Description
Book SynopsisIntimacy Across the Fencelines examines intimacy in the form of sexual encounters, dating, marriage, and family that involve US service members and local residents. Rebecca Forgash analyzes the stories of individual US service members and their Okinawan spouses and family members against the backdrop of Okinawan history, political and economic entanglements with Japan and the United States, and a longstanding anti-base movement. The narratives highlight the simultaneously repressive and creative power of military fencelines, sites of symbolic negotiation and struggle involving gender, race, and class that divide the social landscape in communities that host US bases.
Intimacy Across the Fencelines anchors the global US military complex and US-Japan security alliance in intimate everyday experiences and emotions, illuminating important aspects of the lived experiences of war and imperialism.
Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Intimate Effects of U.S. Empire
1. International Marriage in Japan's Periphery
2. Race, Memory, and Military Men's Sexuality
3. Living Respectably and Negotiating Class
4. The Marine Corps Marriage Package
5. Creating Family and Community across Military Fencelines
Conclusion: On Stories and Silences
