Oops. My last post was in June. Since then I have been to four different major cities (Montreal, Toronto, Honolulu, Vancouver) and have busied myself with ridiculous amounts of work. One of my new jobs is as a research correspondent for the Multicultural History Society of Ontario doing archival and oral history research on Chinese women. Here's a gem of a passage from 'Publishers of Peace' a monograph from 1942 by the Rev. T.R. Millman.
"From the Chinese standpoint, the impact with western civilization has, biologically, been all to the good. Very marked changes are taking place in their physical appearance. The freer life and the playing of games makes for finer physique; the milder climate for a lighter complexion; and western diet, with fewer fats, produces a clearer and less opaque skin. From the use of ordinary sanitary measures, features are becoming better developed, and the whole facial expression more alert. Many of the young Chinese girls are most attractive, and with a natural flair for arranging the hair and for dressmaking, one often has to look twice to distinguish them from their western sisters. Marriages between Chinese and whites are few, as they are no more anxious for this than we are."
