VALUE SYSTEM OF WOMEN IN CAMBODIA: CHALLENGES IN THE AGE
OF GLOBALIZATION By KHOM Sakhan, Philosophy Lecturer Royal University of Phnom Penh Phnom Penh, Camo!ia I. General Overview Cambodia has a long and complex history and culture with evidence of habitation as far back as 4,000 B.C 1 . any Cambodian scholars believe that Cambodia has its roots in a matriarchal culture. !his conclusion is drawn from different facts inherent in Cambodian life. !he "hmer belief system includes goddesses that have been represented as active, often aggressive, and separate from their male counterparts which indicates female authority in the supernatural realm. #istorians have also drawn a conclusion that from its earliest historical period, Cambodians were at ease with the idea of women rulers. $ccording to Cambodian legend and historical accounts, the first ruler of the country was an unmarried woman named %&eang &eak' (&aga princess) or %*iu +ie' as she is called in the Chinese language or %,oma' in ,anskrit. oreover, there were prominent female figures who were autonomous wielders of ultimate political power in Cambodian history, for example, -ueen .ayadevi (/011213), -ueen $ng ei (103411040), -ueen ,isowath "ossamak (145511420). 6n addition, feminine concept has a leading role in the development of "hmer language7 the word ae (mother or female) appears to be a term that signifies leading position in almost every aspect of life, for example, ae 8tas (chief of household 9 housewife), ae 8houm (chief of village) ae "hom (chief of commune), ae ,rok (chief of district), ae :ek &orm (leader), ae :ob Bol (ridge piece of a roof), ae ,or ,or (main column of a house), etc. #owever, someone who study the topic about Cambodian women should be aware of the country;s extended history and during its course there were periods when it went up and down. <omen;s status in society was also affected by all these changes. =or this reason, despite the prominent historical role of women in Cambodian society, many people also observe that, as the country turns to industriali>ation and globali>ation, Cambodian women today are in a disadvantaged position. ,tatistics have shown that fewer girls than boys attend primary school and the gap becomes wider at the higher levels. 6n addition, while Cambodian society has evolved toward industriali>ation and globali>ation, it is women who are the predominant victims of human trafficking, exploitation, discrimination, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and gender1based violence. ,ome people, especially &?@s working with girls and women empowerment, blame Cambodian culture as being the cause women;s misfortune. ?enerally their argument emphasi>es the fact that Cambodian culture established rules for women that encourage them to be submissive and inactive and these exacerbate the vulnerability of girls and 1 httpABBwww.iexplore.comBdmapBCambodiaB#istory This article is still incomplete women. !hese Crules;, as it is generally suggested, are embedded in Cambodian folk tales and myths of an ideali>ed, perfect woman7 as well as a formali>ed 14 th century CCode of Conduct for <omen;. II. Cn!e"# $ %er$e!# W&en in Ca&'(ian M)#* !here are many stories about perfect and defect women.
1. Perfect woman 6 would like to begin this section with a Cambodian popular folk tale called %ea +eung' (y Dncle). !he story begins with a poor fisherman whose wife is very pretty but she is a defect woman (which is opposite to a perfect woman). @ne day, when the couple was fishing, wife of a rich merchant spot the couple and commented to herself to why the wife of the fisherman would not take some weed and close the holes in her basket as it would allow the fishes her husband had caught to escape. !he merchant heard her comments by chance and got angry with his wife. #e decided to exchange her with the wife of the fisherman. !he merchant;s wife did not argue or complain to her husband but leave him as he wished without bringing with her any property. ,he went to live with her new poor husband and changed his life. #e was transformed from a poor, ignorant and neighbourless person to be a person of substance trusted by the king and he gained the title as %ea +eung' from the king. !his story ends with the perfect woman narrating to her husband about her encountering with her previous husband who had become a beggar and came to beg from her house. =rom the story of %ea +eung', 6 would like to draw some elements belong to the perfect woman in the story as followsA + S,'&i--ive an( 'e(ien!e: <omen are not expected to argue with their parents and, if they are married, to their husband. !he perfect woman in the story follows her husband;s instruction that she should leave him and all properties behind, although this is not a fair and Eust decision for her. + Cal& an( "a#ien#: 6n any situation, women should not shout or even speak noisily. !he woman left her husband calmly. ,he did not shout or express her anger.
