Korean "comfort women" and military sexual slavery in World War II
The aim of this thesis is to explore the way in which sexualities and identities are involved in the creation of patriarchal relations, ethnic hierarchies and colonial power in the context of ~Comfort Women~. The women were considered sexual slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II. I attempt to show the It) ways in which masculinity, femininity, and national identity were re/constructed through the enforcement of the subject-positionings of gender, colonialism and nationalism. The questions I raise and attempt to answer are: What kinds of masculinity and femininity of the Japanese soldiers and Korean ~Comfort Women~ respectively, and the national identities of both, were re/constructed through the comfort station system? How were the positionings of the ~Comfort Women~ enacted through daily practices and ideology, and what were the consequences of the re/construction of their identity? Finally, how did the ~Comfort Women~ position themselves in the face of the imposition of gender and national identities, by Japanese colonial and Korean nationalist power? I use personal narratives, including testimonies and life histories of the former Korean ~Comfort Women~ and Japanese veterans obtained from my
Ahn, Yonson
D731 World War II ; DS Asia
Korean "comfort women" and military sexual slavery in World War II. The aim of this thesis is to explore the way in which sexualities and identities are involved in the creation of patriarchal relations, ethnic hierarchies and colonial power in the context of ~Comfort Women~. The women were considered sexual slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II. I attempt to show the It) ways in which masculinity, femininity, and national identity were re/constructed through the enforcement of the subject-positionings of gender, colonialism and nationalism. The questions I raise and attempt to answer are: What kinds of masculinity and femininity of the Japanese soldiers and Korean ~Comfort Women~ respectively, and the national identities of both, were re/constructed through the comfort station system? How were the positionings of the ~Comfort Women~ enacted through daily practices and ideology, and what were the consequences of the re/construction of their identity? Finally, how did the ~Comfort Women~ position themselves in the face of the imposition of gender and national identities, by Japanese colonial and Korean nationalist power? I use personal narratives, including testimonies and life histories of the former Korean ~Comfort Women~ and Japanese veterans obtained from my
korean woman military sexual slavery world_war_ii aim_explore way sexuality identity involve_creation patriarchal relation ethnic hierarchy colonial_power context women woman consider sexual slave japanese soldier world_war_ii attempt_show way masculinity femininity national_identity constructed enforcement subject gender colonialism nationalism question_raise attempt_answer kind masculinity femininity japanese soldier korean women respectively national_identity constructed station system positioning women enact daily practice ideology consequence construction_identity finally women position face imposition gender national_identity japanese colonial korean nationalist power use personal narrative include testimony life_history former korean women japanese veteran obtain