Women in the Movement
covering burma and southeast asia
Friday, March 29, 2024
Magazine

COVER STORY

Women in the Movement


By VIOLET CHO and AYE LAE JULY, 2008 - VOLUME 16 NO.7


COMMENTS (0)
RECOMMEND (319)
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
PLUSONE
 
MORE
E-MAIL
PRINT
(Page 2 of 3)

Only with education and encouragement will women learn to have higher ambitions, she said.

A lack of moral support is often mentioned by women leaders of the democracy movement as one of the key difficulties they encounter.

Day Day Paw, the first and only female Central Executive Committee member of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), said her parents never encouraged her to study.

“They always told me to stay home and take care of the farm and look after my younger brother and sister,” she said. When her family forced her to stop studying in the ninth standard, she ran away to join the revolution.

“I regret that I didn’t get a higher education,” she said. “Even though I am now a leader in the main Karenni political organization, it can be difficult for me to have my voice heard.”

The lack of educational opportunities that many women face is not limited to their youth, however.

“I need to spend a lot of time taking care of my five children and my husband, so I can’t find time to read books or newspapers or listen to the radio, which makes it more difficult to communicate with men,” said Day Day Paw.

As the wife of the KNPP’s prime minister, Day Day Paw is regarded as the “first lady” of the Karenni people, as well as a leader in her own right. But this doesn’t prevent her from openly criticizing the KNPP for failing to promote women in the party. She is also outspoken about the need to offer encouragement to women who wish to pursue political careers.

For Myint Myint San, a member of the Thailand-based Burmese Women’s Union, the root cause of many of these problems is the traditional religious belief in hpoun, which ascribes male domination to the inherent spiritual superiority of men, based upon their past merit.

Because of this deeply ingrained cultural belief, many women come to accept a lower status or feel powerless to rise above their current station in life. This makes it difficult for most women to even imagine a more active role in politics.

In border areas, where armed conflict has been a fact of life for generations, women are further discouraged from pursuing political careers by the perception that only those with proven military track records are qualified to lead.

Myint Myint San said that many men regard themselves as “protectors” of women, and therefore as the rightful leaders of society. This view, she argued, does not do justice to the strength of women.

“In fact, we have to protect ourselves, and besides this, we have to sacrifice our lives to serving our soldier husbands,” she said.

To achieve equality, she said, women must be prepared to go to battle—not in the jungle, alongside men, but against cultural assumptions that confine them to their homes.

They should never stop educating themselves; they must also educate men about their true potential and their contribution to society.

“If there is no equality between sexes and classes there can be no justice,” said Myint Myint San. “Equal opportunity and equal participation are the keys to developing and improving any society.”

There is a great deal that women can do individually to show men what they are capable of, but  ultimately, it will require a concerted effort on the part of many highly motivated women to make a lasting change.

“If we want a new system, we need to have constitutional acts to deal with women’s affairs,” said Khin Ohmar, a founding member of the Women’s League of Burma, an umbrella group of exiled Burmese women’s organizations. “If we women do not unite and work systematically, we will be left behind the male leadership.”

Today’s women leaders are playing an important role in supporting and encouraging more women to engage in political activism, promoting the idea that women have to take joint responsibility for Burma’s development. 

“I really do not like it when other women say that they are weak,” said Zipporah, the executive secretary of the Karen Women’s Organization and a member of the KNU’s Central Executive Committee.

“Although tradition and the political system in our country work against Burmese women, we can still try hard to overcome the obstacles we now face and battle to change the ruthless system,” she said. 

Meanwhile, in the KNPP, Day Day Paw has been busy encouraging a generation of women to take leadership positions in the party. “We will see change in the next KNPP election,” she said confidently. 

Women activists inside Burma have the extra problem of working under the restrictions of the military regime, which makes debate around this issue all the more difficult.

“We cannot provide a place to empower women and teach them what they can do for the movement,” said Lae Lae, a member of the NLD’s Central Executive Committee.


« previous  1  |  2  |  3  next page »

COMMENTS (0)
 
Please read our policy before you post comments. Click here
Name:
E-mail:   (Your e-mail will not be published.)
Comment:
You have characters left.
Word Verification: captcha Type the characters you see in the picture.
 

more articles in this section