Empowerment as Constructive Power for Gender

Aye Nwe1

Power can mean the ability to do, act, or produce. It can mean energy and control. As power is present in the very fabric of our lives, i.e. in political, social, economic and religious structures, it can be destructive and constructive power.2

Empowerment as Alternative to Dominating Power

In patriarchal relationships, power is often seen as a means to establish control over others. Power in this sense is ‘power over’ or ‘power as domination’. Many of us who live under the command and order of someone who demands obedience experience this ‘power over’.3

In Burmese language, ah na dei means ‘a desire not to impose on others’ or reluctance to impose on others. The idea is to maintain smooth relations by considering others’ feelings and refraining from upsetting the other. Combined with a sense of fear, feeling of ah na dei can justify inaction. For example, students must obey the teacher even if the teacher may be wrong. Very often, fear is the main reason why people would rather keep quiet. To say that we are too ah na dei means it is not our place to speak up.4

However, ah na dei mostly concerns women than men. Most women in society do not speak out or critique others because of shyness or fear. They generally do not concern themselves about political, social, religious and economic matters. Their timidity, shyness and lack of confidence render them voiceless in the face of torture and hopeless situations. Instead they remain silent or cry to God alone.

Christina Fink writes about a particular kind of ‘power over’ in Living Silence:

What is a life well lived under military rule? Survival depends on submitting to those in power. Truth is often irrelevant. In military rule, people everywhere have participated in uncomfortable silence with regard to political and social issues, when speaking up was a very difficult thing to do.5

Militarism has a disempowering effect on people. Women face the worst effect of militarism, which includes sexual violence. Here is a girl’s account of such a horrible dominating power over women:

Her brother-in-law was going back to the village to get some more rice and other food stuff. When the soldiers came to the farm, they saw only two women. They accused them as wives of Shan soldiers who were their (so-called) enemies and beat them. Although they tried to explain that they were just villagers, they (the soldiers) did not listen to them and continued to beat them. When she said that her sister was pregnant and pleaded for mercy, they poked her sister’s womb. A man struck her on the head with a stick, knocking her unconscious; when she became conscious, a man dragged her to their bed in the hut and raped her; after he finished, he beat her unconscious again. When she regained consciousness she found herself lying with no clothes and her sister was lying dead just outside the hut.6

Under the control of military power, women have suffered painfully through physical and sexual violence. Apart from making their bodies fulfill the sexual hunger of men in the war fields, they are shot, suffocated, beaten and stabbed to death. They are helpless victims of militarism and patriarchal system.

Empowerment as Alternative to Dominating Gender

In a feminist theology class at Myanmar Institute of Theology (M.I.T), one male student narrated the following:

Most of my childhood was spent with my mother because my father was always away from home due to his work. I felt that I love my mother more than my father. One day, my mother was outside and it was going to rain heavily. I was alone at home. When I looked outside, I saw my mother’s tha-mein (sarong) being put to dry on the fence. I know it was my responsibility to bring it into the house but I was afraid to touch my mother’s tha-mein (sarong) because I understood that touching women’s tha-mein (sarong) was really unlucky.

• A woman can destroy a country.
• The sun never rises when a hen crows; it only rises when the rooster crows.
• Using her sexual wiles, a woman can push men off the straight and narrow path.
• The wiles of woman are like the sands of the sea.
• She should be as “Sin ma yin thar” (gentle as elephant while walking).
• Nice girl does not laugh out loud, climb trees, or play on the street.7

Since traditional teachings encourage female obedience to male authority, women’s manners are also molded according to what males think. For example, my three-and-a-half year old daughter is very active, alert, and loves to climb. As we live in Wa Youth center, a hostel for Wa (an ethnic group in Myanmar) students studying in Yangon, many of the residents comment that “she is like a boy” because of the stereotype that males are adventurous, active, aggressive and daring, but girls are gentle, patient, silent, submissive and non-aggressive. Very early in life, females learn that their clothes are impure and must be washed separately from those of the males and hung on a lower line or hidden in the backyard. There is a belief that women’s Eindaray is so valuable that it cannot be bought with gold. A woman with Eindaray has virtues of loyalty, wisdom, compassion, alertness and health. She is not supposed to show her anger, not be greedy, and not be ignorant. Her physical virtues are abundant hair, smooth complexion, strong bone structure and her age.8 She has to obey and respect her husband as head and master of the house (“her son is like her master and her husband is like her god”). In some Myanmar homes, the husband/father is called Ain Oo Nat or spirit of the house, with full authority over family members because he is believed to possess phon or glory, which is thought to be absent in a woman. Thus, her responsibility is to serve her husband and worship him as her personal god before she goes to bed at night.9

In Myanmar the ubiquitous tea shop in every village is the place to gather, talk, eat and drink. Teashops are hives of activity as people meet to discuss social, political, religious, economic and other issues. But the majority of teashop clientele are male, aged 20-60- years. As males spend their time in teashops, women are usually at home doing household chores like cooking, washing, cleaning, ironing, caring for children, etc. A woman is usually praised for her so-called feminine virtues of tenderness, gracefulness, softness and silence; scolded if she laughs out loud, talks loud, or is seen as too bold or audacious. Woman’s life is different from man’s life. Her university is at home and her professional life is in the kitchen. Socialized into thinking that she can not make decisions, she believes she only has to obey her husband. This is why she sorely lacks confidence.

