John Chinaman's Role In The Feminization Of Canada

John Chinaman was used to describe Chinese people, both male and female, that were in Canada in the 19th century. He was created to define the typical Asian male at the time, however, females were also considered to be John Chinaman, but were referenced as “female john” and their children would be called “demi-john”. In the 19th century, many Chinese people came over to Canada to help build the railroads, although they were male workers, many people saw Chinese people as uncivilized people, they were so uncivilized, that it overlapped their masculinity. One of the factors that led to the feminization of Chinese men was an essay by a Canadian historian, Madge Pon. Her essay, “Like a Chinese Puzzle, the Construction of Chinese Masculinity in

“Jack Canuck”, she made various remarks such as calling the Chinese men sexual predators. This brings me to my other point; Chinese men were not all feminine, it was the society that created the representation, the representation was created when society would compare the white-Canadians against the Chinese.

Masculinity differs across the world, many white-Canadians are not accustomed to the masculinity that the Chinese were displaying. The cartoons illustrating John Chinaman played a huge role in the feminization of the Chinese men, in the reading, there was a picture of a Chinese man with a ponytail and it was in the grasp of what could appear to be a white male. There is not much writing on the picture itself, however, the picture shows us that there was a power imbalance between the two males, there can also be a comparison between females and Chinese men as women were also seen to be controlled by males. John Chinaman’s appearance was also a factor in the feminization of Chinese men, the illustrations show a male in a ponytail which at the time was appropriate for females, his clothing, when compared to the typical white-Canadian male was looser than the male clothing at the time. Although the origins of this character are unknown, with the introduction of John Chinaman, came another character called “Jack

Canuck”. Jack Canuck was the opposite of John Chinaman; he was idolized as the ideal white Canadian, many people drew comparisons to a Mountie. Many people would critically analyze John Chinaman and make rude remarks while praising Jack Canuck. The second comic we see John Chinaman in front of a gate with his hands out begging while Jack Canuck is at the gate dressed as a Mountie while holding a rifle. As I mentioned earlier, these pictures indicate that the white-Canadian male has some sort of power over John Chinaman.