Japan Aff Michigan
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- Sexuality = Commodity
- Prostitution = Patriarchy
Violence = PatriarchyPower inequalities, sexism, and patriarchy are deeply rooted in the sexual violence committed against Okinawan women Moon, 09-Department of Political Science and Edith Stix Wasserman Chair of Asian Studies at Wellesley College (Katherine H.S., Japan News, “Military Prostitution and the U.S. Military in Asia”, 2-1-09, http://ikjeld.com/en/news/81/military-prostitution-and-the-us-military-in-asia) For decades, key leaders of Asian women’s movements such as Takazato Suzuyo of Okinawa and Matsui Yayori, the well-known Japanese journalist and feminist activist, Aida Santos and women’s organizations like GABRIELA of the Philippines have argued to the contrary. They documented and insisted that U.S. military prostitution in Okinawa/Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines involve a complex “system” of central and local government policies, political repression, economic inequalities and oppression of the underclass, police corruption, debt bondage of women by bar owners, in addition to pervasive sexist norms and attitudes in both the U.S. military and the respective Asian society. In the 1970s and 1980s, when Asian feminists raised these connections, they tended to fault patriarchal and sexist values together with power inequalities emanating from them and the economic and political disparities among nations.
(Suzuyo, Canadian Women Studies, Volume 19, Number 4, report to the International Confrence on Violence against Women in War and Armed Conflict Situations, “Report From Okinawa: Long-Term U.S. Military Presence”, October/November 1997, http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/cws/article/viewFile/7929/7060) Massive In general, the extent of military violence against women depends on a number of factors: the attitude of the host government and host country regarding the status of women and respect for their human rights; the legal system that is in place to protect their status; the treaties and agreements between the sending country and the receiving country regarding human rights, and the adequacy of the arrangements to prevent crimes. The larger the economic gap existing between the country deploying the military presence and the country receiving the military presence, the more military personnel look down on women in the host community, view women's sexuality as a commodity to be purchased, and contribute to the growth of military prostitution. T h e U.S. military system is ovenvhelmingly male-dominated, despite the fact that ten per cent of military personnel are women (Enloe; Reardon). Troops engage in daily training exercises to hone their skills in killing and wounding to maintain a constant state of readiness that will enable them to be deployed to a conflict situation on a moment's notice. Military bases in Okinawa are located next to, or within, Okinawan residential areas. U.S. troops are allowed to move freely outside the base, and their violent training overflows into the Okinawa community. The U.S. forces stationed in Okinawa were deployed to the Korean War in the 1950s,the Vietnam War in the 1960s and '70s, and the Persian Gulf War in 1991. The warriors returned to Okinawa on each occasion carrying their pent-up battlefield aggression, which they released on women in the vicinity of military bases. T o promote "morale," U.S. military operations include routine "Rest and Relaxation" sites in Asian countries (Sturdevant and Stoltzfus). Prostitution and rape are the military system's outlets for aggression, and its way of maintaining control and discipline-the target being local women, as well as women in the military or U.S. military families. Prostitution and rape is viewed as a reward-for example, in "R&R"- and serves to bolster a sense of masculinity. After the rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three U.S. military personnel in 1995 (discussed later in this article), Admiral Richard Macke, Commander of the Asia-Pacific Forces and a veteran of the Vietnam War, declared, "What fools! ... for the price they paid to rent the car, they could have had a girl" (Schmitt 6Y). He was removed from his position for this remark, a revealing comment on military attitudes to prostitution.
(Yuki, Japan’s Comfort Women: Sexual Slavery and Prostitution During World War II and the US Occupation, pages 178 and 179) Massive However, the fact that many sex workers serving US soldiers in Okinawa, Korea, the Philippines, Japan and elsewhere are also confronting sexual violence every day receives little public attention simply because they are “prostitutes.” Yet, the sex industry around the military bases continues to function with no sign of disappearing. As Cynthia Enloe clearly demonstrated in her study of contemporary military prostitution, military organizations in general require the service provided by prostitutes in order to confirm and reconfirm a militarized masculinity. 37 Soldiers are expected, indeed trained, to constantly demonstrate their masculinity and dominant power over the potential enemy, even in peacetime, and the notion of masculinity naturally involves the expectation of vigorous, even exploitative, sexual activity as a “tough guy.” Therefore, military prostitution is different from other types of commercialized sex in the sense that “there are explicit steps taken by state institutions to protect male customers without undermining their perception of themselves as sexualized men.” 38 In other words, military and state authorities are predisposed not only to tolerate military-controlled prostitution, but also to encourage soldiers' macho involvement in sexual activity, in order to enhance their aggressiveness. It is not surprising, therefore, to find high levels of sexual violence committed by soldiers against women living near military bases, despite provision of military-controlled prostitution. The fundamental cause of sexual violence committed by soldiers both in war and peacetime is this military culture of sexualized masculinity, a phenomenon common to military organizations regardless of nationality. Directory: files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Integer programming and game theory files -> 4 Integer Programming files -> Bpa vehicle Window Repair Scenario #1 task: Procure vehicle window relacement. Objective files -> Pop Warner History files -> North Carolina Inclusion Initiative Mapping Where Children with ieps are Being Served Purpose files -> Fall 2013 Spring 2014 Program Data: Standard 1 Exhibit 4d files -> Hanban – asia society confucius classrooms network 2010 request for proposal files -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations Download 1.23 Mb. Share with your friends:
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