Women's Emacipation In Asia

Have Women Gained Emancipation in Asian Countries?

This is a question I’ve been asking myself a bit recently. But what is emancipation? Emancipation is equality amongst gender; the right of women to be treated the same as men. But in this part of the world is this happening? In many modern, more developed countries, women are more likely to be treated the same and given the same opportunities in education and employment. But in less developed countries, people are still prejudiced towards women, seeing them as if they have a lower value than men.

Nowadays in nearly every Asian country, women have the right to vote and the right to have the same education as men. Many schools in Asia are now entitled to be single sex schools, in an effort to encourage people to give their daughters a good education. Many Asian countries have also recognised women as their leaders, Indira Gandhi in India, Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan and Aun San Soo-kyi in Burma, etc.

But as much as I hate to admit it, even in my country, Indonesia, women are treated differently to men. Women are more likely to be kept at home and raised to be housewives. Women may be given the same opportunities in education, but still the best jobs are given to men. Old ways and ancient traditions, where men are entitled to work and make a living for their families can perhaps explain this.

The subject of female emancipation arose during the recent Indonesian presidential election. Before Ms. Megawati was nominated as one of the candidates, many people who claimed to be political experts didn’t believe that a woman had the ability to lead a nation, as if they had forgotten Indira Gandhi and Benazir Bhutto. Their reasons and excuses were contrived and silly, which made them look foolish. They said that there is a religious law, which forbids women to lead a country. Thankfully many people didn’t recognise such a law.

To many people it was a surprise when Ms. Megawati did stand for the election and still more so when she lost. To top it all, she was expected by many to win, since her political party was the ultimate winner. Many international experts believed that she could help bring Indonesia out of its economic depression, but it was not to be.

It is difficult to know why women are treated differently, it is a deep rooted cultural thing.