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The E-Sylum: Volume 15, Number 35, August 19, 2012, Article 25

BANK OF CANADA PURGED IMAGE OF 'ASIAN-LOOKING' WOMAN

This bizarre story reports that the Bank of Canada replaced the image of an 'Asian-looking' woman planned for the country's $100 bill. -Editor

Canada non-asian woman banknote
The neutral "non-Asian-looking" woman

The Bank of Canada purged the image of an Asian-looking woman from its new $100 banknotes after focus groups raised questions about her ethnicity.

The original image intended for the reverse of the plastic polymer banknotes, which began circulating last November, showed an Asian-looking woman scientist peering into a microscope.

The image, alongside a bottle of insulin, was meant to celebrate Canada's medical innovations.

But eight focus groups consulted about the proposed images for the new $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 banknote series were especially critical of the choice of an Asian for the largest denomination.

"Some have concerns that the researcher appears to be Asian," says a 2009 report commissioned by the bank from The Strategic Counsel, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

"Some believe that it presents a stereotype of Asians excelling in technology and/or the sciences. Others feel that an Asian should not be the only ethnicity represented on the banknotes. Other ethnicities should also be shown."

A few even said the yellow-brown colour of the $100 banknote reinforced the perception the woman was Asian, and "racialized" the note.

The bank immediately ordered the image redrawn, imposing a "neutral" ethnicity for the woman scientist who, now stripped of her "Asian" features, appears on the circulating note. Her light features appear to be Caucasian.

"The original image was not designed or intended to be a person of a particular ethnic origin," bank spokesman Jeremy Harrison said in an interview, citing policy that eschews depictions of ethnic groups on banknotes.

"But obviously when we got into focus groups, there was some thought the image appeared to represent a particular ethnic group, so modifications were made." Harrison declined to provide a copy of the original image, produced by a design team led by Jorge Peral of the Canadian Bank Note Co.

Nor would he indicate what specific changes were made to the woman researcher's image to give her a so-called "neutral," non-ethnic look. He said the images were "composites" rather than depicting any specific individual.

Does anyone have a copy of the original image for comparison?

I can't help it, but this reminds me of dialog from Woody Allen's 1966 movie, "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" Allen took a Japanese action film and re-dubbed it, completely changing the plot to make it revolve around a secret egg salad recipe. Two very Asian-looking gentlemen encounter one another when one says...

Man #1: You Chinese?

Man #2: I'm not Chinese.

Man #1: You SURE you're not Chinese?

Man #2: No, I'm NOT Chinese.

Man #1: Well, you LOOK Chinese...

Man #2: I'M NOT CHINESE!!!

-Editor

To read the complete article, see: Bank of Canada bans image of 'Asian-looking' woman from new $100 banknotes (www.windsorstar.com/business/Bank+Canada+bans+image+Asian
+looking+woman+from+banknotes/7108797/story.html)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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