Women in Germany have had the right to vote for 105 years, they have been allowed to open their own bank accounts for 42 years, rape in marriage has been prohibited for 26 years and four years ago the principle “No means no” against sexual harassment was included in the penal code recorded. Progress? no What sounds progressive is actually a veritable small denominator in a centuries-long struggle. March 8th marks the anniversary of International Women’s Day, or rather Feminist Day of Struggle – and women all over the world still have to fight for their equality and recognition. Gender pay gap, female poverty in old age as well as sexual harassment and abuse are still part of everyday life for most women. And that in 2023!
However, instead of giving in to anger and frustration, the author of this text would like to use the month of the month to call attention to all the pioneering women who changed the world – and yet often do not appear in history books. Welcome to the ME section “FLINTA*, whose art changed the world”. You’ve never heard of FLINTA*? No worries: The term is relatively new and refers to all people read as female who are discriminated against in patriarchy – thus not only heterosexual cis women are included, but also homo- or bisexual, intersex and non-binary women, as well as trans and agender people .
Portrait: Anna May Wong – The first Chinese-American female Hollywood star
It is amazing which people remain in the collective memory of the world for decades and which are consistently left out of historiography. Think of female Hollywood stars – which people come to mind? Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn certainly. But what about Dolores Del Río, the Mexican actress who received a star on the Walk Of Fame? Or Hattie McDaniel, the first black actress to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress? Even. The cultural legacy of BIPoC actresses – no matter how well known they were during their lifetime – was not passed on as adeptly as that of their white colleagues. A fate that Anna May Wong also shares – although she was the first Chinese-American actress to revolutionize the film landscape at a time when Hollywood was still deeply permeated by racism.
“The great game was to flock to my sister and I and torment us”
Anna May Wong was born Wong Liu Tsong in 1905 and grew up in Lo Sang – the “Chinatown” of Los Angeles. Early on, Wong and her sister Loulou were racially abused, as the actress later recounts: “The great game was to flock to my sister and me and torment us.” Xenophobia, Asian immigrants in the early 20th century countered, can be traced back, among other things, to the “Chinese Exclusion Act” of 1882, in which the immigration of Chinese citizens* to the USA was severely restricted. After the hostilities become too great, Wong and her siblings transfer from a co-ed to a Chinese school. Despite her improved circumstances, the young girl has little interest in her academic achievements – instead, Wong often visits Hollywood locations after school and observes the actors on set. At home she then stands in front of the mirror and imitates what she sees. Her fascination with the film business grows.
At the age of only 14, Anna May Wong was able to land her first small role due to her talent – right next to the well-known Russian-American actress Alla Nazimov in the film “The Red Lantern” (1919). Only two years later, Wong dropped out of school to be able to fully concentrate on her acting career. “I was determined to give myself 10 years to be successful,” the actress said of her decision. But it doesn’t take that long. At the age of 17, Anna May Wong played her first leading role in the film “The Toll of the Sea” (1922) – one of the first color films of all time. In the work, Wong slips into a role to which she was to be reduced throughout her life: The “China Doll”, also known as “Lotus Blossom” or “Geisha Girl”. The term “China Doll” denotes a racist stereotypical depiction of Asian women as “exotic”, submissive and sexually docile, who often end up sacrificing themselves out of unrequited love for a white man.
At that time, Asian roles were mostly played by white performers
The character is, of course, highly degrading towards Asian women and corresponds to a white narrative – nevertheless it is no wonder that Anna May Wong had to slip into this role so often, as Asian-born actors often had no choice. By the time Wong hit the scene, Asian roles in Hollywood movies were mostly played by white actors, with faces painted yellow or brown and eyes taped with scotch tape (yes, that’s right!). Today, this procedure is also known as “yellowfacing”. Those “Asian” characters were caricatured, charged with clichés and spoke with a heavy accent. So Anna May Wong has to ask herself the question right at the beginning of her career: Do I continue to let white actors play Asian roles? Or do I adopt them myself, even if I’m reproducing racist stereotypes? For better or for worse, she initially chooses the latter.
