Review

Reviewed Work(s): Sex among Allies: Military Prostitution in U.S. Korea Relations by
Katherine H. S. Moon
Review by: Seung-Kyung Kim
Source: Contemporary Sociology , Jan., 1999, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Jan., 1999), pp. 53-54
Published by: American Sociological Association

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2653865

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 Close Relationships, Family, and the Life Course 53

raneous characteristics of the person (including unsupervised care, but being a "latchkey child"
coping resources), but also to place both in the is experienced as stressful only by some (Belle et
context of prior trajectories and personal biogra- al.). Hagen presents fascinating findings about
phy. What is the cumulative burden of prior the interactions of official labelling (as delin-
adversities and life circumstances? quent), parental deviance, and gender in the
Furthermore, underlying the linkage of stres-production of secondary deviance, which cry out
sors and health through the life course are the for qualitative examination of their micro-
selection processes through which persons come process dynamics.
to experience certain life events and maintain Taken in tandem, the chapters present a
behavioral trajectories. Salutary and adverse life most valuable integration of concepts and
experiences, transitional events, and turning insights drawn from two literatures that have for
points leading to new trajectories do not occur the most part remained quite distinct-the one
randomly. Early self-esteem predicts both educa- seeking to understand stress, life events, and ill-
tional attainment (Menaghan) and unemploy- ness; the other, the determinants and conse-
ment (Dooley and Prause). Trajectories can quences of the manifold trajectories and
persist not only within an individual life but transitions
also that constitute the life course. This
intergenerationally (e.g., Menahan's assessment volume is a valuable resource for the adherents
of parental self-esteem, work conditions, family and proponents of each.
dynamics, and children's achievement and well-
being; Wertlieb's consideration of the intergen-
erational transmission of divorce). Sex Among Allies: Military Prositution in U.S.-
These insights give rise to key methodologi- Korea Relations, by Katherine H. S. Moon.
cal themes. Because diverse difficulties result for New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.
those who are unable to enact normative transi- 240 pp. $47.50 cloth. ISBN: 0-231-10642-4.
tions (youth who cannot find employment after $16.50 paper. ISBN: 0-231-10643-2.
leaving school or who become underemployed;
SEUN@KYUNG KIM
see Gore et al.; Dooley and Prause) or who expe- WomenXs Studies Department
rience intense trauma, and especially "pileups" University of Maryland
of traumas simultaneously (Kessler et al.;
Wheaton et al.), there is fundamental error in Katharine Moon's Sex Among Allies analyzes mil-
studying particular stressors (e.g., parental death itary prostitution in the context of U.S.-Korea
or separation, family violence, substance abuse) interstate relations by examining the effect of
or outcomes (particular psychopathologies or the implementation of the Nixon Doctrine and
functional incapacities) singly. Longitudinal the "Camptown Clean-Up Campaign." Drawing
data are great assets in documenting prior histo-
on interviews with kijich'on women and former
ries of events and pathologies, given the difficul-
military personnel, congressional documents,
ty, if not impossibility, of measuring reliably and archival research in the United States and
many prior features of trajectories and transi- South Korea, Moon argues that prostitution has
tions, and an individual's personal reactions to been sponsored and regulated by the two gov-
them. Often the investigator must rely on retro- ernments and that kijich'on women (military
spective accounts; both the potentials and limits camptown prostitutes) have played a vital role
of these are thoughtfully explored (see Lin's pre- in promoting the mutual interests of the two
sentation of the life history calendar). Finally, nations (p. 1). Thus, both governments viewed
both measurement and data analytic approaches military prostitution as a means to "advance the
must be adapted to elucidate occurrence (vs. 'friendly relations' of both countries and to keep
nonoccurrence) of events, as well as their tim- U.S. soldiers, 'who fight so hard for the freedom
ing, spacing, and sequencing for example, via of the South Korean people,' happy" (p. 2).
survival models (Kessler et al.; Wheaton et al.; Of the different actors involved in interstate
Willett and Singer). politics, Moon focuses on prostitutes, who have
Moreover, qualitative research is needed to the least power, and presents these women not
ascertain key elements of transitional events as as mere victims but as transnational actors ("per-
they are subjectively encountered. For example, sonal ambassadors") (p. 84). In this way Moon
when parents are employed, children at some offers a radically different view of international
point make the transition from supervised to relations and foreign policy, one that deems