+ Sa!ri$i!in.: a good woman would sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of others. !he woman in the story sacrifices her luxurious life to please the merchant, her husband. + Savin.: wastefulness is the sign of disaster. $ big hand woman is called a woman of leaking basket and she will bring poverty and unfortunate fate to her husband. 6n the story, the new wife of the merchant brought her second husband into poverty by her unmindfullness spending.
+ L)al#) # *,-'an(: it is not the women themselves who choose a man for their life. !hey need to love whoever man chosen for them by their parent no matter how violent, aggressive, stupid or drunkard their husband is. 6n this case, the perfect woman follows This article is still incomplete her husband;s decision and become loyal to her second husband and she always works hard for the sake of her husband. 2. Power of perfect women !o this point, 6 would like to bring two "hmer folk tails into your attention. =irst story is about a perfect woman who was married to a la>y husband. !he woman did all the works in the family from earning the living to performing household chores. ,he never made any complaint to her la>y husband who usually spent time to sleep and rested idly. @n the contrary, she always served him best7 when she brought him food, cigarette and betel nuts, she always bowed down to the ground and saluted her husband. @ne day, the perfect woman came to her husband, bowed down and saluted him then reFuested him to go and find wood to replace their broken plow as it was impossible for her to do this by herself. !he man agreed but said he would do it the next day. !he next morning the woman reminded her husband again about the wood before he brought an ax and went out into the forest. !he man walked a little far from his home and found a big tree suitable for his plow. #e said he would cut the tree and then he felt asleep under that tree. <hen he woke up, it was already dark. #e went back home and told his wife that he would go and cut the tree he found tomorrow. !he tree angels resided in the tree the la>y man intended to cut down were all worried and afraid that the man would cut the tree. !hey decided they should kill him before he could come back tomorrow. ,o they went to the man;s house. !hey could not enter the house as it was protect by the magical power of the perfect woman. =inally, the angels surrendered and offered sites of buried gold to the couple to trade with the tree. !he second story compares two close friends who were married to different types of women. !he first man was married to a perfect woman. !his couple was bestowed a magical handkerchief that would give anything they wish. Because of the magical handkerchief, the couple was rich and famous. !he second man was married to a defect woman and, as a result, they were living in extreme poverty. !he husband heard of his friend being a rich man so he decided to ask for help. !he friend gave him the magical handkerchief and told him the instruction and reminded him that %Gemember that you can make wish only for three times.' !he second man went back home, told his wife and he started the ritual. #is wife was furious with her husband;s friend7 she did not belief that the handkerchief would produce anything. !he man was ready with his wish and was about to wave his handkerchief while his wife, in her extreme anger, exclaim %dickH'. !hen, to their surprise, men genital organs were all over the place. !he couple was scared so the woman told her husband to wave the handkerchief again to get rid of the disgusting stuff. !he woman made a wish, %all the dicks please go awayH' !hen all of them, including her husband;s, disappearH =inally, the woman made the last wish to get her husband;s stuff back. !he couple continued to live in poverty. This article is still incomplete =rom the stories, it is evident that perfect women possess magical power. !his power can bring prosperity for her family. :efect women, on the other hand, lack this power and only end up in miserable state. This article is still incomplete 3. Breaking the rules, preparing to face the doom <e have Eust seen what the culture tries to determine the definition of perfect woman and that by being a perfect woman you and your family will have a glorious life. ,o now, let us turn to examine a different scenario to see what happen if you do not follow such rules. #ere are two famous storiesA !he first story is called "a "ei. "a "ei was the name given to a virgin girl adopted by a hermit. ,he was born from flower and her beauty was beyond description. @ne day, the king of the country saw her and felt in love with her beauty deeply7 he asked to be married to her and