At their most recent meeting, the Asian Culture Club here at Cherry Hill West learned about influential Asian women and their impact on the world in honor of Women’s History Month. Here are a few of the countless number of Asian women who have paved the way for many to come.
Photo from pbs.org
- Patsy Mink
Born and raised on the island of Maui as a Japanese American, Mink was the first woman of color elected to the US House of Representatives. Elected in 1964, she was a key author of Title IX, which advocated for gender equity within educational opportunities. Before the law was enacted, women weren’t offered the same academic or extracurricular opportunities as men. Mink once stated, “That everyone – rich or poor, powerful or weak – should get fair and equal treatment from the government”.
Photo from munatseng.org
2. Muna Tseng
Tseng is a Chinese-American dancer and choreographer whose style combines ballet and American modern dance with elements of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean dance traditions. She moved to New York in 1978 and founded the Muna Dance Projects, which leaders also ran in the field of contemporary art research. Alongside her impact on the arts, Tseng became an advocate for her late friend, Tseng Kwong, who passed away in 1990 due to AIDS-related causes.
Photo from economictimes.com
3. Sarojini Naidu
Naidu was the first Indian woman to become president of the Indian National Congress. A child prodigy and poet, she started college at the age of twelve at the University of Madras and graduated when she was nineteen, attending also King’s College and Cambridge. Naidu was a strong advocate of Indian separation from British rule during the Indian Independence Movement, while also publishing her own poetry.
Picture from ifeminist.org
4. Melchora Aquino
Aquino was born in modern-day Barangay Tandang Sora, Quezon City. During the Philippine Revolution (1896-1898), she used her store as a refuge for the sick and wounded revolutionaries, earning her the name, “the Mother of the Philippine Revolution.” One of the most notable anti-Spanish colonialism groups she helped was the Katipunan. Although Aquino was caught and arrested in 1896, that didn’t stop her from helping others within her community. She lived a remarkable life until the age of 107 and raised six children.
Photo from pbs.org
5. Amy Tan
Her name appears familiar to many, Tan is an author who demonstrates elements of Chinese heritage in her works. One of her most significant books is The Joy Luck Club, which follows the lives of four first-generation Chinese women and their relationships with their mothers. Tan continues to expand the horizon of literary canon by writing through the perspectives of immigrant families to explore heritage, struggles, and memoirs.
All around the world, women have stood as role models for future generations to come. Women’s History Month can serve as an opportunity to grow our knowledge on the path that women have created for themselves, and that starts with recognizing the women around us in our daily lives.