Indigenous Feminism, Gender Equality, and Languages in Mah Meri Tribe of Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

The Orang Asli, the indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia, have witnessed various changes in their minority community over time. The culture of indigenous people is traditionally negative towards the advancement of women; hence this indicates that Orang Asli women need exposure regarding their rights to be able to empower themselves. The main purpose of this paper is to explore indigenous feminism, gender equality and language among the Orang Asli women of the Mah Meri tribe. This study utilizes a qualitative case study as the main research design and the data for the study are collected through the semi-structured interviews with five women from Mah Meri tribe. All collected data is analyzed using thematic analysis and Atlas.ti 8 software. This is used to facilitate the data analysis process. The research study is grounded in Feminism Theory for an assessment of gender equality among Orang Asli women. The findings of the study show that Mah Meri women have prior knowledge and realization about their women’s rights. It is also presented that although not in all aspects of their lives, Orang Asli women are facing gender equality issues within their society. It is also emphasized that Mah Meri women do use indigenous languages specifically for daily communication processes, and to preserve their indigenous language, culture, and self-identity. The findings of this study may benefit us in understanding and recognizing the issues faced by Orang Asli women, subsequently providing insights into initiatives to be taken by relevant authorities in order to help improve the lives of Orang Asli women.