knowledge of birth control among
Chinese women. According to Law:

Many had ten or more children. One had nine daughters and was still
trying for a son. We didn't want that many, but we didn't know about
birth control. Even if we didn't want it, we didn't have the money to go
see the doctor. The midwife wanted us to have more babies. But even
the midwife had a bad time because no one could afford to pay her. It
was $2-5 a baby.

Law wasn't even aware that she was pregnant when she had the first of
three miscarriages at home. The Chinese infant mortality rate was also
high: 71 per i,ooo live births in i9z9, compared to the city-wide rate
of 49 per i,ooo.85 As was common for poor families in those days, all
of Law's children were born at home with the help of neighbors or the
local midwife. "Who could afford to go to the hospital?" she said. Only
when one of her children caught pneumonia did she and her husband
make use of the hospital, but by then to no avail. Their son was only
three years old when he died. "He was a good boy.... I cried for a few
years; it was so tragic," she recalled sadly. "We didn't have any money,
and we didn't know better."

Although they had more girls (seven) than boys (one survived), her
husband was more than willing to provide for them all regardless of sex.
"He liked children," Law observed.

Other men would beat their children and kick them out of the house.
He wasn't like that. Other men would scold their wives for having girls.
One woman who had four children told me her husband would drag her
out of bed and beat her because she didn't want to have any more children. We heard all kinds of sad stories like that, but my husband never
picked on me like that.

Fortunately for Law, her husband turned out to be cooperative, supportive, and devoted. Until he developed a heart condition in the 19 50s,
he remained the chief breadwinner, first cooking at a restaurant, then
picking fruit in Suisun, sewing at home during the depression, and fi nally working in the shipyards during World War II. Although he refused to help with housecleaning or child care, he did all the shopping,
cooked the rice, and hung out the wash. In Law's estimation of him as
a husband,

He wasn't had. He did care about me. When he was afraid I wasn't eating, he would tell me to eat more. He was just a bit stubborn.... When
he was first unemployed, he went and played Chinese dominoes one night.
When he came back in the early morning, I said to him when he presented me with a chicken, "I don't want to eat your chicken; I don't like
you to gamble." So he stopped going and went back to sewing.... I
heard there was a building known as the Empress Building in Chinatown,
where the wives beat the husbands if they were unemployed or did something wrong. But it wasn't so in our building.

He also asked a "Jesus woman" to come teach her English. But after her
first baby, Law couldn't afford the time to study and told her not to come
anymore.

It was not until her children were older that Law went out to work
in the sewing factories and to the Chinese movies on Saturdays, but she
still did not leave the confines of Chinatown. Prior to that, she went out
so seldom that one pair of shoes lasted her ten years. Because they were
poor, she was especially frugal. She gave most of her earnings to her husband (since he did the shopping), made her own clothes and those of
her children, and managed to send periodic remittances home to her
family. The neighbors in her building were all from the same area of
Guangdong Province, and they became lifelong friends. They often chatted, and occasionally-three or four times a year-they would go out to
visit friends in the evening or go shopping together. So insular was her
life in Chinatown that to this day, Law still does not speak English or
dare go outside Chinatown alone. And she still continues to wear Chinese clothing.

Marxist feminists like Heidi Hartmann would characterize Law Shee
Low's life as oppressive. Because of the sexual division of labor at home
and in the workplace, women like Law remained confined to the domestic sphere and in a subordinate position vis-a-vis men.86 But from
Law's vantage point, although her life was hard, it was not "oppressive."
She may have been restricted to the domestic sphere and stuck in lowwage work, but she was not subordinate or totally dependent on her husband. Because she also contributed to the family income, bore the responsibility of running the household, and provided cultural sustenance,
their relationship was interdependent. As far as she was concerned, the family's well-being was of prime importance. Given the extra measure
of racism that put Chinese at a disadvantage in the labor market, what
counted between her and her husband was not economic equality, but
the adequacy of overall family income.