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54 Close Relationships, Family, and the Life Course

these women players in events, decisions, and they acted consciously, especially when comS
processes that affect their livelihood and sur- pared to the ways that the other actors e.g., the
vival. Furthermore, she examines sex for its sig- governments of Korea and the United States-
nificance in the political arena. strove to further their own goals. Although
Moon's main argument centers around the Moon would like us to believe that "women
policies and politics enveloping the Camptown became players," the bulk of her evidence
Clean-Up Campaign (or Purification reflects the contrary. As she documents and
Movement) which followed the implementation describes the oppression that kijichXon women
of the Nixon Doctrine and the reduction of U.S. face, the authoritarian and sexist control they
troops. The Camptown Clean-Up Campaign endured from the government, the stigma and
abandonment they experienced from Korean
was a product of the different national interests
played out in the mutual relationship between society and "normals," their often impossible life
Korea and the United States. Therefore, the aim choices (to give up their children or remain a
of the campaign was different for each of the prostitute to support them), one cannot help but
actors involved. The primary agenda for the wonder what power or voice kijEchXon women do
Korean government was to induce the U.S. mil- have. Moreover, their acts of resistance seem
itary to stay in Korea. The U.S. military, on the neither sustained nor very effective. In addition,
other hand, aimed to protect its soldiers and questions about how these political actions
keep up their morale, through strict control of affected the selfSperception of these women and
venereal diseases and reducing racial antago- their power as "actors" need to be dealt with-
nism. The Clean-Up Campaign imposed two e.g., Did it lead to increasing their political powS
policies on kijichXon prostitutes: equal serviceer?
forHow were the lives of these women changed
after such public manifestation of their political
soldiers regardless of race and stricter VD check-
up and treatment. Caught between these various agenda?
forces, these women occupied a unique and In Sex Among AlliesX Katharine Moon preS
medial position and became embroiled in the sents a wellSresearched, convincing account of
larger conflicts. Participation in demonstrations kijichXon women as "personal ambassadors"
and other public forms of resistance earned them deployed and encouraged by the South Korean
the recognition of their political significance as government to gain assurance of U.S. military
a group. They voiced their concerns and sought commitment. Moon notes that, historically,
to bring about wanted changes. In this respect, women have a legacy of being victims of war and
they were not mere victims, but "transnational exploitation. By examining the various factors
actors" with goals, desires, and complaints in influencing the lives of kijichXon women, Moon
relation to the politics affecting their own lives. reinforces this sense of victimization despite her
Following Cynthia Enloe's stance that the attempts to marshal evidence to the contrary.
"personal is international," Katharine Moon's Her examples of limited resistance, ultimately
Sex Among Allies aims to open the eyes of eachunsustainable or unviable, are overwhelmed by
her analysis of the forces oppressing kijichXon
reader to see him/herself as a political actor in
international relations. In conjunction with this women and the manipulation of female identity
goal, Moon endeavors to relocate "marginalized" by powerful actors with their own driving
women in the middle of political power dynam- beliefs. Nevertheless, Moon does make an
ics as active participants taking their own polit- important contribution in providing a feminist
ical actions. By acknowledging that kijichXon analysis of Korean kijichXon women and their role
prostitutes-often considered as lacking politi- in the history of KoreanSAmerican relations.
cal power and occupying the lowest status in
Korean society-can act in the international
political arena, she seeks to fulfill her larger goal
of seeing "individuals without 'significant
resources' or 'substantial control over issues' as
important political actors in international rela-
tions" (p. 160).
However, despite her efforts to redefine the
oppressed prostitutes as "transitional actors,"
there seems to be a relative lack of evidence that

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