Here is an essay written for my assignments, but it was my true feeling that I concerned with how women stand in my country.
Despite the population of 50 million people living in Burma, Burma is not well-known and looks like a little isolated world. They will not know how women, the weaker group, among Burmese people, feel inferior and resentful over their low status. Women will be trying to attain the freedom; however, they are oppressed and get brutal and unkind responses from the dictatorship. Women are oppressed, but they still endure a lot of struggles throughout the time. Burmese women have been regarded as subordinate to men according to religion, culture, military regime and poverty although they have enough abilities to participate in Political issues. In current years, due to terrible losses of human rights in Burma, women have suffered a lot of physical and mental abuses. Women s’ role in Burma cannot be raised unless the military regime give the authority to the hands of Burmese people and Burma attains a certain level of democracy.
Burma is a politically interesting country which is situated in South East Asia. There are 50 million people in Burma and 50.3% of the population is women. The biggest populated age group among Burmese women is 25-29. Therefore, most women are youths and 44% of the total labor force is women workers (Nation Master). Historically, Burmese women did not suffer merciful discriminations, like how a Hinduism wife has to commit suicide herself when her husband passed away. Burmese women are considered luckier than any other Asian women when it comes to extreme sex discriminations. They have had never changed their names after marriage even in the monarchic time. They decide their potential spouse according to their parents and society, but they still can be open-minded. That is why Burmese women wisely and indirectly take part in politics and power. Even if they have no knowledge about politics rights, they have own opinions and will be concerned with country’s affair. In Women in Asia, Janell Mill writes,
All the money and possessions which a girl brings with her on marriage are kept carefully separate for the benefit of her children or heirs, and she carries her property away with her if she is divorced, besides anything she may have added to it in the interim by her own trading or inheritance. Thus a married woman much more independent than any European even in the most advanced states. (267)
Women inherited family business equally with their brothers and lead local shops and bazaar even in the monarchic time (pre-1886). Mills writes, “Women did not change their names upon marriage and were as able to initiate divorce as men with little or no resulting” (268). In some occasions, women held postions of power as heads of villages. There is only one prominent official queen named “Queen Shin Saw Puu”. She held the power for only seven years and derived it from her relationships with men. But, women’s abilities of politics cannot be concealed:
Despite the restrictions on women’s access to formal power, women could still exercise political power through their male connections. Indeed, wives were often regarded as more powerful than their husbands who held the political office. The chief queen of the last king of Burma, Supayalat, was widely believed to exert paramount influence over the king, Thibaw. The wives of officials at every level of government were also regarded as powerful figures. Similarly, within the family, regardless of the formal position of superiority held by the husband, the wife was commonly recognized as wielding the actual day to day power. (270)
However, women were trying to become involved in political events since Burma was colonized by British, and patriotism of Burmese people become highest in the period of between 1886 and 1948:
“During the 1939 countrywide strike, the role of women in politics had already strong and distinguished. In the uprising, the women participated alongside me, and so that many women were arrested, beaten up and detained. Women were also planning to establish a Burmese women’s organization was secretly formed while Japanese imperialist occupied Burma (1939-1945),”
Looking back to the pre-independence era up to 1948, the role of female students was impressive. Women started to familiarize themselves with modern politics due to instability and freedom of country from being colonized.
Unfortunately, women’s role in politics is not as a leader. Josef Silverstein, in “Freedom from fear,” writes,
Under the military dictatorship which began in 1962, women played a much smaller political role. Nine were elected in 1974 to the first nation’s congress (Pyithu Hlutaw) under the new constitution, and thirteen won seats four years later. During this period, the military dominated all aspects of government and the political party it created. (24)
Since there are only male soldiers in military government, women become far away to relate with politics world. The main positions in government office are controlled by military men or men who had been retired from military service. Women government staff can be promoted Associate manager as the highest position. Women have less motivation to play a role in authority. Although women do not hold an official position in the office, wives of high-ranking officer have special authority in business and other society. However, they are still considered as subordinate to men and not independent.
