Images of Equality and Freedom: the Representation of Chinese American Men, America Today Magazine, and the Cultural Cold War in Asia.

This article analyzes America Today , a United States Information Service publication circulated to Southeast Asian Chinese between 1949 and 1952. Although the federal government had no intention of lifting immigration restrictions, the magazine promoted the idea that the United States provided humanitarian assistance and abundant opportunities to Chinese immigrants as well as their American-born Chinese counterparts to achieve upward mobility, form a conjugal family, and enjoy patriarchal authority. The stories demonstrated an attempt to inspire Chinese male readers in Southeast Asia to support the United States and the "free world," rather than Communism and the People's Republic of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]