Reaction #7: Comfort Women

Why were the Korean Comfort Women “silent” so long? To answer this question, one thing you will need to think about is how much women’s “worth” is tied to their status as virgins or “sexually pure” and how women who are not “pure” are shamed in societies. You also need to reflect on how rape has been characterized as simply an “unfortunate consequence” of war—this is not true, of course; rape does not “just happen.”

Why could the words and actions of Japanese officials and government be interpreted as attempts to further silence them?

The story of the Korean “Comfort Women” is a saddening one in that they were swindled into a path in which they were continually abused. They were in nearly all circumstances tricked or taken against their will to commit these acts as “services.” Their bodies were in a sense brutally tortured in what the women had to undergo that caused great physical and psychological pain. The women were pushed to their breaking point but had nobody to turn to in their time of need; they were sometimes convinced suicide was their only way out.

Women from all over southeast Asia were pulled away from their families with promises of work or at least being told they would be helping out in some way or fashion. It was unbeknownst to them that they would be used as property and abused by the military to satisfy the soldiers. These women often fought back and were often beat badly; in addition, families who may look for these young women would often fail in their endeavor or worse, be attacked.

These women were abused day in and day out as countless men violated them no matter what they said or how hard they fought they were used. They were literally powerless and were in most aspects a mere slave looked at as property to be used however the owner saw fit. In these much more conservative societies, purity is seen as a necessity and anything other is a disgrace to yourself and the family name. These women were also often impregnated by the large number of men that violated them, in which they would be given drugs that would violently react with the body to expel the embryo and likely cause unknown internal damages. Another number of women were given the same treatment when contracting any kind of sexually transmitted disease. A number of these women became sterilized and had little to no chance at being able to live normal lives after being freed from bondage.

The women tortured in this were often so stressed or emotionally damaged that they had nowhere to turn but thoughts of suicide and a number of them did take their own lives. The women would look for any kind of chemical or drug, any kind of way out of the daily turmoil and did what was necessary. The ones that survived carry the nightmares in their memory and for obvious reasons hate to re-live those moments.

The saddest part of this history is that nobody was able to admit their mistake despite years of reflection. Nobody’s morality was bothered and many of the soldiers didn’t even comprehend the damage they were dealing. The Japanese government attempted to hide and cover up any kind of knowledge to save itself from any kind of embarrassment, but such large-scale disrespect for life could never be hid from the people searching for answers. While the Japanese government may try and silence the women by becoming that overbearing power that requires its people to be patriotic, there are many that stand up against the atrocities that were committed in some of the darkest times of their history.

Reaction #6: FDR's Four Freedoms

Of FDR's four freedoms, the goal of freedom from want and freedom from fear especially reflect American and European experiences during the 1930s and 1940s. Briefly explain what FDR meant by "freedom from want" and "freedom from fear" and explain how the desire for these freedoms was the result of American and European experiences during the 1930s and 1940s.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt entered the presidency in a time of great hardships for the United States. It was a time of economic meltdown and tensions were growing worldwide as countries pushed the boundaries and tested the limits. Franklin D. Roosevelt put together plans and quickly worked to solve the world issues upon entering office; however, some were beyond fixing.

Firstly I feel that the Freedom from Want pertained to the difficult economic times the United States and the world were in. The Great Depression affected many worldwide and caused many problems of health and had issues that needed to be resolved such as the living and working conditions of many people. Essentially the people needed more money in order to afford to survive or live in conditions that were acceptable for existence. President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted this economic hardship to not only be lifted off the United States but off the entire world which would promote peaceful coexistence since there would be no competition for limited resources or money.

The freedom from Fear that President Roosevelt was referring to was the inevitable war that was quietly and slowly being waged across the ocean that would soon engulf the entire world. Roosevelt began to call for the reduction of arms worldwide knowing that if the countries kept building militaries and investing everything into war that both sides would be so strong that a stalemate of great destruction would be waged for years. Essentially he wanted to weaken the world such that nobody could forcefully take over any of their neighbors which is exactly what was being planned.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt entered the presidency in a time of great turmoil, but took the job with great honor and decided he would try and solve the problems the United States were facing and the problems he foresaw regarding the impending war. He truly believed that the world in which all humans could coexist peacefully was achievable in his own time; however, there were many other people who were planning and working against his vision of a utopia.

Reaction #5

What does Alain Locke mean when he says, "The day of 'aunties.' 'uncles,' and 'mammies' is equally gone."? Why does he say this?

During the 1920’s to the 1930’s the ‘New Negro” emerged from American society. They were no longer the stereotypical “aunties,” “uncles,” and “mammies.” This all emerged from the center of Harlem were they were able to find themselves socially and connect with other peoples in what is known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Many African Americans from all over the United States had moved North during the Great Migration in order to find a better living. In this migration, many difficult people from different backgrounds came together creating a large cultural mix in many communities; one notable one is the Harlem Community in New York. People came from all over with different intentions on their minds, and they used their new found freedoms to come together and represent themselves.

The new community is home to many people of different talents, no longer just the stereotypical African Americans that were forced to be submissive in the south and give up all of their beliefs in order to survive, but many who were expressing themselves in their own ways. This mixture of culture eventually began to culminate, grow, and spread as a new identity for African Americans commonly referred to as “The New Negro.”

Alain Locke wrote about the social issues of the time and came up with the conclusion that the mixture of beliefs and cultures created a new identity of which African Americans could connect to and be a part of to create something bigger. It was no longer the singular “aunties,” “uncles,” and “mammies” that represented African Americans, but it was the brand new artists, poets, singers, etc. that represented the new culture that had cultivated from the mixture creating “The New Negro.”