On the Move for Love

Migrant Entertainers and the U.S. Military in South Korea

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology, Gender Studies
Cover of the book On the Move for Love by Sealing Cheng, University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Sealing Cheng ISBN: 9780812206920
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc. Publication: November 29, 2011
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press Language: English
Author: Sealing Cheng
ISBN: 9780812206920
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Publication: November 29, 2011
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press
Language: English

Since the Korean War, gijichon—U.S. military camp towns—have been fixtures in South Korea. The most popular entertainment venues in gijichon are clubs, attracting military clientele with duty-free alcohol, music, shows, and women entertainers. In the 1990s, South Korea's rapid economic advancement, combined with the stigma and low pay attached to this work, led to a shortage of Korean women willing to serve American soldiers. Club owners brought in cheap labor, predominantly from the Philippines and ex-Soviet states, to fill the vacancies left by Korean women. The increasing presence of foreign workers has precipitated new conversations about modernity, nationalism, ethnicity, and human rights in South Korea. International NGOs, feminists, and media reports have identified women migrant entertainers as "victims of sex trafficking," insisting that their plight is one of forced prostitution.

Are women who travel to work in such clubs victims of trafficking, sex slaves, or simply migrant women? How do these women understand their own experiences? Is antitrafficking activism helpful in protecting them? In On the Move for Love, Sealing Cheng attempts to answer these questions by following the lives of migrant Filipina entertainers working in various gijichon clubs. Focusing on their aspirations for love and a better future, Cheng's ethnography illuminates the complex relationships these women form with their employers, customer-boyfriends, and families. She offers an insightful critique of antitrafficking discourses, pointing to the inadequacy of recognizing women only as victims and ignoring their agency and aspirations. Cheng analyzes the women's experience in South Korea in relation to their subsequent journeys to other countries, providing a diachronic look at the way migrant issues of work, sex, and love fit within the larger context of transnationalism, identity, and global hierarchies of inequality.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Since the Korean War, gijichon—U.S. military camp towns—have been fixtures in South Korea. The most popular entertainment venues in gijichon are clubs, attracting military clientele with duty-free alcohol, music, shows, and women entertainers. In the 1990s, South Korea's rapid economic advancement, combined with the stigma and low pay attached to this work, led to a shortage of Korean women willing to serve American soldiers. Club owners brought in cheap labor, predominantly from the Philippines and ex-Soviet states, to fill the vacancies left by Korean women. The increasing presence of foreign workers has precipitated new conversations about modernity, nationalism, ethnicity, and human rights in South Korea. International NGOs, feminists, and media reports have identified women migrant entertainers as "victims of sex trafficking," insisting that their plight is one of forced prostitution.

Are women who travel to work in such clubs victims of trafficking, sex slaves, or simply migrant women? How do these women understand their own experiences? Is antitrafficking activism helpful in protecting them? In On the Move for Love, Sealing Cheng attempts to answer these questions by following the lives of migrant Filipina entertainers working in various gijichon clubs. Focusing on their aspirations for love and a better future, Cheng's ethnography illuminates the complex relationships these women form with their employers, customer-boyfriends, and families. She offers an insightful critique of antitrafficking discourses, pointing to the inadequacy of recognizing women only as victims and ignoring their agency and aspirations. Cheng analyzes the women's experience in South Korea in relation to their subsequent journeys to other countries, providing a diachronic look at the way migrant issues of work, sex, and love fit within the larger context of transnationalism, identity, and global hierarchies of inequality.

More books from University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.

Cover of the book Looking Inward by Sealing Cheng
Cover of the book "The Bagnios of Algiers" and "The Great Sultana" by Sealing Cheng
Cover of the book Deterring Rational Fanatics by Sealing Cheng
Cover of the book Creating Human Rights by Sealing Cheng
Cover of the book The Philanthropic Revolution by Sealing Cheng
Cover of the book Do Museums Still Need Objects? by Sealing Cheng
Cover of the book Republican Character by Sealing Cheng
Cover of the book Rebuilding Urban Places After Disaster by Sealing Cheng
Cover of the book Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity by Sealing Cheng
Cover of the book Liberty of the Imagination by Sealing Cheng
Cover of the book Set the World on Fire by Sealing Cheng
Cover of the book From Privileges to Rights by Sealing Cheng
Cover of the book Domestic Intimacies by Sealing Cheng
Cover of the book Tea Sets and Tyranny by Sealing Cheng
Cover of the book Maoists at the Hearth by Sealing Cheng
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy