Abstract
<p class="1Body">In Myanmar, although men and women have equal rights under the customary law, conservative cultural belief prevents to enjoy these rights between men and women. Therefore men are still superior and women are subordinate in Myanmar society. To reach a better understanding of whether equality exists between men and women in Myanmar society, a particular type of literary work which is reflection of Myanmar culture can be explored. Therefore, Myanmar short stories, written originally in English by Myanmar author Daw Khin Myo Chit and the selection of Myanmar short stories written originally in Myanmar by various kinds of Myanmar authors but translated into English by Myanmar writer Ma Thanegi, are chosen to be investigated. The aim of the present study is to investigate the way in which males and females are represented in Myanmar short stories which reflect Myanmar culture. Gender analysis by Khurshid, Gillani, and Hashmi (2010) is conducted to analyze the data. The quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze short stories. It is found that the data found in Daw Khin Myo Chit’s short stories and Ma Thanegi’s translated works were the same. The results showed that there is no significant difference between males and females except occupational roles. It can also be observed that in analyzing Myanmar short stories, although women play the important roles as equal as men in most cases, women are still inferior rather than men according to Myanmar culture and Myanmar tradition.</p>
Highlights
Gender issue is prominent in different countries in the world; little has been done to investigate gender roles and representations in Myanmar, a Southeast Asian country
The aim of the present study is to investigate the way in which males and females are represented in Myanmar short stories which reflect Myanmar culture
The results show that gender roles arising from Myanmar culture prevent women from enjoying their rights to personal safety, education, employment, freedom of movement, and participation in leadership, recreation and community activities
Summary
Gender issue is prominent in different countries in the world; little has been done to investigate gender roles and representations in Myanmar, a Southeast Asian country. According to Myanmar custom and tradition, women, rather than men, are expected to take care of their families (Department for International Development [DFID] Myanmar operational plan 2011 -gender annex, 2011). At the same time, women have the right to do as they wish in the economy of their families. They do not take part in all family affairs, they can act as advisors to their husbands, or people to be consulted before important decisions are made (Minn, 2014). Women have higher education and higher degrees than men. In Buddhism, the main religion in Myanmar, nuns and women have no right to offer gold leaves to the pagoda; instead, they have to ask men to do so. Women are given more rights in some cases and they are inferior in some cases
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