Therefore, a Burmese saying demonstrates Burmese womens’ dominance in power that the whole country can be ruined because of a bad woman. Since Burmese women are excellent in negotiating and handling conflicts, their performance in the country’s affairs is vital. However, women have to obey and follow what their husbands want to be regarded as high-status women. If a husband physically abuses his wife, the wife does not tell the society because she has to protect her family’s dignity. Burmese rituals make women inferior, for example, women cannot elevate physically above men, or male and female clothing have to be separated due to higher status of men and lower status of women. According to Burmese culture, men possess an innate superior quality named “Hpoun,” which will be never owned by women. It is “the nobility” or glory. It is a main reason that Burmese women are regarded and indeed regarded by themselves as inferior and that they will be never concerned with politics and authority.
Another factor that makes women inferior is Buddhism. Majority of Burmese are Buddhism, Theravada. In Buddhism society, the highest people are monks. Only men can be monks, who are sons of Buddha and wear red robes which are icons of Buddhism. The obvious discrimination is mentioned, “An integral institution of Burmese society, the sangha (monks) provided a rudimentary education for all those recruited to it-all Burmese Buddhist males. Consequently, education for men was culturally embedded in the institutional structures of the society. For example, education is possible but it was informal” (Mills 269). Burmese women were usually educated at their homes, or by female religion staff called thilashin. Although women did not get formal education, they are clever enough to be interested in politics affair.
Motherhood and health care for women play an important role in women’s status of Burmese political issue. Since people struggles to get enough food for every day, they do not have time to concern with political issues. In Burma, children depend on mothers a lot and paternal leave is very rare in business and industry. Also, women do not get enough health care when they are pregnant and gives birth to babies. Aung San Su Kyi, in Letters from Burma, writes, “The maternal mortality rate is the third highest in the region at the official rate of 123 per 100 000 live births. The reasons for this high mortality rate are malnutrition, lack of access to safe water and sanitation, lack of access to health services and lack of caring capacity,” (57) .The worst thing that rural Burmese women suffer is trafficking and sexual abuses. These immoral problems create an atmosphere for sadness and lack of confidence to concern with politics. Although they are struggling with difficulties, they have strong courage and mental effort to deal with daily life for their children and family. In Gender and Sexuality Health rights, lack of political rights and economic equality makes women troublesome:
Unplanned pregnancy is one consequence of rape and, like sexual violence in general, may be underreported. When health services are marginal, rape and resulting pregnancy can be lethal. In Burma proximate causes of maternal death are complications from unsafe abortions and postpartum hemorrhage, both treatable and preventable, and sometimes the result of rape. In areas populated predominantly by ethnic minorities, rape is committed with impunity by the Tatmadaw (military government) and contributes to unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and other negative health repercussions. (396)
Trafficking is a serious matter for most women who live in rural and do not have knowledge about it. Even educated girls who live in the big city are persuaded to be exploited. Since they do not have sex education and good health care treatment, many girls have been working as sex workers with protection against sexually transmitted diseases. Their life is miserable. Due to poverty and unemployment, they have to work in sex industry to get food and shelter and to earn money for their family. There is a lot of sex industry in most important parts of big cities of Burma. Even it is illegal, the government ignores it to get “bribes” from business men who own this industry.
Since there are over 130 groups of ethnicity living in Burma, women of minority are also main people who plays women’s rights. Most of these women live in a rural area or hilly area where transportation, education, and health care are unavailable. Also, Burma is one of the world’s largest suppliers of heroin; therefore, black market of illegal drugs makes their lives worse: “Besides domestic violence, the Palaung women endure other trials. They range from being infected with HIV by their husbands to the inability to educate their children as the household incomes are drained to pay for the male heroin addiction” (Macan-Markar). They have no education and knowledge that they have to be protected from these losses of human rights. They have no extra money to get elementary education. As long as there is a big gap between government and people, womens’ rights will never be attained. Even though people who know what is human rights, they dare not distribute their ideas to others. The reason is that they are ruled by fear of guns. It is obvious that there is lack of freedom of speech and media.
