Gender Trends in Southeast Asia: Women Now, Women in the Future

2. Women, Marriage and Family in Southeast Asia

12 2 WOMEN, MARRIAGE AND FAMILY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA Gavin W. Jones INTRODUCTION The฀main฀aim฀of฀this฀chapter฀is฀to฀look฀at฀changes฀in฀women’s฀role฀in฀the฀ family,฀in฀the฀face฀of฀dramatic฀contextual฀changes฀—฀globalization,฀economic฀ growth,฀urbanization,฀educational฀development,฀and฀the฀increasing฀levels฀of฀ workforce฀participation฀of฀women฀in฀urban฀areas.฀These฀have฀major฀effects฀ on฀marriage฀—฀whether฀to฀marry,฀when฀to฀marry,฀whether฀child-raising฀can฀ be฀combined฀with฀the฀demands฀of฀the฀workforce,฀and฀intra-family฀power฀ structures. The฀last฀half฀century฀has฀seen฀remarkable฀educational฀changes,฀from฀a฀ situation฀of฀severe฀disadvantage฀for฀daughters฀in฀educational฀opportunity฀to฀ one฀of฀near฀equality฀of฀opportunity,฀and฀indeed฀a฀female฀majority฀in฀tertiary฀ education฀in฀a฀number฀of฀countries.฀What฀is฀remarkable฀is฀how฀universal฀these฀ changes฀have฀been;฀what฀needs฀to฀be฀recognized฀is฀that฀they฀both฀contribute฀ to,฀and฀are฀reflections฀of,฀changing฀attitudes฀to฀female฀roles.฀ More฀ or฀ less฀ universally,฀ the฀ rising฀ levels฀ of฀ education฀ have฀ made฀ for฀ increasing฀levels฀of฀female฀participation฀in฀the฀urban฀workforce.฀Although฀ equality฀in฀incomes฀for฀equal฀work฀has฀not฀been฀achieved,฀the฀situation฀is฀ much฀improved,฀and฀the฀excess฀of฀women฀in฀higher฀education฀means฀that฀ many฀higher-status฀jobs฀are฀now฀going฀to฀women.฀Many฀women฀are฀also฀ going฀abroad฀as฀migrant฀workers฀—฀more฀than฀two฀million฀Filipinas฀and฀ 02฀GTSEA.indd฀฀฀12 9/7/09฀฀฀9:11:31฀AM Women, Marriage and Family in Southeast Asia 13 one฀ million฀ Indonesians฀ at฀ any฀ one฀ time.฀ Is฀ this฀ a฀ reflection฀ of฀ broader฀ opportunities฀opened฀up฀by฀education,฀or฀rather฀a฀reflection฀of฀the฀poor฀earning฀ opportunities฀in฀the฀poorer฀countries฀of฀the฀region?฀It฀is฀no฀doubt฀both,฀but฀ we฀should฀certainly฀keep฀in฀mind฀that฀even฀those฀going฀abroad฀as฀domestic฀ servants฀from฀countries฀such฀as฀the฀Philippines฀and฀Indonesia฀typically฀have฀ above฀average฀levels฀of฀education฀compared฀to฀others฀in฀their฀home฀areas.฀ A NOTE ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN FAMILY STRUCTURES Before฀turning฀to฀the฀main฀theme฀of฀this฀chapter฀—฀the฀changing฀patterns฀ of฀ marriage฀ and฀ fertility฀ in฀ Southeast฀ Asia฀ and฀ what฀ they฀ tell฀ us฀ about฀ women’s฀ family฀ roles฀ —฀ a฀ general฀ note฀ on฀ the฀ Southeast฀ Asian฀ family฀ may฀be฀in฀order.฀Southeast฀Asia฀is฀differentiated฀from฀the฀kinship฀system฀ dominated฀by฀Confucianist฀traditions฀that฀characterizes฀much฀of฀East฀Asia,฀ and฀ the฀ joint฀ family฀ of฀ the฀ Indian฀ subcontinent,฀ by฀ its฀ bilateral฀ kinship฀ system,฀which฀provides฀for฀much฀more฀flexibility฀in฀post-marital฀residence.฀ The฀ Minangkabau฀ and฀ Acehnese฀ follow฀ matrilineal฀ patterns,฀ and฀ even฀ in฀ Thailand,฀matrilineal฀ties฀are฀the฀most฀important.฀Men฀normally฀move฀into฀ their฀wife’s฀parents’฀household฀for฀a฀period฀of฀one฀to฀three฀years฀and฀then฀ establish฀a฀separate,฀economically฀independent฀household.฀This฀pattern฀is฀ also฀the฀traditional฀one฀among฀the฀Malays฀in฀Malaysia,฀in฀Indonesia฀and฀in฀ the฀Philippines฀(Medina฀2001).฀The฀positive฀aspects฀of฀such฀kinship฀systems฀ for฀women’s฀status฀are฀hinted฀at฀by฀the฀fact฀that฀no฀Southeast฀Asian฀country฀ other฀than฀Vietnam฀has฀experienced฀unusually฀high฀sex฀ratios฀at฀birth฀due฀ to฀misuse฀of฀prenatal฀diagnostic฀techniques฀for฀non-medical฀purposes,฀which฀ in฀both฀China฀and฀India฀has฀resulted฀in฀the฀practice฀of฀foeticide฀on฀a฀very฀ large฀scale฀as฀a฀result฀of฀strong฀son฀preference฀(Attane฀and฀Guilmoto,฀eds.฀ 2007).฀Vietnam฀is฀the฀one฀country฀of฀Southeast฀Asia฀that฀does฀not฀follow฀ a฀ bilateral฀ kinship฀ system,฀ and฀ its฀ problems฀ with฀ misuse฀ of฀ ultrasound฀ techniques฀(Nhan฀and฀Mai฀2008)฀put฀it฀more฀in฀the฀Chinese฀than฀in฀the฀ Southeast฀Asian฀camp฀in฀this฀regard.฀ The฀distinction฀between฀family฀and฀household฀needs฀to฀be฀kept฀in฀mind.฀ Family฀links฀remain฀strong฀to฀the฀level฀of฀cousins฀and฀often฀second฀cousins.฀In฀ countries฀such฀as฀Indonesia,฀children฀are฀frequently฀“lent”฀to฀relatives฀who฀are฀ childless฀or฀otherwise฀well฀placed฀to฀raise฀them.฀But฀the฀household฀—฀those฀ who฀actually฀live฀together฀—฀is฀growing฀smaller,฀as฀a฀result฀of฀lower฀fertility,฀ and฀the฀movement฀of฀many฀young฀people฀from฀rural฀areas฀to฀the฀cities.฀It฀is฀ important฀to฀keep฀in฀mind฀that฀households฀may฀have฀alternating฀periods฀of฀ being฀nuclear฀and฀joint.฀This฀is฀because฀of฀flexibility฀about฀who฀lives฀with฀ whom฀in฀the฀bilateral฀kinship฀systems฀that฀characterize฀the฀region฀and฀also฀ 02฀GTSEA.indd฀฀฀13 9/7/09฀฀฀9:11:32฀AM 14 Gavin W. Jones the฀changing฀structure฀of฀the฀family฀as฀children฀grow฀up,฀grandparents฀die,฀ and฀other฀changes฀occur...