「해방자」미국 병사, Normandie 주민에게 있어서는「성에 굶은 난폭한 사람 」
AFP=시사 5월 27일 (월) 13시 16 분배신
【AFP=시사】 제2차 세계대전(World War II) 중의 프랑스 Normandie(Normandy) 상륙 작전에 참가한 미군 병사들은, 프랑스를 나치스 독일(Nazi)로부터 해방한 용감한 영웅으로서 그려져 왔다.그러한「젊은 핸섬한 미국 병사씨」의 이미지에 숨겨진 부의 측면을 분명히 한 연구서가 다음 달, 미국에서 출판된다.
6월에 간행 예정의 「What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France(병사등은 무엇을 했는지：제2차 세계대전중의 프랑스에 있어서의 성과 미국 병사」는, 미국 위스콘신 대학(University of Wisconsin)의 메어리・르이즈・로버츠(Mary LouiseRoberts) 교수(역사학)가, 미국과 프랑스로 방대한 양의 제2차 대전중의 자료를 연구해 정리한 저작이다.
연구의 취지에 대해 로버츠 교수는, 「GI(미국 병사)는 씩씩한 남자로, 항상 정의에 근거해 행동한다라는 전형적인『GI신화』의 거짓을 들추어내는 것이었다」와 AFP에 말했다.교수에 의하면미군에서는 당시 「프랑스인에 대해서 우위에 서는」수단으로서 성욕, 매춘, 강간이 받아들여지고 있었다고 지적한다.
로버츠 교수에 의하면, 미국 병사들은 Normandie의 사람들로부터「성의 아방튀이르」를 요구해 온, 섹스에 굶은 난폭한 사람이라고 보여지고 있었다.이것은 현지 Normandie에서는 잘 알려져 있는 것이지만, 일반적인 미국인에 있어서는「큰 놀라움이다」라고 한다.
Normandie 상륙 작전에 대해 미국의 미디어가, 키스를 하는 미국 병사와 젊은 프랑스 여성의 사진을 게재하는 등, 로맨틱한 시점에서 해방자로서 그리고 있던 동안, 현지의 사람들은「문제」에 직면하고 있었다.현지에는, 「독일인을 보고 숨는 것은 남자들이었지만, 미국 병사의 경우는 여자들을 숨기지 않으면 안 되었던 」그렇다고 하는 이야기가 전해지고 있다고 한다.
미국 병사들의 방탕상, 무법 행위, 또 조직적인 인종차별 등도 있었다.「GI는 어디에서라도 곳 상관하지 않고 섹스 하고 있던」와 로버트 교수는 지적하고 있다.【번역 편집 】 AFPBB News
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20130527-00000032-jij_afp-int
http://www.afpbb.com/article/war-unrest/2946474/10810152
26 May 2013 - 08H55 GI"s were liberators yes, but also trouble in Normandy
Parisian firefighters and American soldiers conduct rooftop
surveillance at the Place de la Concorde as US soldiers march in a
military parade 29 August 1944. Far removed from accounts of selfless
derring-do, many US soldiers were viewed by the French as sex-obsessed
thugs who had been promised an "erotic adventure" -- a mission that was
fulfilled, much to the chagrin of locals.
American assault troops are shown June, 6, 1944 approaching Utah
Beach in Normandy on D-Day. The image of American GI"s who landed in
Normandy in June 1944 has long been choreographed as one of handsome
young men liberating an occupied country. A new book, however, paints a
darker picture.
American troops are about to cross the Seine near a destroyed
bridge, after the D-Day in Normandy, western France, in 1944. Mary
Louise Roberts" book: "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in
World War II France", says sexuality, prostitution and rape were all
methods used by Americans to "assert their power on the French".AFP - The image of American GI"s who landed in Normandy in June 1944 has long been choreographed as one of handsome young men liberating an occupied country. A new book, however, paints a darker picture.
Far removed from accounts of selfless derring-do, many US soldiers were viewed by the French as sex-obsessed thugs who had been promised an "erotic adventure" -- a mission that was fulfilled, much to the chagrin of locals.
That this happened is not a secret in the Normandy region "but it"s a big surprise for the American audience," Mary Louise Roberts, author of "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France," told AFP.
Roberts, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, wrote the book, which will be released next month, after extensive study of wartime archives in France and the United States.
Her research seeks to debunk an "old myth about the GI, a manly creature that always behaves well," she says, noting that sexuality, prostitution and rape were all methods used by Americans to "assert their power on the French."
While the US press described the liberation as a tale of romance -- backed up by photographs of American soldiers kissing young French women -- more often than not the reality was less giddy.
A local saying summed up the problem: "With the Germans, the men had to camouflage themselves -- but with the Americans, we had to hide the women."
Debauchery, lawlessness and disturbing tales of institutional racism are cited. "The GI"s were having sex anywhere and everywhere," Roberts says.
In the cities of Le Havre and Cherbourg, bad behavior was common. Women, including those who were married, were openly solicited for sex. Parks, bombed-out buildings, cemeteries and railway tracks were carnal venues.
But the sex was not always consensual, with hundreds of cases of rape being reported.
Le Havre"s then mayor, Pierre Voisin, complained to Colonel Thomas Weed, commander of US troops in the region, about the GI"s behavior, according to documents cited by Roberts.
"The people could not go out for a walk without seeing somebody having sex," she says, and though US officers denounced such behavior publicly they did little to curtail it, according to the historian.
Roberts does not neglect the fact that US soldiers did act with bravery and much heroism, and mentions how such behavior attracted French gratitude.
Her book, however, recounts propaganda purportedly meant to motivate young Americans to fight a war in a country they hardly knew but which had the more immediate effect of feeding the soldiers" sexual desire.
Life magazine described France as "a tremendous brothel inhabited by 40 million hedonists," while the Stars and Stripes newspaper published a series of suggestive French phrases.
"You are very pretty," "Do you want a cigarette?" and "Are your parents at home?" were among the helpful hints.
"Once aroused, the GI libido proved difficult to contain," Roberts writes.
The book also addresses disturbing claims of racism within the US military, with black soldiers facing a disproportionate number of rape charges.
Documents dated October 1944 show that of 152 troops facing charges, 130 were black, which Roberts says shows "the US army demonstrated a deep and abiding racism." The French were also "quick to point the finger at black GI"s."
Almost 70 years on, Roberts says she does not seek to rewrite history, but instead aims to put the French "back in the picture," and recount the Normandy campaign "as a human experience, not just an empty "heroic" story."
http://www.france24.com/en/20130526-gis-were-liberators-yes-but-also-trouble-normandy
What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France
Mary Louise Roberts (저)
http://www.amazon.co.jp/What-Soldiers-Do-American-France/dp/0226923096
조선인 위안부에게 교제해 불장난 하고 있는 동안에, 미국 자신에게 불이 붙었지？w
