Unsubmissive Women: Chinese Prostitutes in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco [Hardcover]

Benson Tong (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1994

Unsubmissive Women explores the lives of Chinese girls and women who were shipped to San Francisco in the nineteenth century and forced into prostitution. They maintained their will to alter their fate, survived subjugation, and quite often escaped to establish families in the American West.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Tong (U.S. history, Univ. of Toledo) makes extensive use of primary sources and government documents to trace the tragic circumstances of Chinese prostitutes in San Francisco. His focus is the period 1849-82, which represents the first phase of Chinese involvement with the vice trade in California. Chinese men in search of economic relief came to the American West, leaving wives and families behind. The economic hardships of Chinese families at home and the loneliness of Chinese men in California created a thriving market in young Chinese women, most of whom were either indentured or sold by their families or simply kidnapped. This first book-length study of Chinese prostitutes in the American West is a valuable addition to history and women's study collections. Two related works on prostitution in the West are Anne M. Butler's Daughters of Joy, Sisters of Misery (LJ 3/1/85) and Jacqueline B. Barnhart's The Fair but Frail (Univ. of Nevada Pr., 1986).
Linda V. Carlisle, Southern Illinois Univ., Edwardsville
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Based on old newspaper and journal articles, Tong's book partially reconstructs the lives of Chinese prostitutes... -- Pacific Historical Review

"Well researched and clearly written, Unsubmissive Women is a welcome addition to the literature that enriches and complicates our understanding..." -- The Historian

Anyone interested in women's history, Asian American history, and the history of the West will benefit from reading this book." -- Journal of the West --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press; First Edition edition (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806126531
• ISBN-13: 978-0806126531
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,157,628 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A weakly argued and poorly written book., April 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Unsubmissive Women: Chinese Prostitutes in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco (Hardcover)

The book gives a brief account of the experience of Chinese prostitutes in nineteenth-century San Francisco. During that period many Chinese women migrated to the United States and and sold their bodies for economic improvement. They daily encounter racism, discrimination, exploitation, and violence. The biggest weakness of the book is that all the facts are contradictary to the thesis. Although the author attempts to challenge the stereotype of the Chinese prostitutes as hapless victims of economic, racial, and sexual exploitation, the stories in the book have failed to support its argument. Presenting only the misery and sufferings of the prostitutes at the hand of men, the excessive details of those immigrants' unpleasant experience in the American West contradict the thesis. There is no evidence of "unsubmissive women" in the book at all. It just reinforce the stereotype. Many portions of the book seem to be simply a collection of various unsorted episodes with no analysis. The research is incomplete. The author's incapability to read any document in Chinese has greatly hampered his research and also limited his knowledge about Chinese immigration history. In general, this is a poorly researched, weakly argued, carelessly written book. Agreeing with many other professional reviewers, I don't recommend this work to the general audience.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative account of SF History re: prostitution, October 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Unsubmissive Women: Chinese Prostitutes in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco (Hardcover)

This book makes a unique contribution to documentation of prostitution and Chinese immigration in the 19th century. This highly readable work discusses the adverse conditions for women in the brothels as well as social/legislative response to the brothels and red light districts.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, May 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Unsubmissive Women: Chinese Prostitutes in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco (Hardcover)

This book was informative & well written. I now view Chinatown of San Francisco with much more intrigue than I ever did.