User:Aan74/War bride

Japan

A Japanese War Bride is a woman who married an American citizen following the post WW II military occupation of their home country. Their spouses were typically GIs or soldiers.

Japan’s post-WWII occupation by America facilitated many interracial marriages between servicemen and Japanese women. Following Japan's defeat and post war food shortages, many women sought employment as a means to provide for their families. Many were also enamored by the status, power, and prestige these GIs carried with them because of their victory, and sought new economic opportunity through immigration to the United States.

When President Truman signed the Alien Wife Bill, this loosened immigration restrictions by creating the 1945 War Brides Act, which allowed the spouses of servicemen to migrate without breaking the quotas set by the 1924 Immigration Act. Under the subsequent amendments in the 1946 and 1947 Soldier Brides Act, the time period for immigration was extended by 30 days, all of which led to the immigration of nearly 67,000 Japanese women between the years 1947 and 1975. However, they were not permitted to naturalize until the passage of the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952, which banned using race as a factor in allowing residents to naturalize. New immigration legislation profoundly impacted Asian immigration patterns by making Asian War Brides the largest instance of Asian women migrating to the United States. The migration of over 72,000 women over the span of just 15 years grew the Asian American population by 20%, which in turn gave many Japanese women increased attention in the public eye.

These women came from a diverse array of backgrounds ranging from poverty to upper-class, but all were devastated by the destruction and bombings wrought by the war. They often struggled to provide for themselves and their families due to post far food, fuel, and employment shortages. Many met servicemen through jobs working on military bases as waiters, clerks, and secretaries. They often chose to venture to the states in hopes of forging a new life.

Japanese women who had immigrated over post WWII as “War Brides” were used to help construct the Asian model minority stereotype. For example, the American Red Cross Brides’ School in Japan advised them on how to correctly assimilate into mainstream American society. Their classes offered textbooks in home economics, U.S. History, housekeeping, child raising, and ultimately shaped the modern Japanese woman 's beliefs so that these actions were in accordance with mainstream American views on gender roles[6]. Some of these classes even taught women how to bake or to properly wear heels. The ideal wife was taught to be a good mother, homemaker and companion to her husband. Thus, by conforming to an idealized concept of how a good housewife behaved, these Japanese women often became model minorities promoted as what others should strive to personify, held up as examples of what an assimilated immigrant should look like. Further, with the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965, immigration could no longer be lawfully restricted by race, ethnicity, nationality or creed.

In spite of these language and behavioral classes, many Japanese women struggled to find a community, especially after the internment of hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans left them feeling displaced and unsure of their racial status in the context of segregation and post war xenophobia.

Korea

Korean War Brides were those who married American GI's and immigrated to the United States to pursue opportunities for freedom and economic advancement. Many Korean women followed a similar path as the Japanese war brides above after Korea became an independent nation following Japan’s defeat in WWII. After the decolonization of Japan’s territories, concerns about the spread of communism and Cold War containment policies, in addition to the Korean War, brought many American soldiers to Korea. These war brides often met American servicemen in military bases through gambling halls, prostitution, or other illicit businesses. Much like their Japanese counterparts, many were convinced that Korea offered them little economic opportunity and success. They therefore saw marriage as a gateway into a new country full of wealth and prosperity.

An estimated 100,000 Korean women came to the U.S. between 1950 and 1989, driven by American presence in Korea as well as the increase in number of refugees following the Korean War.

Like their Japanese counterparts, many Korean War Brides struggled to assimilate into American society, unsure of which side of white or black they belonged to. However, war brides generally saw greater economic opportunity in their new life than if they had stayed in their homeland.