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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
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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
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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.
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=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.
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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.
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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
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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)
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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.

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