"Uncle Sugar's Belles": Liberian Women and the US Army's Program of Tolerated Prostitution in World War II Liberia.
This article examines the confinement of Liberian women by US Army Forces in Liberia (USAFIL) for the purpose of regulated prostitution during World War II. The racial makeup of USAFIL as an overwhelmingly African American unit and its deployment to the only sovereign Black republic in Africa create...
| Publicado en: | Radical History Review Vol. 2023; no. 146; pp. 32 - 59 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Duke University Press
May2023
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=163891151&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 163891151 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 01636545 2AT jtl: Radical History Review issn: 01636545 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: May2023 vid: 2023 iid: 146 pid: 154 pub: Duke University Press artinfo: ui: 163891151 10.1215/01636545-10302821 ppf: 32 ppct: 27 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 662KB tig: atl: "Uncle Sugar's Belles": Liberian Women and the US Army's Program of Tolerated Prostitution in World War II Liberia. aug: au: Alfin, Kathleen E. su: Sex work Military crimes Racism Health of military personnel Human sexuality sug: subj: Sex work Military crimes Racism Health of military personnel Human sexuality keyword: American military confinement Liberia prostitution World War II ab: This article examines the confinement of Liberian women by US Army Forces in Liberia (USAFIL) for the purpose of regulated prostitution during World War II. The racial makeup of USAFIL as an overwhelmingly African American unit and its deployment to the only sovereign Black republic in Africa created what US Army officials called "an exceptional situation." This essay explores what army leaders meant by "exceptional" and the resultant creation of "exceptional measures" to control sexual liaisons between American soldiers and women in Liberia. Sexual relations between Black GIs and Liberian women defied the racist segregationist logic used by American military leaders to police Black GIs' sexuality elsewhere during the war. USAFIL officials consequently racialized venereal disease and prostitution to justify confining and regulating Black Liberian women's bodies in the name of soldiers' health, as well as to uphold their racial and military authority. Shifting perspectives, this case study then considers how women in Liberia resisted army regulation of their sexuality and what they gained and lost through sex work, despite their confinement. Finally, this essay analyzes USAFIL's regulation of prostitution in a transnational comparative context to illuminate the exceptional authority US Army officials assumed and asserted over women and prostitution in Liberia. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Radical History Review is the property of Duke University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Radical History Review holder: Duke University Press dt: @attributes: year: 2023 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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