A movement against patriarchy
Editor’s note: These posts are part of a collaboration between Tea Circle and Insight Myanmar to publish Report #3 by Real Stories Not Tale’s (RSNT). To read RSNT’s Report #1, visit Tea Circle’s posts here and Insight Myanmar’s posts here. The full RSNT Report #3 is available here. For all posts by RSNT featured on our site, check out the full list.
“Women are showing the world that they can fight and achieve many things even though the situation is very difficult—even though they have been oppressed for so long.””
Bee is a social worker. She belongs to the Lisu community. She was interviewed on December 4th, 2021.
"I did discuss the possibility of a coup happening with my husband a week or so before February 1st, but none of us believed it would actually happen. So when he woke me up on that very day, at around 4am, and told me the news, I thought he was joking. After checking Facebook, I finally believed him. I felt hopeless and wanted to cry, but the tears just didn't come. I began to worry about my future plans—like continuing my studies abroad and working for our people inside Myanmar—but my husband said that I should stay calm and that we would find a way.
The coup's biggest impact on my life has been in terms of my personal safety. Before, I was thinking of finding a new job in either Yangon or Mandalay, but that’s not possible anymore. Instead, I have some of my things packed, so I am ready to leave quickly in case fighting breaks out somewhere nearby. An emergency response team has been set up in our area to react to unexpected situations as well. Luckily, I am still able to attend university online.
Another impact has been the rising living costs. Since we live in a conflict-affected area, the delivery of some items has been disrupted at times, so people—especially those internally displaced—don't have access to medicine and basic foods.
There haven't really been any protests here because the local authorities aren’t supportive. Some community-based organizations and youth have been active, but mostly on social media. This means I haven't been able to participate in protests, but I try to share some information about the situation online to friends and teachers abroad. Some people say that the coup is not our battle, that it is a problem between the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the Tatmadaw.
I appreciate how women have been participating in the movement, like in the htamein protest. This is a movement against patriarchy—not only in the military itself, but in society as a whole. Women are showing the world that they can fight and achieve many things even though the situation is very difficult—even though they have been oppressed for so long. There is more media attention on these topics as well and more political participation and activities on behalf of women.
For example, I have a childhood friend who is a teacher now and who never really talked about politics before. Since the coup, she started participating in and even organizing protests every day, despite the fact that many of her colleagues are connected to the military in one way or another. I was very surprised to see that. Then she got a warning letter one day and had to go into hiding.
There is definitely more gender equality now, especially among young people. I see a lot of young women in military training or active in different ways in the resistance movement. People are starting to realize that sometimes, women can do more than men. People often think of physical aspects when comparing men and women, and mention stuff like playing football, and assume that women just don't reach the same standard as men. But there are other skills we have to think of as well. I think the whole society has changed a little as well; for example, the first protest organized in Myitkyina was by a Buddhist monk and a heavily pregnant woman. It went viral, and I think things like this contribute to the gradual change we are seeing in society.
I’ve been having a difficult time emotionally; I feel like there is no hope and no future for me. The stream of horrible news, especially of women and children suffering has made me cry a lot, feel stressed, depressed, and angry. Finally, I became apathetic—only surviving from one day to another, focusing on day-to-day activities. Then I joined counselling training on trauma and learned how to differentiate between things that are in and out of my control. That helped a lot, as did talking to my husband and my teachers, cooking, travelling, praying and exercising.
I have a lot of hope for our country and our women. They have already suffered a lot and still occupy almost no senior positions. Since the coup, they have shown that they’re capable, so I hope that more will get into positions of power. The same goes for youth: I hope they will participate more in politics. I also hope that ethnic minorities and the majority ethnic group will form a stronger connection, build more understanding and achieve more unity."
Real Stories Not Tales (RSNT) is a dedicated team in and out of Myanmar that aims to bring awareness to the reality of young people’s lives since the Myanmar military staged a coup on February 1st, 2021. Stories are collected through interviews with each protagonist by the team, either in Burmese or in English. Each character is drawn by a professional illustrator bringing a visual context to the story. RSNT is an anonymous name that is used by the group to guarantee security to all parties involved in the collection of the stories.