Article
Feminist Review (1996) 52, 53–68. doi:10.1057/fr.1996.7
Of Mail-Order Brides and 'Boys' Own' Tales: Representations of Asian-Australian Marriages
Kathryn Robinson is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Anthropology, Research School of Pacific Studies and Asian Studies at Australian National University, Canberra. Her research has been concerned with issues of development in Indonesia, in particular the effects of the development of a multinational owned nickel mine. Her most recent writings focus on authorized models of femininity, including the promotion of contraceptive use. Her work takes as its starting point relations between Australia (and other wealthy nations) and the Asia Pacific region.
Kathryn Robinson
Abstract
Asia is increasingly entering into the Australian imaginary as the nation grapples with the issue of 'Australian identity'. This article examines two instances in which the idea of Asia has been taken up in debates about marriage and relations between men and women. Asia is a site of fantasy for men in an era when they feel that 'traditional' values of male pre-eminence in the family are being undermined. In this fantasy, 'Asia' is known through stereotypic representations, the stereotypes underlying the nature of the response in the popular media.
Keywords:
mail-order brides, Gillespie kidnapping, marriage, Australian-Asian relations, Australian identity
