 April 17, 2007
There
are millions of Asian Americans in California and a surprisingly large number of
them are named Grace Lee. At an evening program, The Korea Society screened The Grace Lee project, a quirky,
personal documentary that investigates why so many Asian American parents give
their daughters the name, and what the name’s sociological implications may be.
After the screening Winnie Tam, lecturer
in Asian American studies at HunterCollege, discussed how the widespread use
of names like Grace Lee shapes perceptions of Asian American women in the United States.
In
a series of interviews woven with humorous monologues and reflective vignettes The Grace Lee Project meets nearly a
dozen Grace Lees. Their parents named them with the expectation that they’d
grow up to be dutiful, piano-playing overachievers. Some fit the mold. Others,
such as a Grace Lee who was active in the Black Panther Party during the 1970s,
have broken it. As the film delves into issues of shame, responsibility and
parental expectations, it discovers that regardless of their path in life, all
Grace Lees have faced similar obstacles in creating their own, unique place in
the Asian American community.
“Does
any other name shout ‘generic Asian girl’ like Grace Lee?” Winnie Tam asked
rhetorically as the lights came back up. The name “Grace Lee” is just one of
numerous factors that create a sense of anonymity and interchangeability around
Asian women in the American imagination, Tam continued. Before Asian women even
arrived in the United States, traditional Confucian culture
minimized their individuality, viewing them generically as wives, daughters and
sisters. The American immigration system, which based admittance on family
relations, continued the tradition and today, even scholars of the Asian
American experience focus on the historical importance of men, treating women
as ancillary.
Tam
noted that this process makes individual Asian American women invisible in
contemporary American discourse. She urged the audience to consider women in their
own right when they think about Asians in America.
About the film: website
About the speaker
Winnie Tam is a Ph.D. candidate in the Cultural Studies Graduate Group at the University
of California at Davis. Tam has extensively researched the politics of race and class
formation in the United States and co-authored the essay The Derivative Status of Asian
American Women.
Questions or registration? Tel: 212-759-7525 ext. 311; Fax: 212-759-7530; Email
Korean Diaspora Series
with
Winnie Tam
Lecturer
Hunter College
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
6:00 - 6:30 pm ♦ Registration and Reception
6:30 - 8:30 pm ♦ Screening and Lecture
The Korea Society, 950 Third Avenue, Eighth Floor, New York City
(Building entrance on SW corner of Third Avenue and 57th Street)
When Korean American filmmaker Grace Lee left her home in Missouri for California, she
was surprised to find that almost everyone she met there knew another, usually Korean
American, woman named Grace Lee. With this quirky, personal film project, she set out to
find why so many Asian immigrant parents named their daughters Grace. Lee meets a host
of other Grace Lees. And through humorous monologue and reflective vignette, discovers
how they either fit the mold their parents intended for them—as dutiful, piano-playing
overachievers—or broke it, to find their own place in the Asian American community.
The screening of The Grace Lee Project will be followed by a presentation on the film by
Winnie Tam, lecturer at Hunter College’s Asian American Studies Program. Tam will discuss
how the film, which is at first glance the tale of an identity crisis, reveals a rich history that
is intimately tied to both Korea and America, weaving a truly Korean American tale.
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