brought her to his palace. !he hermit foresaw their future and reFuested to the king that he should forgive for whatever mistake she may commit and if she commit a mistake that amount to death, he should only exile her. !he king usually gambled with a young man who was actually a transformed king of garuda. "a "ei heard about the charm of the young man so she peeped out from her room to see him. !he transformed king of bird saw her by chance. #e felt in love with her immediately. !hat night he sneaked into her room and brought her away to his palace. #usband of "a "ei was angry he asked his army commander to find her back. !he army commander transformed himself into an insect and hide in the fur of the king garuda in order to follow followed him after one of his visits to gamble with the king as usual. <hen he could get into the palace and found "a "ei, the army commander was also in love with her. #e hided himself in the palace until the bird king left his palace and came out to be the next suitor of "a "ei. $fter a period of time, the army commander killed the king garuda and brought "a "ei back to his king. !he army commander reported to the king about what happened. !he king was very furious. =inally he exiled "a "ei on a raft into the ocean. "a "ei, in "hmer culture, has very bad names. "a "ei has become a word in "hmer language that people used to curse a woman who changes her mind from one man to another. "a "ei story draws a line and tell people that you should not follow her otherwise you will endure the same fate as "a "ei. $nother famous story, !om !eav, tells about a young charming monk who decided to break his mentor;s command and leave the monkshood at his own will because he could not control his love for a young woman. !his uncontrolled love led the two lovers to had premature love, a big mistake in "hmer tradition. $t the end of the story, the two of them were separated and the man was killed. Dnable to bear the fact, the woman committed suicide. !he story tries to warn young people of misfortune that could befall on those who break the tradition and that love at first sight will not last or end happily. This article is still incomplete III. C*'a' Srei /C(e $ Cn(,!# $r W&en0 Correct behaviour for women is set out in the Chbab ,rei, CCode of Conduct for <omen;. !his Code was written during 14 th century7 the Fuestion to who was the author of this text is a controversial topic. !he Chbab ,rei provided guidelines for acceptable behaviour of women. *ike many of Cambodian traditional rules, Chbab ,rei was written in a poem7 the narrative takes the form of -ueen Iimala instructing her daughter 6ndrandati in necessary information that will be of use throughout her life before she leaves her parents; kingdom. &ot different from other stories mentioned above, the key thrust of Chbab ,rei is that it is the responsibility of wives to ensure the good reputation of the family by maintaining a harmonious image of the home, regardless of what occurred behind closed door. !his was best achieved, according to the Chbab ,rei, by total obedience to one;s husband. 6f you do not believe your husband or ignore him, conflict will arise7 #appiness will be destroyed, your reputation will suffer, discord will continue without ceasing. !his means you are not ladylike, but a low person, with the heart of a Cgolden flower; Jimmoral woman or prostitute.K' (*ost goddess 8. 1L0) !his code also advises that a woman with good characteristic should not bring outside problems into the house and should not bring inside problems to outside. !his means that good women are not supposed to tell their mothers if their husbands mistreat them nor to tell their husband bad things about their relatives. <omen should not speak too much and should maintain resolved attitude. !he following passage from Chbab ,rei reinforces the message that women should be submissive and obedience to their parents and husbandsA %y daughter... you should keep the three flame ... one flame is to keep the gratitude toward your parents. +ou have to walk on the way that was paved by your parents and serve your parent well. $nother flame is your husband who you stay with forever. +ou should serve him well and don;t make him disappointed. =orgive him in the name of woman7 don;t speak in the way that you consider him as eFual. &o matter what happen, you Jshould not avoid your husband andK stay to listen his bad words...' (Chbab ,rei 1 translation by 8$:I)
