Japanese Comfort Women

Throughout time, the role that Women had in the early twentieth century to the present has changed drastically and it has changed for the better. Japanese American Women residing in the United States, has experienced the evolution of their culture, tradition, values and their role in society. However though it seems as if there is no time in this ever so rapid society, they still continue to pass down culture and tradition through each generation. Some key terms that are crucial in order to understand the essay are, Issei, or the first generation, Nisei, the second generation ,and Sansei, known as the third generation.Over time the Women slowly moved away form being the average Homemaker and transforming into a respected and valued member of society.

In Chapter 3, Berkin explains some challenges that women faced. She explains that during this time, “war would bring problems of inflation, scarcity, and the threat of physical violence” (page 27). Women had to take charge of family businesses and for their kids since they were left alone by their husbands during the war. In Chapter 7, Berkin writes about the challenges that Native American women faced. The Native Americans wanted to conserve their way of life, and to do so they “believed that an alliance with the British” was the best thing to do (page 107). Because the British were defeated, the Native American way of life turned out to be the resemblance of the American way of life. In Chapter 8, Berkin describes the troubles that African American women faced. African American women had the “dream of freedom” so they joined the British army in hopes that they would gain their independence as well (page 120). Conditions worsened for these women for most of them were still slaves. The book demonstrates the challenges that women faced during the

During World War II, thousands of women in various nations were deeply involved in volunteer work alongside men. Before World War II, the women’s role was simply to be a wife to her husband, a mother to her children, and a caretaker to the house (Barrow). As World War II raged on, women made enormous sacrifices for their family, and also learnt new jobs and new skills. Women were needed to fill many “male jobs”, while men went off to fight in the war. Women served with distinction in The Soviet Union, Britain, Japan, United States, and Germany and were urged to join armed forces, work in factories, hospitals, and also farms to support the soldiers fighting the war. During this time, women took on the dual

The Fifteen-Year War was a time of great turmoil and uncertainty in Japan. Various facets of the country were tested and driven to their limits. During the occupation, race and gender began to evolve in ways that had not exactly be seen before. War had a tremendous impact on every part of the life of a Japanese citizen. Both men and women began to fill roles that were completely novel to them. Race became a part of the definition of who people were. As the war progressed and American troops landed on Japanese soil for occupation, more drastic changes occurred. Economic hardship and rations befell the people of the Land of the Rising Sun. Prostitution began to rear its ugly head and rape transpired. Through memory, research, and vivid

During the Civil War, women helped soldiers by rolling bandages and creating care packages, as well as assisting in other small, though vital, tasks. World War I followed this pattern. But never had women’s aid included assisting with tasks traditionally accomplished by men, until World War II. Women had been told all through the Great Depression, “Let the men have the jobs! Stay at home!” and women, for the most part, had listened. Now, suddenly, the men were

out in the war they were looked at in a different perspective more than just a typical housewife.

Women also played a role in army camps. Most women and children became camp followers out of economic necessity. Women who were unable to make ends meet at home alone went with their family male family member into army camps. Some women, however, followed soldiers because they could not bear the separation while other women were refugees

The Civil War altogether influenced the lives of American ladies. A modest bunch camouflaged themselves as men and joined the battle. Others served as spies and nurses. Numerous more tackled new parts at home after their spouses, siblings, and fathers reacted to the invitation to battle. A large number of oppressed ladies started the move to flexibility, starting new lives in the midst of the revulsions of war. By war's end, the amazing loss of life of roughly 620,000 officers had left endless ladies in grieving. Contrasted with past eras, American ladies in general had enhanced their instructive standing, secured extra lawful rights, and procured more noteworthy access to made merchandise by the mid-1800s. Ladies had taken part conspicuously

Women served an important role in WWII. They not only took the challenge and stepped up to take the places of the men off fighting in the war to work in factories, but they also fought side by side with those risking their lives and fighting for their country. They were needed everywhere during the war. There were an unbelievable amount of job opportunities for women during the war and many supported the brave acts of voluntary enlistment. “‘A woman’s place is in the home’ was an old adage, but it still held true at the start of World War II. Even though millions of women worked, home and family we considered the focus of their lives” says Brenda Ralf Lewis. Without the help of those women who were brave enough to

The book Fly Boys written by James Bradley gives us many different stories and viewpoints during WWII. During this time Japan was in the dark compared to china or the U.S. They didn't like outside influences and thought the gaizin were ruining their religious beliefs, but the Japanese reacted to this in a bad way. The Japanese army was at war with china and would not only captured chinese soldiers but would also take the women from china. They would rape the women and spread disease from soldier to soldier. The reason for the spread of disease is that “ 1 women for every 35 soldiers,”(Bradley 61) and they viewed the women as military supplies. They kept the women for months on end and would only give them one day off to be checked by doctors.

With life hard on women already holding the home together while their husbands were in the war, they were

After getting an education as well as knowing there worth in society women knew there were more than just a wife and mother. During WWII women demonstrated their power to think in a world without men as they were off fighting the war. Women began to understand that they had more to offer the world other than housekeeping and raising children. In addition, many women wanted to continue working after the war as they had held jobs with responsibilities as well as earning wages. Furthermore, women were the ones making financial decisions as well as working in positions with higher responsibilities. Many women as well as minorities were simply casted a side to make room for the returning solders. This created a silent discontent among women

Women, regardless of the opposition, were determined to support their armies and their beliefs even on the battlefield. The North and South armies of the country were fighting without proper organization from their respective governments, leading women to volunteer to help their men in whatever manner they could. Contributing to the war effort, women were “responsible for much of the clothing, feeding, and nursing of the soldiers.”18 Women would cook and do the laundry for the soldiers, working in camps away from the battlefield. Other women would provide comfort for the dying soldiers, nurturing the wounded and staying with the men who were dying until their last moments. Their efforts were to offset the fact that the wounded men were separated from their loved ones and “represented domestic tranquility in the midst of armed conflict.”19 Women were not prohibited from nursing injured soldiers because it was “not yet a profession requiring special training…care of the sick and injured was traditionally a female skill”20. Nursing was not the only important contribution that women provided during the war. They also worked within their communities to make up for the men who had left to fight in the war, managing homes and plantations,

Towards the beginning chapter four, “Cultures of Defeat” (p. 121), Dower portrayed the transformative effects of defeat as Japanese women tried to remake their identity through the world of prostitution. Before the war, traditional Japanese families created a reaction against lust, for it was appropriate for them to embrace an asexual traditional of national loyalty and family piety. However, this mindset changed. Under the Occupation, the world of prostitution became a place of sexual exploitation that allowed for a growth of interracial desire, which deteriorated racial stereotypes. For example, between Japan’s surrender and the arrival of United States forces, the Japanese

By 1943, housewife workers outnumbered single workers for the first time in history.Throughout the war women went to work in shipyards, aircraft plants and other assembly lines. They also loaded shells, operated cranes, painted ships. Many of them became welders, bus drivers, train conductors, mechanics, bellhops, nurses and day-care providers. Women comprised a third of the workers in aircraft plants and about 10 percent of the workers at the shipyards and steel mills were women. Although most war work was in factories, many women found work elsewhere. Many became secretaries and clerks in Washington D.C. and more than 200,000 women entered the special branches of the military. Such branches include Women’s Army Corp (WAC), Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), and Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). These military positions allowed women to take over tasks for soldiers so they could be free to go to combat. Although women participated in jobs extremely similar to men, they were not treated equally. For the long hour’s women put in, their salaries averaged only 60 percent of men’s. However, the greatest struggle for American women throughout the war was not simply the issue of money.