Burma attained an international interest again in 1988, since General Nay Win brutally oppressed the people who protested against economic and political situation. Most leaders in the protest are students, but it was still male-dominant. These situations gave birth a hero of Burmese Democracy, Aung San Su Kyi. In The Feminization of Democracy Under Siege: The Media, "the Lady" of Burma, and U.S. Foreign Policy, Lisa Brooten writes, “Aung San Suu Kyi …She is arguably the most powerful feminine personification of besieged democracy alive today. Her representation creates an interesting dynamic in which democracy itself becomes gendered”. She became the ideal person for Burmese young women who are wondering about politics. She became politically active in mid-1990, and she is considered as the mother of Burmese Democracy. People respected her a lot because of being the daughter of General Aung San who was national leader of Burma, and an educated and courageous woman;
Aung San Suu Kyi quickly became a leader of the growing movement for political reform in Burma, holding sway over the crowds who came to hear her speak. Her message emphasized the people's right to dignity and their need for self-reliance as she called on them to pursue a "revolution of the spirit" through nonviolent resistance to the military regime. After helping to found the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi began campaigning around the country in early 1989, speaking to increasingly larger crowds in anticipation of promised elections in 1990(Brooten).
She achieved Nobel Prize in 1991 and other prizes that related to peace and politics. Her speech are concerned with nonviolent revolution. Due to her political activities, she was arrested in her house for three times from 1995 to 2003. Then, in May 2005, she and people who were working with her for NLD were attacked by Burmese Military men at midnight. Although she was not injured, 70 coworkers died and dozens were wounded. Since then, she has been placed as “protective custody” in her house and international society condemned the junta and continuously kept business sanctions. Aung San Su Kyi sacrificed for Burma as a good mother and she is considered as a powerful symbolic image for Burmese politics. However, she has not made a special distinction for Burma. It is obvious that women do not have equal rights to participate in politics. The “feminine” and “masculine” features make the relationship between Than Shwe, the military leader and her worse and worse. They seem unacceptable to give up a woman because of their innate manhood superiority
Fortunately, there are a few young women leader in this century, for example, Su Su Nwe. The international organization noticed her effort: “The 2006 John Humphrey Freedom Award was awarded to Su Su Nwe for "her inspiring individual efforts" to confront local authorities over forced labour in Burma, for which she was jailed in October 2005,”(Asian Human rights Commision Press Release). Some well-known women writers, like Thayarwaddy Daw San San New, and Daw Yin Yin May are also arrested in Yangon. The number of women participated in politics is still very small if compared with the whole number of women living in Burma. The real democracy is never attained with the merciful dishonest military men. Without a certain level of democracy, women cannot freely announce their opinions. Human
Mission As updated news, there will be an election on 7th November, 2010. Everyone in Burma is nervous about it not because they expect good things, but because the situations is unstable. In 2008, the military men managed “Constitution of the Republic of Myanmar (2010)” which implies that 25% of the authority is still controlled by military government. In other words, the military regime seems worried that it will lose power after election. Moreover, the most powerful party, “Strength and Improvement of the Union of Myanmar,” is run by a group of people who were once military officers. Although the military government argues that there are a number of women who participate in political parties; therefore, Burmese women starts to concern with politics. It is actually a political trick. The women who take part in composing the constitution and running political parties are influenced by military men, and some being their wives and daughters.
To create a brighter future for Burmese women, education has to be provided to give them human rights’ knowledge. International organization such as ECOSOC and other international organization should assist them in the best way. Burmese military government is the most difficult one in the world to negotiate. US president Barack Obama changed a new strategy to approach Burma Issue that is different than former presidents did. He keeps in touch with Burmese Government, but he still has business sanctions. It looks like giving options between a candy and punishment to a child. However, because of the new strategy, the relationship between Burma and US government may be improved, and women’s life will be changed to good things. Human Rights is not a matter that can be created within a night; therefore, it will need a lot of hard work.
According to Burmese proverb, “the hand that shakes the cradle can shake the world”, there is a goal at the end of the journey for Burmese women. It is the exact time that Burmese people should be interested in modern politic world. If they do not try to fight losses of human rights, their next generation will be heirs of bad things. To solve women’s problem in the previous years, women have to grasp true democracy. Hopefully, Burmese women can overcome all difficulties in building foundation of women’s rights. Burmese golden land will have a golden future. releases Asian Human Rights Commission - Press Releasesessgsg
