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List Price: $145.00 | | Publisher: Routledge
Salesrank: 3460506
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| Our Price: $120.48 |
| Used Price: $50.95 |
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| Media: Hardcover |
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Editorial Review:
This book is one of the first scholarly analyses of the current social constructions of Chinese American masculinities. Arguing that many of these notions are limited to stereotypes, Chan goes beyond this to present a more complex understanding of the topic. Incorporating historical references, literary analysis and sociological models to describe the construct a variety of masculine identities, Chan also examines popular novels (Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan), films (Bruce Lee), comic books (Master of Kung Fu), and literature (M. Butterfly).
Chinese American Masculinities: From Fu Manchu to Bruce Lee (Asian Americans) Reviews:
Good book plagued by poor research 
2003-11-05 - Let me preface my review by stating my interest in this book was the author's interpetation of the Fu Manchu character. Overall, this was a good book on an important topic that receives scant attention: prejudice against Asians. The Fu Manchu character, like most fiction from Colonial Britain, has racist elements. However, the author is not sufficiently familiar with the work of the character's creator, Sax Rohmer. Rohmer loved what was then called the Orient. His heroines are Oriental. Fu Manchu is depicted as a genius and a man of integrity at all times. Later books in the series (Rohmer wrote of the character from 1912 to 1959) depict him not as evil, but as devoted to a cause often (but not always) at odds to the West. The rise of Communism in China is at cross-purposes to Fu Manchu's ambitions and the last few books see the character more on the side of the Western protagonists in defeating their common enemy. What is more, Fu Manchu was part of a tradition (owing much to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Professor Moriarity and Sherlock Holmes) of villains and heroes with veiled admiration for one another and who would clearly unite if not for their divisive principles. The author seems to be reacting more to the hackneyed portrayal of the character in film and television adaptations (which are far from faithful to Rohmer's text). Case-in-point, the infamous Fu Manchu moustache which the author emphasizes as a racial stereotype is not the invention of the character's creator who described Fu Manchu as devoid of facial hair in all thirteen novels and four shorter works that he appeared in. Even in the earliest, most racially insensitive books, Rohmer was quick to note that most Chinese immigrants were law-abiding citizens. The harmful stereotype that sprung from the character developed seperately from the writer who loved all things Eastern and wanted to share that love with his readers the world over.
Critical and necessary book on Chinese/Asian-Am. men!!! 
2001-12-28 - So much of men's studies does not take men of color into account. Then, that which does focuses on African-American men, and sometimes Latino men. Thus, Chan's book is a direly needed intervention. The book focuses upon Chinese-American men, but it is applicable to Asian-Ams of many ethnicities. This book would be a wonderful edition to any collection of Asian-American studies texts or works on men of color. Chan has two projects. First, he discusses the history and racist underpinnings of four Chinese-Am men in popular culture of this century: Fu Manchu, Charlie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Shiang-Chi. Second, Chan is trying to formulate a Chinese-American masculinity that is neither sexist nor homophobic. He thus encourages "ambi-sexuality" and borrows the idea of "democratic manhood" from Michael Kimmel. My only critique of this text is that it did not have photos of the characters Chan examines. (I mean, I have heard of Charlie Chan, but I've never seen any of the decades-old films that use him.) In brief, if you enjoyed what Lisa Lowe said about Asian-American women in "Immigrant Acts", you will really love what Chan says about male counterparts in this book. Many readers may be turned off by the deeply academic, and some might say overly "PC" lingo that the author employs. Still, I think every Chinese-American man should own this book. I am very pleased that I bought and read this book; it's brilliant!