Religious Life of Women in Myanmar

Of Myanmar’s approximately 50 million people and 135 ethnic groups, half are female. Majority of the people are Bama Buddhists, while the rest are Christians, Muslim, Hindus and spirit or nat worshippers. Women are the majority searchers of spiritual attainment. In daily life, women carry out such religious duties as offering flower, food and water to the divine, including food for the monks. They are the majority seekers of spiritual guidance for various matters. In Theravada Buddhism, the institution of the monks called the Sangha plays an important role in religious affairs and activities. According to tradition, every young male is expected to enter the order. While girls can enter monasteries as nuns,9 being a nun is not the same in importance as the monk. There is no ordination for women. The same is true of the Christian community.11 While women are the majority church members and their talents, abilities, skills, gifts and contributions are greatly needed, their involvements are limited to Sunday school teaching, being women’s leader, warden of girls’ hostel, cleaning, decoration, and serving groups where many do not want to be. The highest status for her in church is that of a department secretary or assistant pastor. One young female minister has described the life of a female minister in a local church in Shan State:

No male pastor would like to work in that church. One day a young male pastor came to serve in that church. Intelligent and with a theological degree, he did not want to immerse his life there. He left after serving for one year. The female minister who assisted that pastor was so dedicated that she took all his responsibilities. The church members became devoted to her and wanted her to be their pastor. Although she had all qualifications to be the pastor, the association did not allow her to be the pastor, and for no clear reason. For me the reason is very simple: she is a woman.12

Although having the same training as her male counterpart, a female minister can only be an assistant to a male minister. Hence, many qualified women with intellectual and other abilities are relegated to limited roles. According to Myanmar Baptist Convention statistical report in 2001, of the 4313 male ministers, 1794 are ordained. Of the total number of 1482 female ministers, 9 are ordained.13 Why is woman’s ordination a great problem in the church? Myanmar’s feminist theologian Anna May Say Pa analyzes the situation:

One reason offered by a Baptist pastor was, our Buddhist neighbors will ridicule us for putting a woman in the pulpit. In our culture, this is not done. Women who do work in the church as pastors will face a lot of opposition on the question of their ordination even though they have worked for many years. In fact, because of strong ideas of pollution of menstruation elderly women have more chance of ordination than younger women. Some men will not take communion served by a woman because of this factor. Whereas a man, just a few years out of seminary, will easily get ordination.14

Women may be serving in the ministry as full-time ministers till the end of their lives but the androcentric church will always find it difficult to recognize and give them due honor.

Redefining Power

“Power over” is the power of domination, which is ultimately destructive. It creates dualism between the powerful and powerless, poor and rich, strong and weak, advantaged and disadvantaged, man and woman, perpetrator of violence and victim, oppressor and oppressed. In this dualistic identification of “power over”, women are marginalized and discriminated against. It is in this context that women have come to name the oppression of their lives, claiming God’s compassion and Jesus’ liberating action. Reinterpreting the Bible through women’s eyes, they come to see God’s real image within them and affirm their being co-workers with God to sustain God’s creation for God. Realizing that God created male and female in God’s own image (Gen. 1:27), they affirm their shared responsibility and power to sustain God’s creation. The power which God gives to them is the power to “have dominion”, which is different from militaristic and patriarchal understanding of power as “domination”. Domination is the rule of the powerful without any interest in the well-being of the weak and the oppressed. It entails oppressive rule that lacks any notion of the victims. Dominion does not allow for ruthless assault on other creatures. In Ezekiel 34, the good shepherd feeds the flock with justice and peace (obligated dominion), the bad shepherd with force and cruelty (domination). The power which God has given to human is to be fruitful and to multiply stewardship of the world. To fulfill that responsibility, the resource of energy is given by God for the world to be in order and peace. But the misunderstanding and misuse of power has caused misery. To restore wholeness of those who are suffering, it is necessary to retrieve the biblical model of power and authority which God intended for us through Jesus the Christ. Christ models a leadership of servanthood (Matt 25:14-30), the kind that God demands from the world through Jesus.15

During the women’s leadership workshop in Yangon on September 13-18, 2003, Hnuni spoke on “Equipping women’s transformation leadership in the church and society. She emphasized the church’s need to transform its leadership of excluding women from high ranking offices. She argued that:

To be true and trustworthy stewards, one has to be ready to be baptized with the baptism of Jesus, which involves ”whoever would be great among you must be slave of all”.16

Servant-model is the real imperative model to the existing chaos. It is calling to serve for the well-being of others rather than self. It is different from hierarchical or patriarchal power. It is constructive power that recognizes “the power in all”. In servant- model of power or “the power to serve” it is essential for all, men and women, to be included.

