Yesterday, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution that asked Japan to issue a formal apology to the women who were forced to become sex slaves during World War II. The Japanese government is not happy about this one bit and I can totally understand their stance. While they acknowledge that sex slavery existed during WWII, they are not claiming that their military had anything to do with it. So if they aren’t responsible, then why apologize? Some may argue that you should apologize even when you are not at fault, but I disagree with that. Why take the blame if you are not guilty? To me it seems like a false sense of reconciliation. It is not a true apology unless the person issuing it is the responsible party and is sincerely sorry for their actions.
If the Japanese government decides to comply and issue a formal apology, what do the women who were victimized stand to gain here? Even though the circumstances were traumatic, I can’t imagine that there are women whose entire lives are on hold because the Japanese (or whoever is actually responsible) has not confessed their transgressions. I sincerely hope that the women involved in this tragedy have found the strength to put the past behind them. I am willing to bet that some of them have even turned their unfortunate circumstances into something good.
So what if Japan refuses to apologize? I say “who cares?” Let’s move on with our lives. If I had to sit around and wait for an apology from everyone who has ever offended me, my life would have to be cryogenically frozen in order to preserve my sanity for the day when the “I’m sorry’s” finally started rolling in. In reality, that day will never come to pass.
People will offend us every day of our lives. That is a guarantee. It is up to us as individuals to decided if we are going to dwell on the offense, or just move on with our lives. If I could have just 5 seconds on the floor of our nation’s Capitol, I’d just like to say “We can’t change the past, so how about working on some current issues here folks.” ;)
15 comments
gretchen
Karen – thanks for clarifying and for the link. :)>-
Karen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_women
Karen
There are some underlying cultural differences here that are important to remember.
In Japan, there is a very widespread cultural practice of not dealing with mistakes. They simply do not admit that any wrong occurred. –It is sort of a blanket, “We are simply going to pretend that nothing happened” mindset. This is not just used in reference to the WWII sex slavery, but to a myriad of mistakes, both national and personal. It shows up in businesses, in schools; basically everywhere.
In such a worldview, an apology is the admission that something was wrong. That is what the US was encouraging Japan to do. –They wanted the Japanese government to admit that the government sanctioned sex slavery happened. In 2007, the Japanese government was removing references to military forced sex slavery from its textbooks. They were also decreasing the estimates of the number of women involved and were denying that anyone was coerced.
–To summarize, the Japanese government was pretending that it really never happened the way that it did. This is what the US was addressing. They wanted to stop the revision of history and the facts.
This is different than the American view of an apology. In common use, we view an apology as a sentimental thing, a statement of regret that something happened to someone else. We sometimes can have a lower view of an apology, a “Saying sorry doesn’t fix anything” attitude. We can even view an apology as wasted breath if the speaker didn’t “sincerely mean it”.
As Americans, we are also quicker to admit that there was a mistake made. (We may not take responsibility for the wrong, but we more readily admit that it happened.) In Japan, the cultural practice is to say that there was no wrong done.
In conclusion; I think we all agree that we want the Japanese government to stop revising history and to admit that there was a government sanctioned, forced military coercion, systematic slavery and rape of hundreds of thousands of women in World War II. This is a war crime. A crime against humanity, and a breech of the 1926 anti-slavery convention.
gretchen
Donna – thank you for taking the time to post that. I truly appreciate the discussion. However, I think we’re on the same page here but maybe you missed my additional comments below the original post. I’m not against them getting an apology and yes – for some that is part of the healing process – but when an apology is forced or insincere, it does not have the same effect.
And for the record, I do know what it’s like to have a “haunting past”. You don’t know me or any details of my life other than what I share publicly on this site so for you to call my hurts “pitiful and insignificant” is ridiculous. And whether or not I ever get an apology for the wrongs against me, the only way to get true peace is to forgive and move on. It does no good to carry around the pain and hurt. It’s not an easy road, but it’s possible. It doesn’t mean we forget the horrible things that have happened but we learn from them, grow stronger and use that strength to help others.
Donna
I wonder if you have ever watched the documentary Behind Forgotten Eyes which captures the stories of the women who were forced into sexual slavery. I sincerely believe you would retract your stance on whether an apology is warranted if you were to view the film. These women are courageous, with indomitable spirits and we should all be uniting to demand reparation in light of the atrocities that were committed against them. The unspeakable suffering that was endured by these women, repeatedly every day for years is not something from which one walks away unscathed. Not only do the physical scars remain, but the deep seated pyschological trauma has been a nightmare burden for these survivors which they have borne the weight of for all the years after their escape, and which they will bear the weight of until their dying days. I can’t fathom the lack of mental and moral development you demonstrate in your callous disregard for the meaning an apology would hold for these women. Your ‘ability’ to walk away from the wrongs done to you, is indicative of your INABILITY to have formed as a human being as comparing whatever pitiful and insignificant hurts you have weathered to the wrongs committed against the comfort women is with certainity, revelatory of your lack of intelligence, compassion, conscience and irrefutably your lack of purpose in being in this world. I am without doubt that were you to have been in their shoes, you would not have retained such a measure of strength and outright heroism in braving each day with such a haunted past, and you especially would not have the commendable will of these ladies in championing their right to have their horrific stories acknowledged. To you, Japan apologising is a meaningless exercise that if conducted would merely be paying lip service. To them, it is healing and closure, and hope that in Japan apologising, this communicates to the world that the abuse of women is intolerable, inexcusable which will set a precedent to future generations that such crimes will not ever be repeated. These women in having survived what they did, and reaching out only for an apology, this is revelatory of their transcendence from mere mortals like the rest of us (excluding you as we have already established you do not qualify as a sentient being and have no reason for existence), into legends. It is women like them who have paved the way for our world to have progressed with women’s liberation, suffrage and feminist movements and that have allowed worthless creatures like yourself to live with freedom of movement and unfortunately in this instance, freedom of speech. So please consider before you err again so grieviously in posting up your uneducated, and abhorrent remarks that there are millions of women still suffering and are indeed suffering as I type this, and it is the attitude of those like you who keep these women enslaved in these archaic bondages because its simpler and easier to turn away from the cruel realities of their experiences. You truly are a disgusting, ill informed blight on society.
lami
us is in no position to ask for appologies
imani
I agree I dont think there is a point of making them apologize unless they mean it. I do think they should be made to do or give something to the women. But who can judge what will be enough? I think that is the real question.
gretchen
First off, I have a college degree and secondly I don’t think that has anything to do with this discussion.
I think you missed my point entirely. I don’t think forcing an apology resolves anything. The apology is not sincere.
And your argument doesn’t make sense…if someone is “coercing you” then you don’t get a choice to say yes or no.
Yes it IS a tragedy, but these women deserve a REAL, HEARTFELT apology, not some insincere drivel on a government stamped piece of paper. [-(
jesus tells right from wrong
what you talking about is horrible. what about you were one of the comforting women? what about somebody is coercing you into being raped? are you still going to say:”do it, so I could trimph later.”
this is a moral thing, without force, the Germans would not have admitted that they were wrong to the Jews.
Go to college to be reeducated!
not god
gretchen
@Beth – I wouldn’t expect anyone to forget what happened to them, but I do believe that healing is possible. I am also a firm believer that you can find triumph in tragedy. :)