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Title: Clip: Emma Quon reflects on the traditional Chinese preference for sons over daughters.
Date: October 5, 2009
Donor: Quon, Emma
Subject: Childhood, Gender, Inter-generational Relations
Province: Alberta
Language: ENG

Quon, Emma

Emma Quon (née Lee) was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. Her father immigrated to Canada in 1898 and her mother in 1913. Emma had a busy social life in Montreal, taking part in many church and extra-curricular activities. She married Harry Quon in the late 1930s, and the young couple ran an inn in Port McNicoll, Ontario. After returning to Montreal, Emma became very active in community work as a founding member of the Canadian Chinese Cultural Society of Montreal, a member of the Credit Women’s Breakfast Club, and as part of a group committed to the re-location of the Chinese Hospital. In 1996, Emma moved to Alberta to be close to her daughter.

‘I’ve always wanted to be a boy. I thought, if I came back in the next world, I want to be a boy.’

Emma Quon explains the different treatment of boys and girls in Chinese culture. She says that Chinese men, in particular, usually have a preference for boys, giving their sons more attention and more education.