In describing women’s empowerment, Mary Dun, a feminist theologian in Myanmar, argues that:

for women to be able to actively participate in all areas of life, and for the incorporation of women’s perspective, progressive and enlightened men are also expected to assume their role and participation in terms of giving their support and being in solidarity with them in actual practice. Many men do not like to share power with women, because they still like to cling onto the patriarchal ideas that women are not trustworthy or that women do not have the capacities to implement things, or to make decisions. This is the reason why progression of women’s ‘liberation is slow. For constant progression men like women have to be freed from the personal, social, cultural, and structural levels of the patriarchal system. Without this process, true and genuine, equal and responsible partnership will not come about. And most of all there will not be total human liberation for all forms of bondage and oppression.17

Jesus said: “But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For I came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as ransom for many (Mk. 10:42-45 cf. Matt 20:28). The power that Jesus has shown us to live out is the power which sets people free from bondage, oppression, exploitation, abuse, injustice, inhumanity and domination. It is the power which embraces all to have peace, restoration, order, self-esteem, and harmony with each other.

Conclusion

Time and situation have changed. Likewise, in some cases, women’s situation also has changed. Many women are no longer confined to the home. But while there is greater participation of women in other aspects of life, many are still being excluded; or their intellect and abilities simply used for the stereotyped female roles, such as in nurture, education, and care. While most often the economic situation of families encourages women to work outside the home, still they are often not included in decision-making. Nevertheless, the present social problems indicate that patriarchy is no longer a relevant system for society.

As women step more deeply into society, they come to realize their place, ability, and power. They try to transform the culture of patriarchy that is present in political, social, economic and religious realms. They empower each other with new hopes. They express their hopes for a new society in which power is no longer a tool of oppression but genuine power which creates peace and justice. Their steps to that vision are linked to the enlightenment and commitment of men to help women and themselves to be free from injustice. Hence, the servanthood of both women and men will be a strong power to transform society.

NOTES:

1 Aye Nwe is a lecturer in feminist theology at Myanmar Institute of Theology in Yangon.
2 Denise M. Ackerman, ‘Power’, in Dictionary of Feminist Theologies, ed. Letty M. Russel and J. Shannon (Clarkson, Louisvile: Westminster John Knox Press), 220.
3 Ibid., 220.
4 Christina Fink, Living Silence: Burma under Military Ruler (London: Zed Books Ltd, 2001), 120-121.
5 Ibid, “Introduction”.
6 Licence to Rape, Shan Human Rights Foundation and The Shan Women’s Action Network, May 2002, 10.
7 Ywah Plaw Paw, “Religion, Culture and Gender in Myanmar”, in In God’s Image, 19.2 (June 2000), 24-26.
8 Mary Dun, “Emerging Asian Women’s Spirituality”, in Asian Women Doing Theology (AWRC, 1988), 322.
9 Mary Dun, “The Image of Women in Myanmar Context”, In God’s Image, 28-29.
10 Children and Women in Myanmar, Situation Assessment and Analysis, UNICEF, April 2001.
11 Ywah Plaw Paw, “Religion, Culture, and Gender in Myanmar”, In God’s Image, 25-26.
12 Documentation on Self Witness of Dorcus Cherry, M. Div. II, Sharing her Personal Experiences on Equal Partnership of Men and Women in the Church, at Eco-Feminism Class, M.I.T, 2003-2004.
13 Myanmar Baptist Convention 2001 Statistical Report.
14 Anna May Say Pa, “Birthing an Asian Feminist Theology in the Face of the Dragon: A Burmese Perspective”, given at a Feminist Theology Workshop, 8-10 February 2002, Association for Theological Education in Myanmar, p. 25.
15 Samuel Ngun Ling, in a Bible Study on “Ecology” at MCC, May 11-12, 2001, p. 2.
16 R. L. Hnuni, “Equipping Women Transformation Leadership in the Church and Society”, a paper at the Women’s Workshop on Leadership, September 13-18, 2003, Yangon, Myanmar.
17 Mary Dun, “Women Empowerment” in Thamar Alin, Baptist Theological Journal Vol. V, 2000-2001.