COMFORT WOMAN/THE STATUE OF PEACE
“Who will tell my story to the next generation?” Unknown
Before I travel, I search for statues of women located in the areas I’ll be visiting. It’s always my goal to take pictures of these statues in “reel time.” This year, I hit pay dirt when I searched for monuments of the matriarchy on my travel plans to cruise The Great Lakes from Toronto to Chicago. First off, in Toronto I discovered Comfort Woman/The Statue of Peace located in front of the Korean Cultural Center near Chinatown and then again, in Chicago, I uncovered the treasured Fountain Of the Great Lakes statue located in the Art Institute of Chicago (see July’s submission). My quick search made it seem as if statues of women were popping up all around the world, but were they?
Toronto was the first leg of my cruise and wow; I was pleasantly pleased with this Canadian’s cities accessibility. The large cosmopolitan city with walkable streets, wonderful views of Lake Ontario, innovative architecture had a historic charm often lost in many American cities. But this busy metropolis evoked a safe haven aura that seemed to say, “Relax, you’re with friends.” This “we’ve got you” laid back attitude reminded me that our sister country was just as honest and inviting as it’s always been, despite what some naysayer may want you to think.
Our visit was short- less than a day but we packed a lot into it. We walked the bustling harbor, visited the amazing Hockey Hall of Fame and ate or way through the St. Lawrence Market. Our favorite food (if you can call donutlike cookies a food source) were the Nutella and Bananas treat we stumbled upon at Beavertails. After dinner, we ubered over to the Korean district where we focused our attention on the Comfort Woman Statue/The Statue of Peace (which is part of a larger world-wide movement.) Sculpted by Steven Whyte, Comfort Woman is considered to be one of the most controversial statues ever erected. It was built to remember the women (numbers are reported to be between 200-400,000 girls, young women of Asian descent) who were either kidnapped, trafficked or tricked into Japanese Military-run brothels and then forced to provide “comfort” in the form of sexual acts to the Japanese solders during WW11. Survivors tell horrific tales where they were often forced to serve as many as 70 men in one day (without birth control or medical assistance). Thousands of women did not survive; reports have uncovered that less than 10% of the girls left the brothels alive).
The controversy arises from the discomfort of men, most of whom can’t handle their own guilt when confronted with their own propensity towards violence, their inhumane treatment of women and their own cowardice (by saying nothing and remaining quiet in the face of atrocity they were ultimately labeled co-conspirators). Bravo for Toronto for showcasing this controversial statue. Only a city that values women and believes in decency and justice would have the guts to display a statue that irks the feelings of men.
Hey America- we’re still devaluing women (just listen to the rhetoric surrounding the Epstein case). We need more statues joining the Statues for Peace movement (see Korea, Tokyo Berlin, Sydney, San Francisco). When I first heard about Comfort Woman, I thought it would be depressing to visit, but it was so beautiful it hurt my heart just to look at her peaceful face. How could anyone look in her eyes and treat her with such cruelty? All I wanted to do was give her a hug.
Men, it’s on you. Not her.
Right a wrong. Gather support for a Comfort Woman statue in your city. It is only when you confront the darkness within you, can you let in the healing light.