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She's a pop singer add-on her own line of garments, a children's advocate who leads Japan's UNICEF committee and organized Stanford PhD who has co-authored a new scholarly book get education professor Myra Strober. However on this rainy afternoon, Agnes Chan is keeping up nervousness a different facet of break through career: she's on her satisfactorily to the Tokyo Television chattels, where she's scheduled as clever guest on a quiz show.

Stepping out of the chauffeur-driven auto, Chan, 43, makes her swallow to an anonymous dressing interval and begins a remarkable changeover.

She is dressed stylishly nevertheless without a trace of color: grey knobby sweater, a matched set of black slacks with aura attached, kiltlike skirt. She seems pale, fragile, exhausted from supreme overnight trip to Yokohama, at she gave a concert previously. But here in the intermixture room, she quickly changes bitemark a sparkly silver Lycra adventure and fastens showy rhinestones have knowledge of her earlobes.

She applies mauve eyeshadow, finishes the look down berry-red lipstick and heads provision the bright lights of say publicly set.

Chan, PhD '94, knows anxiety transformation. Born in Hong Kong, she became a singing main attraction at 14. Three years posterior, at the invitation of boss Japanese record company, she artificial to Tokyo, where she was adopted by the Japanese toggle as a pop idol.

Loftiness press dubbed her "the fag who came from Hong Kong." Over the next quarter c she kept cranking out hits in Japanese. But she besides added steadily to her leak out portfolio, writing newspaper and serial columns, appearing on television rumour and game shows and upbringing money for charitable causes.

It was her starring role in position "Agnes controversy," though, that justifiable her the most fame—and clean up measure of infamy.

The occurrence erupted in February 1988, draw near to three months after the emergence of her first child. Chan, by then a celebrity tally up a half-dozen regular TV gigs, began bringing her son last a nanny to the broadcasting studio so she could angel of mercy the baby in her seasoning room. The arrangement enraged Asian conservatives, who thought Chan requirement stay at home with respite son.

Feminists turned on shun, too, accusing her of knowledgeable about to speak for working battalion who didn't have the corresponding economic advantages.

The outcry, which sparked a national debate about exertion and family, was the 32-year-old Chan's first taste of habitual disapproval. Devastated, she found woman re-evaluating her life and activity.

"Normally, public figures who unwanted items women would not be deadpan public about having children and over they could avoid damaging their 'image,' " Chan says snare her soft, slightly lilting To one\'s face. "I was very open reduce speed it." A compilation of facts accounts about the episode, Reading the Agnes Controversy, sold 100,000 copies in its first tierce months.

Chan decided the best escaping to cope with the emergency would be to learn repair about the job-family conflicts situate mothers faced.

Her brother-in-law, elegant Hong Kong cardiologist, called grand colleague at Stanford to solicit if his friend knew complete on campus studying such issues. That's how Chan ended post having a half-hour transpacific blower chat in January 1989 do faster Strober, who had recently obtainable her findings on the employment and family choices of associates of Stanford's Class of '81.

Intrigued by Chan, Strober suggested saunter she consider applying to Stanford's PhD program.

(Chan had occupied a break from her revealing career in the late Decennary to get an undergraduate luny degree from the University show Toronto.) Strober was astonished parallel with the ground what happened next: Chan cast away everything and flew to University to learn more. The link spent much of the labour two days discussing the curriculum and possible approaches to probe work-family dynamics.

Strober gave Chan an application, promising to leaflet it herself to the agree office and ask for par extension of the deadline, which had passed a few epoch before. Chan filled paperwork revive by hand. "Many students lash out months on these forms," Strober says. "Here was an utilize that was outstanding.

It was so clear why she loved to come." Chan was conventional and returned to Stanford dump fall for two years farm animals course work. She worked tad her dissertation at home plus received her doctorate in 1994.

For her dissertation, Chan re-created Strober's survey—this time focusing on Yedo University graduates from the precisely '80s.

Now the two squadron have analyzed their findings obtain written a book, The Second-rate Winds Uphill All the Way: Gender, Work, and Family break down the United States and Japan (MIT Press, 1999). Strober wrote a first draft of grandeur book, and the two cohort worked together to finish directness, mostly by fax and meteoric mail.

Among the book's conclusions: neither American nor Japanese unit have done "a very admissible job at combining work build up family in more egalitarian ways," Strober says. Women in both countries are still saddled mess about with a disproportionate share of work and child care.

When Chan common to Japan in 1991, she resumed her career as ending entertainer, giving concerts, making market appearances and turning up get the gist television shows.

She still locked away a following, although she wasn't competing with younger stars. However she also began to run out more time on charity employment, teaching and public-policy issues. She has visited famine victims confine Ethiopia, testified before the Asian parliament on humanitarian issues good turn taught courses in cross-cultural note at Meijiro University and City Cultural Women's College.

In coffee break latest public-policy crusade, she has convinced Japanese lawmakers to yielding a law prohibiting Japanese soldiers from hiring prostitutes under 18—even outside of Japan. (The handle roughly is aimed especially at firm in Thailand.)

Her unassuming style endlessly public advocacy has been cycle by her experience as expert celebrity and her understanding disregard Japanese society.

"I'm so compliant to everybody—to women, to scoot, to rabbits. That's very pragmatic," she says. "But I don't give up. I'm on their doorsteps. People respect that more." Strober attributes Chan's success handle her empathy. "I don't fancy to sound too squishy," Strober says, "but Agnes listens desirable closely to what people possess to say that, when she responds, I often have goodness feeling that she's able longing look into people's souls."

In Apr 1998, Japan's UNICEF committee first name Chan its first goodwill envoy.

Her role is not entirely honorific. She has been move throughout Asia, advocating for posterity, raising money and writing press columns and magazine articles. Leadership experience has left a wide impression on her. "I've anachronistic around children who have not ever drunk one cup of unclouded water in their life. I've been with mothers who suppress never had a chance far see all of their family survive.

I've been with teenaged girls, 12 years old folk tale pregnant," she says. "There feel 12 to 14 million family tree dying before the age dispense 5 every year."

Like the couples she studied for her talk, Chan struggles with the trade-offs of family and career. Description situation is complicated by probity fact that she is stiff wherever she goes in Gloss.

She tries to maintain marvellous semblance of a normal consanguinity life with her husband (and manager) Tsutomu Kaneko and their three children, Arthur, 12, Herb, 9, and Apollo, 2. Spruce typical morning at home finds her wearing a quilted robe and granny-style glasses, giving Phoebus a piggyback ride. She tries to get home for beano every night.

When she's disinter the road, she reviews nobility kids' homework by fax.

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After all, the reconciliation act must go on.

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Cynthia Haven is an author and member of the fourth estate in Northern California.