Besides, the code also mentions subtle way of behaviours for women such as how women should dress and the way they speak and sit. IV. In(,-#riali1a#in2 Gl'ali1a#in an( Un"re"are( Mi.ra#in =rom the mid to late 1440s Cambodia experienced tremendous change and growth as the country emerged from 30 years of civil conflict. !he garment industry and its workforce rapidly expanded, increasing from L0,000 workers in 1445 to approximately 330,000 This article is still incomplete workers in L000. @ther sectors of the economy such as tourism and construction also began to emerge. ($C website) Unprepared <ith Cambodia;s economic growth, the country;s demand for workforce also accelerated. $dult Cambodians migrated from countryside to townsBcity to sell their labour, maEority of which were young women. <omen and girls with low education and skills see migration as an excited opportunityA being able to get work, receiving a salary, sending money to the family, being free from family control... $lthough migration for some Cambodians has provided better opportunities for some people, for others 1 particularly for women and girls 1 it has led to serious vulnerabilities with regard to trafficking and labour and human rights violations. :ifferent theories are provided to explain the problems encountered by Cambodian women as mentioned above. !he most popular answer to this Fuestion is contributed to the fact that generally women, and also men, leave their home unprepared. Besides the reasons of war and poverty Cambodian custom also shared the blame for the vulnerabilities its women have experienced. !raditionally Cambodian women are supposed to stay in their home and perform household work and they are not supposed to ask any Fuestion for shyness is a Fuality of a good woman. Women face problems <omen are treated badly and subEected to exploitation but they dare not ask Fuestions or raise their concerns to people. !hey continue to suppress their feeling and try to work harder and harder. !hose who leave home for salaried work suffer criticism from people. !hey must have done bade things (go out with boyfriends...) 8eople migrated to another country face even more problems. !hey encounter language barrier and they need to deal with cultural different. ?ender discrimination acts at all levelsA excluding girls from education, putting enormous pressure on them to support their families, offering highly explortative and low status Eobs, using traditional moral codes to constrain their lives. (,lide L1 ?armentresultsdef) People in the villa"e sai! a! #or!s to me, that "irls #orkin" in the factories are a! "irls$ Some villa"ers hate us, they say #e come to Phnom Penh an! have oyfrien!s, an! have se%$ People see our !resses, an! think that #e "o out #ith oys all the time$ (,lide LL ?armentresultsdef) &arment, inclu!in" shoes an! hats, represente! '() of Camo!ia*s e%port in the year +,,,$ -.) #as e%porte! to the US, +/) to the 0U, +) to other countries$ (,lide L/ ?armentresultsdef) This article is still incomplete
V. Cn!l,-in &ot different from other conservative tradition, Cambodia has plenty of rules for its women and men. <omen and men should follow separate rules of behaviour. Mlements of perfect women exist not in a woman;s beauty but rather it is determined by her heart, behaviour. Dsually, Cambodian literature depict women roles and how they could attain their perfect status in their familial or home setting instead of them as having any universal roles to save their country or the world. #owever, status as a perfect woman is not easily attainable (not many women can be a perfect woman) 1 very strict and complicated rules women need to fulfill before becoming a perfect woman. !hese rules reFuire women to be passive and inactive. 6t does not prepare women to go out of their home. <ith the age of globali>ation, more and more women are expected to leave their traditional role as a housewife to work for salary and support their family financially. <ith such changes and expectation, many Cambodian women leave their home unprepared to face the hostile outside world. !hey leave for different reasons and they face many issues. 1 Big disparity between the social norm and reality. #ow can a Cambodian woman preserve the rules to become a perfect woman while she also needs to adEust herself to fit with the moderni>ed lifestyle where they are also reFuired to work and support their familyN 1 any women found themselves in a situation where they need to perform all the household chore, taking care of everybody the family including their husband, children, siblings, in1law relatives and at the same time go out to work and earn money. 1 =or me, although 6 see the values of the code rooted in social norm for Cambodian women, 6 consider they are not very practical anymore in today society.
(New Testament Tools and Studies 38) Chris Keith-The Pericope Adulterae, The Gospel of John, and The Literacy of Jesus-Brill Academic Publishers (2009) PDF