Individually We Contributed, Together We Made a Difference
[excerpt]
By Merilynne Hamano Quon
Asian women growing up in the 1950s had to overcome barriers set up by American society as a whole and heritage of feudalism in the home. In most Japanese American families, fathers were the ultimate authority and boys were valued more than girls.
Even though we had ideals of becoming new men and women, it did not happen without some pain and struggle. Men and women came to the Movement with past "baggage": old beliefs and behaviors. Some men did not take a woman's input in a meeting seriously or would simply shout her down. Similar to the early stages of the Asian American Movement when we were first trying to articulate our issues and solutions as a people, it was critical for Asian women to organize as Asian Women.
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