Historically, women in Myanmar (also known as Burma) have had a unique social status and esteemed women in Burmese society. According to the research done by Mya Sein, Burmese

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

"for centuries – even before

recorded history Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world his ...

" owned a "high measure of independence" and had retained their "legal and economic rights" despite the influences of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

and

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

. Burma once had a matriarchal system that includes the exclusive right to inherit oil wells and the right to inherit the position as

village head A village head, village headman or village chief is the community leader of a village or a small town. Usage Brunei In Brunei, village head is called or in the Malay language. It is an administrative post which leads the community of a v ...

. Burmese women were also appointed to high offices by

Burmese kings This is a list of the monarchs of Burma (Myanmar), covering the monarchs of all the major kingdoms that existed in the present day Burma (Myanmar). Although Burmese chronicles, Burmese chronicle tradition maintains that various monarchies of Bur ...

, can become chieftainesses and

queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

.Daw Mya Sein
"Women in Burma"
The Atlantic, Atlantic Magazine, February 1958.

Traditional dress

The ''htamein'' ( ) is one of the traditional dresses of Burmese women. This skirtcloth or lower body wrapper was worn by women during the

Konbaung Dynasty The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...

(1752–1855) as a wrap-around skirt, or sometimes as a folded clothing material placed "tightly across the abdomen slightly left center of the waist". In comparison, Burmese men wore the traditional lower garment known as the ''pahso'' ( ).Falconer, John and Luca Invernizzi Tettoni
Burmese Design and Architecture
Tuttle Publishing, page 189.

Love and marriage

Marriages were previously allowed between Burmese women and male foreigners provided that the divisional courts in Burma were informed within 21 days of advance notice. However, in May 2010, the government of Burma disallowed conducting of marriage ceremonies between Burmese women and male foreigners. One of the suggested reasons was to avoid human trafficking.Thae Thae
''Burmese Women Not Allowed to Marry Foreigners''
The Irrawaddy, 25 May 2010. Burmese women became victims of human traffickers and were traded for the sex industry in Pakistan and Thailand.
Burma/Myanmar, Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women To some extent, arranged marriages was also a part of Burmese tradition, however, the Burmese women have the right to refuse the offer of being betrothed to the parents' chosen partner for her. At present, young Burmese women can choose to marry someone for love.

Women's rights

In 2000, the Asian Women's Resource Exchange (AWORC) published a report entitled ''Human Rights in Burma'' from the ''Forum News'' (August 1998) describing that by tradition, Burmese women are maternal self-abnegators, meaning that these women "consistently forgo their own needs in order to give their children first priority." The report also indicated that rural and urban Burmese women were affected by the deteriorating economic climate in Burma.
Asian Women's Resource Exchange (AWORC), 2000 As a result, Burmese families were "increasingly prioritising the rights of males over females to limited resources." These changes affected the access of Burmese women to nutrition, medical services, vocational training, and other educational opportunities. Burmese women became unwilling porters and unpaid labourers for the military, including becoming victims of slavery, murder, torture, rape, and attacks.
Asian Women's Resource Exchange (AWORC), 2000 Historically, urban Burmese women "enjoyed high levels of social power" but later became confronted with restrictions on speech and limitations in acquiring high level positions in both private and public offices. According to AWORC, only a few number of Burmese women receive education related to reproductive rights and safe birth control practices, thus making them prone to being infected by HIV and AIDS. The women's rights movement in Burma started with the Burmese Women's Association in 1919. In January 2008, BBC News featured Burmese Kayan Lahwi women who became tourist attractions in Thailand because of the tradition of wearing coils of brass around their necks. The rings of brass push the "women's shoulders and ribs down" throughout several years giving the effect as if the necks had been stretched, thus described as sporting "unnaturally long, giraffe-like necks."Harding, Andrew
Burmese women in Thai 'human zoo'
30 January 2008.

References

External links

Women's League of Burma

Karen Women Organization

Burmese women in Thai 'human zoo'

The war on Burma's women
{{DEFAULTSORT:Women In Burma

Traditional dress

Love and marriage

Women's rights

See also

References

External links