Lut Sein Win - The First Female Pioneers

1. The emergence of high-quality women's magazines

In early March, two Japanese high school girls arrived with a letter and some gifts. When I read the letter, it was written by a Japanese woman who had been my student 15 years ago.

The Japanese girl who brought the letter and gifts was the daughter of a former Japanese student. After graduating from high school, the two friends set out to travel around Southeast Asia. They were both only 17 years old. The former student's daughter was surprised and delighted.

I know this child very well. Her name is Kumiko. Her father is an engineer for a large Japanese company in Yangon. Their company is working on a big project. His wife comes to take English classes to use her free time. She has a degree in English from Japan. But, as is typical for Japanese people, she does not speak English. They have lived in Yangon for 3 years. For all 3 years, a Japanese housewife has been taking classes. She is very happy because of the friendliness and friendliness of the Burmese students. She loves children and sometimes she brings her 2-year-old daughter to school because she says, "Come and bring her." She is a cute little girl who is 2 years old and runs around like a "tuk tuk tuk". Her name is Kumiko. That is why she is called Connie. She is also called "Shwe Mi" in Burmese.

"Shwe Mi" who was 2 years old at that time is now an adult. She is slim and beautiful like her father. She has big, round eyes like her mother, which makes her even cuter.

Shwe Mi and her friend have been traveling for over a month. They have already visited Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. After two weeks in Myanmar, they will continue to Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. I am so happy to see them. How fun it must be for two friends to travel freely. Looking at the two Japanese school children, I thought of a young accountant whose mother accompanies her on a 10-day trip from Yangon to Mandalay for company work. The accountant has graduated and is LCCI Level 3. She is 28 years old. But wherever she goes, her mother accompanies her.

Two Japanese schoolgirls are traveling abroad without the help of their parents. They earn their own money. They have both been working part-time jobs since they were 14 years old. They have worked in restaurants. They have worked at gas stations. They have worked in factories. They have also worked as a sweeper and cleaner in large company offices. They have worked for 3 years.

They saved up money while working and then set off on this journey. Their spirit is inspiring and a good example to follow. Are you 14 years old and have full self-confidence?

They want us Burmese girls to imitate this kind of mentality, to be discouraged.

Today is the era where girls work and earn money on an equal footing with boys. Girls also work as engineers who handle machines. Girls also have to jump off buses at traffic lights. Girls can even be seen riding on the roof of train cars on the Thar Si-Shwe Nyaung train.

Today, girls no longer stay at home knitting wool sweaters, crocheting, embroidering pillowcases, and baking bread without any fuss. They are out and about like boys. They get an education, they earn money.

This is not possible. Myanmar's population is even more women. Without this workforce, which is more than 50 percent, the country cannot grow. We need a lot of women's labor. It is important for women to be physically, mentally, and emotionally strong.

What can contribute to fulfilling these three strengths are women's journals and magazines. There have always been women's journals and magazines in Myanmar. There are still women's journals and magazines today.

When I looked at the existing women's magazines with a skeptical eye...

(1) How to cook rice

(2) How to crochet a flower

(3) How to improve your body

(4) How to take care of a child

(5) How to treat with a short-tailed macaque

We see that they still focus on such things. As the patriarchal ideologues say, “A woman’s rightful place is in the kitchen,” women’s magazines themselves are seen to be only providing education to women on kitchen issues.

As the 20th century draws to a close, we can no longer continue to mold girls in the same way we did in the 18th century. Girls from other countries have even climbed to the moon.

Women's magazines should find and present things that young girls can emulate. If they only feature actresses and models, young girls will only emulate actresses and models. You can't build a country with models. You can only build a country with doctors, engineers, accountants, managers, teachers, and professors.

Nowadays, I see even 8th and 9th grade children modeling and filming commercials, so I am concerned about the education of these children. These children want to become great doctors, great engineers, great professors, and great company directors one day. I am worried that they will imitate and take education lightly.

Women's magazines help young girls avoid making mistakes. They provide a lot of positive examples and encouragement, and help guide girls on the right path.

Women's magazines themselves must dispel the myth that "a woman's rightful place is in the kitchen." In order to dispel this myth, women's magazines need to be upgraded, I urge you.

20-3-1999