Women in Asia

Women in Asia

I recalled watching for the first time the series of Eve Ensler’s celebrated theatre production known as The Vagina Monologues several years ago. Apart from being thoroughly entertained by the actresses’ witty antics, I was especially taken by the segment on the memoirs of a soft-spoken woman, forced into sexual slavery during the Japanese occupation. She spoke about the horrors, experiences so tormenting that she has yet to overcome at an elderly age; she is one of the few women to have survived the ordeal till this day. [/dropcap]

Like many others in Asia during her time, she was what we now call a ‘Comfort Woman’ – a term that I personally find highly inappropriate. Her story and appeal, however short, brought tears of pity...

Read more: Japan, your silence is deafening

Women in Asia

Read more: Rachel's Performance

Women in Asia

In Taiwan, presently, the potential candidates for the next presidential election (March 2008) seem to be uniquely or mostly men. There is still time for opening the field. Taiwan, it seems to me, should elect a woman for president.

The main reason is one of international strategy. The period that will follow the presidential elections might be one of strong tensions across the Strait. Let us also remember that the year 2009 will mark the 60th anniversary of the Chinese regime: for many analysts, it means that around this time Beijing might want to register decisive progress in “solving the Taiwanese problem” as it says. In such context, the attention and sympathy of the international community will be important factors. Taiwan will...

Read more: A Woman for President !

Women in Asia

After releasing the trailer of her last film, Pinti shares with us her experiences when showing her movie in theaters and art festivals in France and in Korea.

Read more: Pinti Zheng discusses her movie 'Deflower'

Women in Asia

Once, in a Chinese class, our teacher asked us who were our female models. Among the answers, there were for example Lady Di or Yin Qi (a Taiwanese successful business woman; she’s the one in charge of the new High Speed Train in Taiwan). As for myself, I don’t know why, but the first name that came to my mind was Blanche of Castille (the mother of Louis IX, king of France during the 13th century)!

Don’t worry, it also sounded strange to everyone in the classroom, even to me. Besides the fact that I do not really identify myself with a French queen from the Middle Ages, nor do probably the others with their models, our answers can be taken as indications of the way we think. It’s not a coincidence that we mentioned figures of...

Read more: Looking for a model...

Women in Asia

Read more: The Women of Ciji

Women in Asia

This section of Renlai is consecrated to women and the way they try to identify new models for thinking about their gender identity and their role in family and society. But… what about men? Do they not suffer from a similar identity crisis? In some respect, one can even think that the crisis they meet with is even more severe. Old masculine roles are now deprived of cultural legitimacy, even when they survive in practice. Cow-boys are definitely not a dominant role model any more; successful businessmen do not convey a feeling of strong personal fulfillment; “metrosexual” males, mostly preoccupied with their well-being and appearance, are not appealing to everybody…

Problems might be even more pressing for young and middle-age...

Read more: What about Men?...

Women in Asia

Is it easier to be a woman today than was the case before? In Taiwan, in urban China as in many countries, the answer is in many respects affirmative. The principle of equality between genders has gained ground, a new social culture has been in the making for quite a long time, tolerance towards women’s assertiveness, educational opportunities as well as the range of job openings have grown markedly. Obviously, this is not to say that everything is perfect! Women are still paid less on average than men for the same job; domestic tasks are shared unequally; a number of subtle social discriminations are still to be observed day after day. And women’s destiny varies a lot according to social classes and educational background. Besides...

Read more: New Models for Asian Women?

Women in Asia

In 1999, Ibau started studying theatre performance. She practiced drumming, martial arts and meditation at Laoquan Mountain’s U-Theater in Muzha.

Read more: Playing the drums of life

Women in Asia

14 years ago, Bethany Peng married a man from Guangfu Township, and thus became a daughter-in-law of the Amis people. This was the moment she fell in love with the honesty and innocence of the community's children and teenagers and took it upon herself to gradually understand their needs.10 years ago, as a volunteer storyteller, she visited local schools every week recounting tales to the schoolchildren. From this, she eventually establish an association for training people in storytelling - the Wood Pecker Life Association.

In seven years, the association has transformed from having one desk, one old computer and one volunteer, to an association that has an office, a reception and a second-hand charity shop. Having a dream to fulfill...

Read more: Lady Flower of the mountain

Women in Asia

First Encounter

I first met Huang Min-Chi at a performance art festival held at a village near the old capital of Jogja (Yogyakarta), in Indonesia, in 2007. The theme of the festival was "Spiritual Renewal" as a special consideration to the setting, which was a village that had been badly hit by an earthquake a year earlier, and was still recovering from the structural damages, and the personal ones, as life had been lost. Artists were naturally suggested to make work relevant to the process of healing. To give a little context to this, I should say that typically, performance artists go to international festivals for reasons of both exposure and travel. We zip into a country, do a work that is often not directed at the environment we are...

Read more: The Art of Huang Min-Chi

Women in Asia

Taipei. From Thailand. Executive Secretary of the “TransAsia Sisters Association, Taiwan (TASAT)”, engaged in educational activities concerning Thai language and culture and other cultures, so everyone can share the life experiences of immigrant spouses and fight for their rights and interests.

Vivacious, extroverted Eing found the language very difficult to learn when she first came to Taiwan, making her life here very painful. With the understanding of her husband, she returned to Thailand for several months to think over whether she should return to Taiwan and continue to fight for solving the difficulties of immigrant women.

Then Eing returned to Taiwan, determined to learn well Chinese and immerse herself in Taiwan life. At a...

Read more: Yadrung Panaput (Eing): A Better Future for Immigrant Women