Nor did she regard her housework and child care duties as a form of
exploitation. Although doubly burdened by wage labor and household
responsibilities, immigrant wives like Law were taught to regard the home
as their domain and to rule it proudly with an iron fist. Most were strict
with their children, demanding unquestioning obedience, adherence to
traditional gender roles, and the continued observance of folk religion,
Chinese language and food, and the celebration of annual festivals such
as Chinese New Year, Ching Ming, Dragon Boat, Girls' Day, MidAutumn, and Winter Solstice. Preparations were time-consuming, but
Chinese women took their role as culture bearer seriously and did not
shirk their duties regardless of how hectic their lives were. Providing a
cultural refuge became an important way for Chinese women to instill
ethnic pride in their children and help their families resist the cultural
assaults and racist denigration inflicted by the dominant society. Indeed,
their daily struggle to improve the quality of life for themselves and their
families was in itself an act of resistance.87 Although their family life exacted a heavy toll on their personal lives, it also served to sustain them.
In this sense, family for them was a site of both oppression and resis-
tance.88 Working hard had meaning for Chinese women because it enabled them to fulfill their filial obligations as well as provide a better future for their children. Many women shared Law's pragmatic views about
life in America:

It took a lot of hard work, sweat, and tears, but for the sake of the children, it was all worth it in the end.... My kids have been good to me.
They always remember my birthday. They chip in for my rent, electricity, insurance, everything; and they give me spending money. Thank God
and thank heaven !89

Abused wives who were less fortunate than Law found new avenues
of resistance through the help of Chinese reformers, Protestant missionary women, and, in some cases, even the American legal system.
CSYP, representing both the nationalist and Protestant perspectives, consistently supported women's emancipation, printing numerous editorials and articles that condemned "barbaric" practices such as footbinding, polygamy, slavery, and arranged marriages and advocated women's
education and rights. "For centuries we have erred in teaching our women to be obedient ... to not even step out into the courtyard but
remain in their lonely quarters as captive prisoners.... Women with
bound feet, weakened bodies, and undeveloped intelligence cannot attain equality with men," one editorial stated.90 The newspaper was also
an important disseminator of information about resources for women
in the community, as it often covered talks by social reformers on women
issues, followed the efforts of Protestant organizations to improve conditions for Chinese women, and announced educational classes for girls
and women.91

Although most immigrant wives like Law did not read the Chinese
newspapers, they were affected by public opinion as filtered through their
husbands, neighbors, and the social reformers. Law noted that after the
1911 Revolution it was no longer considered "fashionable" to have
bound feet, concubines, or mui tsai in China or in Chinatown. And as
housebound as Law was, she was aware of the mission homes that rescued prostitutes, helped abused women, and provided education for children and immigrant women. Although Law never had cause to seek their
help, a number of her peers used them to settle domestic disputes, usually in their favor.

Missionary records provide both a quantitative and qualitative picture of the nature and outcomes of these domestic problems. The
Methodist Mission Home handled a total of twenty-three domestic cases
involving Chinese women between 1903 and 1913, while the Presbyterian Mission Home had seventy-eight such cases between 1923 and
1928.92 Although many of the cases stemmed from physical abuse, wives
also came to the mission homes for help because their husbands smoked
opium, drank excessively, practiced adultery or polygamy, or were negligent in providing for the family. In one case, a mother and her seventeen-year-old daughter sought help at the Methodist Home when they
discovered that the prospective groom already had a wife and family in
China. The home was able to help the daughter get out of the marriage
and return to China.93 Ex-residents of the mission homes, such as Wong
Ah So, sought later help from the homes when problems arose in their
marriages, often owing to cultural clashes in gender roles. There were
also cases of widows who had been robbed of their inheritances, mistreated, or threatened by their husbands' relatives. One twenty-year-old
widow had all her jewelry taken and was about to be sold into prostitution when missionary workers stepped in to protect her. She later married an interpreter, and the couple chose to return to China. In another
case, a widow came to the home with her daughter seeking protection from her husband's relatives, who were demanding $500 cash and possession of the daughter before they would allow the woman to remarry.94

In most cases of family quarrels or mistreatment, missionary workers
attempted to mediate by counseling the husbands and persuading them
to agree to mend their ways. One husband accused of beating his wife
promised to do better and then, by way of compliance, rented a room
for her near the Methodist Mission Home. Another couple reconciled
only after the husband signed an agreement stipulating that he would
give up opium, treat his family more kindly and provide for them, and
send the children to the Presbyterian Mission Home or to their grandmother should the wife die. If marital relations failed to improve, the
homes would then temporarily house the wife and children at the husband's expense, help the woman find employment, and, if necessary, file
on her behalf for divorce. Missionary workers did not regard arranged
marriages as legitimate, so they had few qualms about breaking them up
and encouraging women to remarry in the Western tradition. Annulments were also sought when undesirable arranged marriages involved
minors. Here again can be seen the imposition of moral values on the
part of missionary women that clashed with traditional Chinese views
on marriage. While such intervention was likely resented by most Chinese in the community, it did provide a way out for Chinese women in
abusive situations.