Chinese American Mothering

A journey from Chinese immigrant to "U.S. Mother of the Year" unpacks the roots of the model minority myth and its legacy
In 1952, Toy Len Goon, a Chinese immigrant widow who raised eight children while running their family laundry, was selected as U.S. Mother of the Year by the American Mother's Committee of the Golden Rule Foundation. In Chinese American Mothering, Andrea Louie argues that Toy Len Goon's selection for this honor was more than an acknowledgement of her having raised eight successful children while running a business; rather she was chosen precisely because she was a Chinese American woman who could exemplify both the virtues of mothering and of American upward mobility. Her selection for the Mother of the Year honor can only be understood within the context of shifting representations of Chinese Americans during the Cold War era, and the accompanying assumptions about the strategic role that positive representations of Chinese Americans could have in extending U.S. influence in Asia.
Drawing upon immigration records, interviews, and secondary sources, as well as her positionality as Toy Len Goon's granddaughter, Louie tells an expanded version of Toy Len Goon's life story. Ultimately, Chinese American Mothering addresses themes of migration, gender, racialization, Americanization, and "success" through the evolving lens of the model minority myth.

Andrea Louie is Professor of Anthropology at Michigan State University, where she is also affiliated with the Asian Pacific American Studies Program. She is author of Chineseness Across Borders: Renegotiating Chinese Identities in China and the United States and How Chinese Are You?: Adopted Chinese Youth and their Families Negotiate Identity and Culture.