전쟁과 여성

Women and War : Gendered Violence and Militarized Culture

Rey Chow defines war in the 21century not as the cessation of normality but the very definition of normality itself. With the deluge of war images delivered through the media, war has become an unavoidable and structural part of our unconsciousness as well as of everyday life. She argues that the consumption of war and violence is “on a par with our consumption of various forms of merchandise.” Since Samuel Huntington contended that the absence of a clearly defined enemy against which to consolidate the nation resulted in the failure to maintaining America's unity, America has constantly invented opposing others within and without its national boundaries. Through the production of knowledge and dichotomizing logic which demonizes the alien others, American war against Afghanistan and terror was justified as the war to defend democracy and freedom throughout the world. Emmanuel Levinas states that underlying the potentiality of war and violence lies racism, constructed upon the fantasy of the others. In spite of the fact that the majority of war victims have been women, gender has not been regarded to be a relevant issue in the studies on war which were conducted in the fields of international relations, history, political science and sociology. However, towards the end of 1980s, gender entered the discussion of war with the influence of feminist theory and practice. The experiences of war are gendered as men and women participate in wars with different roles and duties imposed upon them. As women become participants of war in various capacities such as mothers, sweethearts, nurses, prostitutes and workers in military industries, they become sometimes complicit agents of war or resistance demonstrators against war. Liberal feminism and difference feminism therefore take the different positions about war; the former argues for women's equal participation in war while the latter maintains that men are innately more violent than women and that women are more peace loving. This paper intends to look at interlocking relations between gender and militarism as military culture and experiences play the key role in the construction of gendered subjects as militarism permeates in our everyday lives. It also brings the racial, ethnic and class relations into the discussion of gendered war experiences by showing how their interplay is crucial in the construction of wars. Furthermore, it demonstrates how the violence of war is inextricably intertwined with domestic sexual violence under patriarchy. It also emphasizes the fact that sexism is continuously maintained and fortified by the culture of war and that gendered violence against women during the war time intensifies the subjugation of women. Since these issues are part of global problem rather than a disparate local ones, women's networking to fight against war and to promote peace throughout the world has become an urgent task.