Gender and Political Apology When the Patriarchal State Says Sorry

Engaging in depth with two cases of interstate apologies for conflict-related sexual violence - Japan's apologies for the South Korean "comfort women" and US apologies for the Abu Ghraib scandal - the author argues that political apologies are particularly "excitable" or uncontrollable forms of speech which are composed of and rearticulate historically constituted gender norms. In doing so, political apologies work to recognise and make visible particular gendered victims whilst simultaneously obscuring others. Through the concept of "legitimate victimhood", the author examines the performative ways in which political apologies (re)negotiate and (re)make embodied gendered identities. Ultimately, she argues that the ambivalent form of recognition offered by the performance of official apologies in these cases resulted in numerous unintended consequences, including opportunities for victims to demonstrate linguistic agencies. Political apologies for conflict-related sexual violence can therefore ― indirectly ― empower the gendered victims addressed.