Militarized Prostitution In Asia

The twentieth century has seen the rise of the world marketplace. In this world market, Thailand and the P

Previous research has not paid much attention to GI’s experience. This is due to an ambivalent comprehension of military servicemen by the American public. US troops are expected to be heroes at war time and hirelings of the military machinery who failed to make it in American society. Because of these stereotypes soldiers are viewed as drunks and sexual predators who would be nothing without the military. Overall, stereotypes about military personnel do not account for the reality of military men. It is important to account for GI’s motives and emotions when considering the dynamics of sex work, military camps, and militarized territories.

Racist stereotypes of Asians within American society are strongly correlated with sexist stereotypes of Asian women. These notions foster American participation in Camp-Town prostitution. Stars and Stripes, the main newspaper for the military, encouraged soldiers to explore the R&R sites, calling it the “ultimate experience” because the women make you feel you like you are the greatest. These are patriarchic institutions that exist within other patriarchic institutions. The practice of women servicing government officials, foreign diplomats and military servicemen is not a new institution in Korea, for example. This form of exploitation of women has been a patriarchal tradition since the tenth century. In Korea the women that engage in these activities are referred to as ‘kiaeng’ meaning ‘rented wife.’ This means that the prostitute must not only provide sexual services but they must also act as a housekeeper. The majority of their earnings are given to the government. Furthermore, these women are devalued; they are treated as if they do not even exist within their own people. A prostitute must die and a soldier must be caught in the act of committing homicide, in order for these women's existence to be acknowledged. The American military displays their patriarchal tendencies through justification of social manipulation of Asian societies. For example, the US policy in Korea is supposed to promote security, morale, and progress yet they seem to violate the human rights of women and children in the military towns. According to the US military, security provides justification for their presence because North Korea is a threat to South Korea. Soldier morale must be maintained in order to facilitate a solid defense and future progress in East Asia relies on the upholding of U.S. military forces in South Korea. On the other hand, the women living in the military towns view this terminology in a different way. Security to them stands for the militaries tendency to commit crimes without getting punished. Morale stands for the tendency the soldiers have to deliberately demean Korean people and degrade women. Progress to the Korean people represents future violation of human rights.

One of the saddest things about the prostitution situation is that most Asian women have the a strong, sometimes spiritual, belief that the United States is the promise land. Many girls turn to prostitution with the hopes of achieving their ultimate dream, which is to marry an American. For the majority of these women do not achieve this goal and are enslaved to a life of prostitution. The racism demonstrated by American soldiers towards Asian women are well documented. They are taught to view Asian people and especially women as inferior. The majority (~eighty percent) of Korean-GI marriages end up in divorce and domestic violence is very prevalent. The soldiers still view these women as inferior even though they are their wives. These women are severely beaten and have no where to turn because of the language barrier. Many of the women who end up escaping from their abusive husbands end up going back into prostitution but this time around the military camp areas in the United States. In the film The Women Outside, officials from the Mayor's Office of Midtown Enforceme

Some topics in this essay:
Cynthia Enloe, Progress Korean, Stars Stripes, Thailand Philippines, Sex Allies, Philippines Burma, Black Amerasian, Rest Recreation, Nations American, Enforcement Manhattan, asian countries, r&r sites, asian women, militarized prostitution, sexually transmitted diseases, transmitted diseases, sexually transmitted, american government, comfort women, presence military, military base, women occupied territories, government enforce laws, militarized prostitution asian, human rights women,