Picture Brides

                 Nicole

                    1910 the first Korean “Picture Bride”, Sara Choe, was the start of many Korean and Japanese women traveling to America for marriage.  Because of the Gentlemen’s Agreement which restricted travel not only to America from Asia, but from Hawaii to the mainland, immigrant workers were left stranded on the island with hindrance to plans of returning to their homes to settle.  Thus the brides became a solution, since the Agreement allowed spouses to travel, for the men in America to have a means of starting a family.  The idea of picture brides was even encouraged by the plantation owners in Hawaii, looking at it as an opportunity to encourage workers to settle permanently.  For women, the appeal in this form of arranged marriage could be for economic or family reasons, as they also followed the belief in the land of opportunity.  Unfortunately, in such an arrangement there is some allowance for deception.  In some instances men would send to their potential bride younger pictures of themselves or of them posing in front of cars or other luxury items they did not own.  As a result, many women found themselves disappointed or even daunted by the situation they found themselves in.  The women who decided to stay went to work on the plantations alongside their new husbands.  Their presence in the work system not only allowed for the economic support of families, but for the development of a sustained family community.  They also engaged in building communities with the other women arriving, and set out to preserve cultural tradition in expectation of passing it on to their children.  Because of the continuation of settlement, the arrival of picture brides also worked to antagonize groups such as the anti Japanese movement, who had expected the Gentlemen’s Agreement to take care of working immigrants.  There was an overall negative view of the brides, as they were seen to be working alongside the men and would be raising a next generation of Asian Americans who would have more say.  As a result of this public feeling, the government stopped giving away passports altogether in 1920.  The system of picture brides worked out as a way of stabilizing Asian culture in the American environment.  It gave the bachelors an opportunity to settle and start families.  As a result there was a formation of communities, communities that were more likely to be accepted since they were family oriented as opposed to a group of bachelors.  Looking at the position of Asian women, whether they voluntarily or involuntarily came over, the conditions were not as advertised.  This goes to show the fortitude of the women who came over and had to do manual labor in order to support a family in living conditions she was not expecting.  It is an experience to be respected, and has been given recognition through adaptations in pop culture such as the 1987 novel Picture Bride, and the 1994 film Picture Bride.