Women entertainers influence on American soldiers

by Ioana Puscas

Between the years of 1945 and 1990, more than two hundred thousand Asian and Pacific Island women married American soldiers who were stationed overseas, according to the article Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women’s Lives, University of California Press, Berkeley by Cynthia Enloe.

Married American soldiers are faced with several temptations when on U.S. military bases whether local or when deployed. On the other hand, unmarried American soldiers sometimes develop relationships and even marry the women involved in these temptations.

Some women from the Philippines, Korea, and other cultures earn their paycheck as entertainers on US military bases in the local clubs and bars. These women have a heavy influence on many American soldiers to the point where that influence can change the soldier’s life and the woman’s life in a dramatic way. These life changes bear many consequences.

Due to some countries being “non-command sponsored,” meaning, they do not allow family members to live with the soldiers during their deployment, married and unmarried soldiers are away from their family for long periods of time. This leads many soldiers to seek their sexual needs, companionships, and relationships in the countries where they are deployed, according to the article Married to the Military: Filipinas Negotiating Transnational Families by Sallie Yea.

According to Stars and Stripes news, in South Korea, there are m

"Juicy girls" in South Korea. Image from http://www.rokdrop.com

any bars close to the U.S. military bases nicknamed “juicy bars.” Filipina and Korean women sell cups of juice to soldiers as a cover up for what their bosses are really wanting them to sell: their bodies. In result, these women are nicknamed “juicy girls” and are sometimes forced into the career.

According to Yea, many relationships that American soldiers have with these women have led to Asian American children being abandoned, existing marriages that soldiers have with their spouses in the United States falling apart, newlywed women and girlfriends being abandoned by their spouses and boyfriends in the U.S. military, and other issues.

Inter-racial and cross-cultural marriages in the military have increased and have changed the typical American family due to women entertainers on military bases. These consequences have contributed to a change of culture in American families as well as some American families and the lives of the women entertainers being completely dismantled.

Sources:

Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women’s Lives, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2000. By Cynthia Enloe.

Married to the Military: Filipinas Negotiating Transnational Families, 2008.  By Sallie Yea.

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