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

1. Introduction

1 Introduction WOMEN IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: CHANGES AND CONTINUITIES Theresa W. Devasahayam Southeast฀ Asia฀ as฀ a฀ region฀ has฀ undergone฀ vast฀ economic฀ and฀ social฀ transformations฀in฀the฀last฀several฀decades.฀Women฀as฀a฀collective฀have฀seen฀ their฀lives฀changed฀as฀a฀result฀of฀rapid฀development฀and฀economic฀growth.฀ The฀Human฀Development฀Index฀records฀higher฀levels฀of฀literacy฀and฀primary฀ school฀ enrolment฀ rates,฀ and฀ increases฀ in฀ life฀ expectancy฀ in฀ most฀ parts฀ of฀ the฀world,฀including฀countries฀in฀Southeast฀Asia,฀compared฀to฀a฀decade฀ago฀ (Human฀Development฀Report฀2006).฀The฀Philippines฀is฀a฀notable฀example฀ in฀the฀region฀having฀closed฀the฀gender฀gaps฀in฀both฀education฀and฀health,฀ joining฀a฀list฀of฀ten฀countries฀in฀the฀world฀with฀similar฀achievements฀(The฀ Global฀Gender฀Gap฀Report฀2008). In฀ the฀ face฀ of฀ rapid฀ economic฀ and฀ social฀ change,฀ it฀ is฀ important฀ to฀ ask฀how฀women฀and฀men฀have฀fared฀especially฀since฀women’s฀interests฀and฀ concerns฀differ฀from฀those฀of฀men.฀This฀leads฀to฀other฀questions฀related฀to฀ the฀progress฀of฀the฀sexes:฀(a)฀In฀what฀areas฀have฀women฀been฀able฀to฀achieve฀ ฀ parity฀with฀men?;฀(b)฀In฀what฀areas฀do฀women฀encounter฀specific฀disadvantages฀ based฀on฀their฀gender฀as฀compared฀with฀men?;฀and,฀(c)฀How฀have฀women’s฀ concerns฀and฀problems฀been฀addressed฀by฀governments฀in฀this฀region฀with฀ the฀aim฀of฀encouraging฀gender฀equality?฀In฀responding฀to฀these฀questions,฀ it฀is฀important฀first฀and฀foremost฀to฀contextualize฀Southeast฀Asian฀women’s฀ experiences฀ within฀ the฀ larger฀ cultural฀ and฀ historical฀ framework฀ particular฀ to฀this฀region. 01฀GTSEA.indd฀฀฀1 9/9/09฀฀฀2:23:34฀PM 2 Theresa W. Devasahayam The฀position฀that฀indigenous฀Southeast฀Asian฀women฀enjoy฀a฀relative฀ autonomy฀has฀long฀been฀in฀the฀centre฀of฀debate฀in฀academic฀circles.฀Assertions฀ have฀been฀made฀that฀women฀in฀this฀region฀have฀stood฀apart฀from฀their฀sisters฀ in฀the฀rest฀of฀Asia฀by฀way฀of฀the฀relatively฀high฀level฀of฀autonomy฀they฀possess฀ (Stoler฀1977;฀Strange฀1981;฀Atkinson฀and฀Errington฀1990).฀Scholars฀have฀ singled฀out฀a฀number฀of฀factors฀for฀the฀autonomy฀of฀women฀in฀the฀region.฀ For฀one,฀Southeast฀Asia,฀they฀argue,฀has฀been฀characterized฀by฀both฀bilateral฀ and฀matrilineal฀kinship฀systems,฀with฀the฀exception฀of฀Vietnam,฀unlike฀in฀ East฀Asia฀and฀many฀parts฀of฀South฀Asia฀where฀patrilineal฀kinship฀systems฀ tend฀to฀dominate฀(Dube฀1997).฀Hutheesing฀(1994,฀p.฀342)฀elaborates฀on฀ this฀point: Observers฀ of฀ Southeast฀ Asian฀ countries฀ have฀ been฀ impressed฀ by฀ the฀ incidence฀of฀female฀independence฀and฀exercise฀of฀authority.฀Given฀this฀ set฀of฀circumstances,฀Southeast฀Asia฀would฀represent฀a฀variant฀model฀of฀ gender฀which฀stands฀in฀contrast฀to฀the฀patrilineal฀systems฀with฀their฀link฀ to฀formalised฀political฀power฀in฀the฀Chinese฀tradition฀and฀the฀corporate฀ caste฀groupings฀of฀India฀…฀clearly฀built฀into฀the฀structures. Daughters฀ are฀ also฀ highly฀ valued฀ and฀ not฀ perceived฀ to฀ be฀ a฀ financial฀ burden฀on฀the฀family.฀The฀relatively฀high฀autonomy฀possessed฀by฀women฀is฀ also฀captured฀in฀residence฀patterns:฀in฀many฀Southeast฀Asian฀communities,฀ married฀couples฀often฀have฀the฀flexibility฀of฀living฀with฀or฀near฀the฀wife’s฀ parents,฀thus฀reflecting฀the฀important฀function฀played฀by฀maternal฀relatives฀ (Jamilah฀1992;฀Medina฀2001).฀Within฀the฀household,฀women’s฀responsibility฀ goes฀beyond฀the฀role฀of฀caregiver/nurturer;฀men฀transferred฀their฀earnings฀ to฀their฀wives฀who฀controlled฀and฀allocated฀the฀household฀budget฀(Li฀1989;฀ Sullivan฀1994).฀ Besides,฀the฀range฀of฀functions฀women฀held฀outside฀the฀household฀presented฀ themselves฀as฀self-supporting฀individuals฀on฀par฀with฀the฀autonomous฀male.฀ One฀of฀the฀most฀striking฀examples฀of฀Southeast฀Asian฀women’s฀autonomy฀ is฀their฀significant฀engagement฀in฀economic฀activity.฀Women’s฀presence฀in฀ the฀village฀markets฀is฀strong฀and฀their฀earnings฀as฀entrepreneurs฀are฀critical฀ to฀the฀survival฀of฀the฀family฀(Alexander฀and฀Alexander฀2001).฀In฀the฀labour฀ sector฀especially฀in฀agriculture,฀the฀contribution฀of฀women฀has฀long฀been฀ indispensable.1 ฀In฀matters฀of฀property฀relations,฀women฀also฀enjoy฀a฀distinct฀ advantage.฀ Moreover฀ in฀ the฀ region,฀ women฀ took฀ on฀ prominent฀ roles฀ in฀ indigenous฀religious฀rituals฀as฀much฀as฀men:฀they฀were฀shamans฀who฀engaged฀ in฀exorcism,฀spiritual฀healing,฀agricultural฀magic฀and฀so฀forth฀(Hay฀2005).฀ The฀power฀Southeast฀Asian฀women฀held฀was฀also฀demonstrated฀in฀their฀skills฀ 01฀GTSEA.indd฀฀฀2 9/9/09฀฀฀2:23:34฀PM Women in Southeast Asia: Changes and Continuities 3 in฀managing฀ceremonial฀feasts,฀and฀the฀organization฀of฀labour฀and฀credit฀ societies฀as฀well.฀ Wazir฀(1995,฀p.฀16)฀explains฀the฀importance฀of฀looking฀at฀how฀gender฀ is฀constructed฀on฀a฀day-to...