Criticism

The signature evening gown is a tightly fitted cheongsam, chosen by the New Year Festival's organizer, H.K. Wong, to exoticize the contestants as "the perfect blend of East and West" and draw tourists to Chinatown.^{[4][1]: 64 [17]: 7} Although the earlier (1948–1953) local beauty pageant featured western dresses, author Chiou-Ling Yeh asserts the new pageant served to reinforce stereotypes: the choice of the cheongsam reinforced sexualized perception of Chinese women through its extra high-cut side slit, and early publicity emphasized the value of traditional, patriarchal ideals for female behavior, referring to the Three Obediences and Four Virtues.^{[1]: 42–44  [20]: 332} The winners were seen as cultural ambassadors to bridge the gap between Chinese-American immigrants and western society; in one instance, a restriction on the use of firecrackers in San Francisco was lifted after San Francisco Mayor George Christopher kissed the reigning Miss Chinatown in 1956.^{[1]: 47–48}

Additional criticisms of the pageant, including it being not truly representative of the Chinatown population, reinforcing Caucasian beauty standards, and perpetuating the model minority stereotype have arisen since its origins.^{[17]: 6, 13–17} Pageants affirmed the model minority stereotype by affirming the importance of education as well as how woman were expected to assimilate into society. Contestants also tended to be middle class woman, further pushing the ideal during the Cold War. ^[21] Additionally, by picking winners of the elite middle class, critics argued that the beauty queens were not representative of the Chinatown population.^[17] Furthermore, participants were not even expected to speak Chinese, the only part of them that was distinctly Chinese was their bodies.^[21] The Holiday Inn Chinatown sponsored one of the 1971 contestants; as a publicity stunt, she jumped out of a giant fortune cookie for the opening of the hotel, later drawing jeers and eggs when she rode on a float during the Lunar New Year parade.^{[4][17]: 14}

Performance artist Kristina Wong has crashed numerous events in costume as the character "Fannie Wong, former Miss Chinatown 2nd runner up" since 2002;^[4] parodying the stereotype of a quiet, demure Asian woman, Wong describes Fannie as a "cigar chomping, leg humping fast talking beauty queen" that was "often escorted out of venues".^[22] Wong grew up in San Francisco idolizing Miss Chinatown, but admits she was "nervous because she did not know how she'd transition from being 'completely sexually repressed and totally awkward' to someone who was beautiful and self-assured. 'I felt like such an embarrassment to my family.'"^[23]

Pageant rules

Eligibility is limited to unmarried United States citizens of Chinese descent between the ages of 17 and 26,^[24] which means the entrant's father or mother must be of Chinese descent.^[4][25] Local Chinatown beauty contests were won by the contestant that raised the most funds or sold the most raffle tickets for their family association, but these rules were changed.^[26] Initially, contestants were required to answer questions posed in Chinese, but by 1965, it was recognized that some, especially those who had not grown up in Chinatown, did not possess the necessary bilingual skills and the committee stopped factoring the Chinese language responses into the results.^{[1]: 70 [17]: 15} As of 2014^[update], the four scored segments are introduction, talent, swimsuit, and question-and-answer.^[15] As of 2024, the swimsuit portion was replaced with a form & fitness section.

The winner of the Miss Chinatown USA title receives a US$10,000 scholarship^[15] and, during her reigning year, travels to meet with family associations, officials, and politicians in the United States and abroad as a goodwill ambassador.^[26][27][28] As a national pageant, the titleholder of Miss Chinatown USA also is eligible to enter the Miss Chinese International Pageant, a contest for women of Chinese descent not residing in China.^[29] For instance, Ni Jiang won Miss Chinatown USA in 2008, then competed in Miss Chinese International in early 2009.^[30]

The first runner-up for Miss Chinatown USA holds the simultaneous titles of First Princess and Miss Chinese Chamber of Commerce.^[31] Third place is named Second Princess.^[32] There is a separate award for Miss Talent, given to the contestant who receives the highest talent score.^[15]

Venue

The first Miss Chinatown pageant was held on February 15, 1958, at the Great China Theater.^[18] The theater, now renamed as the Great Star, was completed in 1925 to stage Chinese operas and is still showing limited engagements and live performances.^[33] Since then, pageants have been held at larger event locations in San Francisco, including the SF Masonic Auditorium (starting in 1959),^{[1]: 57  [34]} Palace of Fine Arts Theatre,^[35][36] and Hyatt Regency San Francisco.^[37]

Traditionally, a separate coronation ball is staged at a separate venue after the pageant; in 2012, the coronation ball was held at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square.^[38] In 2020, the coronation ball was held at the InterContinental San Francisco.^[39] For 2022, the pageant and coronation ball occurred on the same night, in the same venue.^[37]