Yesterday I was locking up my bike when a policeman barked at me. He was fifty metres away. He started walking towards me, and yelled again. No words, just sounds. Then he whistled. A high piercing tone designed to scare me off. He clapped his hands three times, loudly, and shouted again, a sound equivalent [...]
Category: Blog Post
Words and Women: Adrienne Rich
The connections between and among women are the most feared, the most problematic, and the most potentially transforming force on the planet. Adrienne Rich was an American poet, essayist and radical feminist. She was credited with bringing "the oppression of women and lesbians to the forefront of poetic discourse" (Flood). Responsibility to yourself means refusing to [...]
Pyone Thet Thet Kyaw on Leading the Ethical Fashion Trend in Burma (Interview: Part 1)
Pyone Thet Thet Kyaw is a Rakhine Burmese woman who works for the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) in Yangon, and runs her own dressmaking start-up in her spare time. As the founder and head designer at Virya Couture, she teaches vocational skills to underprivileged women, helping them overcome poverty.
Betelnut
Betel nut is Burma (Myanmar)'s most common addiction. Little parcels of tobacco and Areca nuts wrapped in lime-coated betel leaves are passed around and chewed. Coating leaves in lime, Yangon, Burma, Jan 2017 © ZhendeGender Betel is commonly chewed by cab drivers who use the drug concoction to stay awake for long hours on the [...]
How did gender, culture and politics balance out in 2016?
2016 was characterized by sexism across the board, from President-elect Trump and Duterte to the Olympics and the music industry. But the world has made some serious strides towards equality and liberation in 2016, with female heads of state taking power worldwide, and women standing strong together in the face of adversity.
Dating in China [part 5]
Date says more attractive with clothes on. Does an open relationship translate to open dates? Getting an I.O.U. for accepting a drink. Women tell true stories of their dating experiences in China. Part five in a five part series of interviews. All stories shared by the women who experienced them in their own words.
Words and Women: Louisa May Alcott
The emerging woman ... will be strong-minded, strong-hearted, strong-souled, and strong-bodied ... strength and beauty must go together. ― Louisa May Alcott, from her 1869 novel An Old-Fashioned Girl. Alcott is best-known for her novel Little Women, which was published in 1868. Some of Alcott's works were published under the pseudonym A. M. Barnard. If she were still alive, [...]
Faceless Buddha
Faceless statue of Buddha, Kayin State, Burma (Myanmar), August 2015 © ZhendeGender
Ladies are Prohibited
Women's access to religious sites, idols and alters is heavily restricted in many locations across Burma (Myanmar)
Princess of Peace
“Don’t tell me that all Chinese guys like skinny girls, that’s just not true!” Yuan Xiaodan’s experience tells otherwise.
Zhēn de Gender 