NCJ Number
203283
Journal
Gender & Society Volume: 17 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2003 Pages: 938-957
Date Published
December 2003
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article examines the redress movement of the so-called Korean “comfort women” and analyzes the argument of whether Japan’s colonization of Korea or the gender hierarchy in Japan and Korea was a greater fundamental cause of the women’s sexual slavery.
Abstract
During the Asian and Pacific War spanning 1937 to 1945, approximately 200,000 Korean women were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Government, who sent them to sexually serve Japanese military men in military brothels. During the early 1990’s, aided by the feminist movement, many of these former “comfort women” came forward to redress the wrongs committed against them. In the wake of the redress movement emerged an argument regarding whether Japan’s colonization of Korea or the gender hierarchy in Japan and Korea was a greater fundamental cause of the women’s sexual slavery. The article examines this argument from an intersectional perspective and contends that colonial power, gender hierarchy, and class were inseparable and equal causes of the atrocities committed against the Korean women. The article relies on an analysis of the historical and contemporary background of the redress movement and on interviews with 19 surviving Korean former comfort women. After alternatively examining colonial power, gender hierarchies, and social class, the article contends that all three issues contributed to the women’s suffering and that emphasizing one over another misrepresents feminist political issues, as well as the victims’ experiences. Notes, references