In the early 1920s, Anna May Wong became one of the most successful actresses of her time. In 1924 she attracted media attention for a revealing costume in Douglas Fairbanks’ film “The Thief of Baghdad” and thus became a style icon. Her trademark: short bangs. In the same year, Wong takes on the role of Tiger Lily in “Peter Pan” and appears in a Laurel & Hardy film. But the more often the actress accepts roles, the more she becomes aware of her precarious situation: it often happens that she is denied Asian roles and instead goes to white actresses. She is also confronted with the “Hays Code”, in which she is forbidden to have sexual relations with a white partner in front of the camera – so that she can only appear in supporting roles. The “Hays Code” are moral guidelines that filmmakers had to follow up until the 1960s. This included a ban on explicit depictions of sexuality, crime – and so-called “mixed relationships” between white and non-white actors.
The actress emigrated to Europe – and is happy
The year 1928 is a turning point for Anna May Wong. When she is turned down for the Asian lead in The Crimson City and asked to teach the cast white actress how to use chopsticks, she’s had enough. The actress decides without further ado to emigrate to Europe. First she goes to London, where she acts with the famous British actor Laurence Olivier in the play “The Chalk Circle”. She then moves to Berlin, where she is welcomed as a big Hollywood star. As the silent film era slowly came to an end, Wong learned to speak German and French fluently and acted in three films by Richard Eichberg. During her time in Berlin, Wong befriended many German celebrities, including Marlene Dietrich and Leni Riefenstahl. Some biographers even credit her with having affairs with both women. Anna May Wong is happy in Berlin. In particular, the avant-garde and hedonistic lifestyle in artist circles and the tolerance towards minorities give her a previously unknown sense of freedom.
In 1931 Anna May Wong returned to the USA and shot the film “Shanghai Express” there together with Marlene Dietrich. For the first time in her career, the character she portrays is not assassinated during the film but survives – a breakthrough. To date, “Shanghai Express” is considered Wong’s best and most important film. But her career luck does not last long: as early as 1935, the actress was confronted with racism again. In the film “The Good Earth” she is once again denied the Asian lead role, instead two Germans are supposed to mime the Chinese couple in the film. Wong is only offered the supporting role as a female villain. Now she has finally had enough. In 1936 she left Hollywood behind and embarked on a nine-month journey through China.
She feels the lack of belonging that has accompanied her throughout her life
In China, Anna May Wong deals intensively with Chinese culture for the first time and feels the feeling of not belonging that has accompanied her throughout her life: while in the West she has always been marketed as “the Asian”, in China she is primarily considered as unmarried “American” who reproduces Asian stereotypes in the film. On her journey, she is usually eyed critically, sometimes even confronted with hatred. Upon her return to the US, Anna May Wong strikes an exclusive deal with Paramount, giving her a more nuanced and likable portrayal of Asian roles. During the second China-Japan War, she became more pro-China and used her popularity to raise money for China Aid. However, when World War II begins, her career falters. She gets depressed and starts drinking. And things didn’t get any better for the actress after the war either: with the onset of the Cold War, anti-Chinese racism in the USA increased again, Anna May Wong’s roles dwindled. It wasn’t until 1960 that she appeared in a film again – it was to be her last. In the same year, Anna May Wong dies of a heart attack at the age of 56.
“I was so tired of the roles I had to play”
As unbelievable as it sounds: Anna May Wong only rediscovered modern film history at the beginning of the 21st century. At times, the actress was one of the most famous Hollywood greats of her time, was a style icon and paved the way for numerous actresses of Asian origin who were to come after her. Nevertheless, her cultural heritage is of course not without problems: many roles that Wong had to play are racist and stereotypical – such as the seductive “China Doll” or the manipulative “Dragon Lady”. The actress still evokes mixed feelings within the Asian-American community. Nevertheless, the censorship to which Anna May Wong was subject should not be forgotten: in order to be able to work as an actress at all, Wong had to submit to the patriarchal and racist attitudes of the filmmakers in many cases. Despite various obstacles, Anna May Wong has spent her life trying to improve the image of Asians in the cinema. As she said in an interview in 1931: “I was so fed up with the roles I had to play. Why is the screen Chinese always the bad guy? And such a clumsy villain: a murderer, a traitor, a snake in the grass. We’re not like that. How could we, with a civilization so much older than the West?”
This text first appeared on musikexpress.de in March 2021 and has now been updated.