Responses to Colonial Power
Korean Women and Independence Activism
Throughout the majority of the Japanese colonization of Korea, groups of Koreans continued to advocate for Korea's independence. This independence movement also included women that participated in such organizations in order to achieve ethnic liberation. However, despite the enthusiasm of many Korean women, many were "marginalized in the male-dominant organizations" and were often silenced and limited in power because of the general connotation between "political" being defined as "inherently masculine" (Seo 235). Thus, while it was expected of Korean men to fight in the independence movement, women were unable to voice their opinions within these organizations. Further, it was also expected of women to maintain their "femininity and motherhood" in order to participate politically (Seo 235). For instance, Korean women living in Japan would campaign from a perspective of a mother "advocating for their children's rights to have their ethnic background and identity respected" in schools (Seo 234).
Korean Women Liberation Movement
While Korean women had "aspirations to liberation" against the patriarchal society in Japan and Korea, many of these desires were "overshadowed by issues of ethnic liberation" (Seo 234). Many of these issues of gender were viewed as unimportant compared to the independence movement.
However, Korean women took initiative and matters into their own hands by participating in the redress movement towards the Japanese government to support comfort women (Seo 239). Not only did this movement bring together many women who were "fragmented and invisible in... male-dominated organizatsion", it was also a space for women to express their frustrations over the sexism they experienced in the independence movement and in society at large (Seo 241). By seeing the issue of comfort women from a feminist perspective with a more critical eye to the gender hierarchy, many women "reinterpre[ted] their situation as intersectional oppression" both because of their race and their gender (Seo 241). Further, this led not only to a wider women's movement in Korea, it also led to "Korean female activists in Japan... form[ing] their own association addressing gender equality", which reveals the widespread impact of the redress movement and the liberation movements that Korean women organized.
Later on, many of these comfort women, encouraged by these organizations and the efforts made by women to address gender disparities, were able to receive opportunities to speak up about their experiences as comfort women and promote more awareness on the violations of civil liberties that were committed by the Japanese government during colonial times.
