Women leading the revolution
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.
“We could fight back against the double standards that had been invented and use them against the military.”
Su used to be a social worker in Yangon. She is from Mandalay Region. She is of mixed ethnicity of Shan, Chinese and Pakistani origins. She was interviewed on January 5th, 2022.
"Before the military coup in Myanmar, I worked in a non-governmental organization in Yangon. I was stressed because of the Covid-19 pandemic in Myanmar at that time because most projects were on hold. When the time came to reopen the businesses, and we were slowly getting used to the "new normal", the military's terrible power-grabbing drew me back to a hopeless feeling. I remember first checking the news on the day of the coup at exactly 6:02 am. The DVB news announced that the military was seizing power, and my friends were also sharing the news on social media. Around 7 am, I noticed people started to panic and were buying things and moving around. At 8 am, there was an internet blackout. I worried for our country before the coup, but at that moment, I was scared we had fallen back into a very dark past.
After the coup, I relocated to my native town because staying in Yangon wasn’t safe: soldiers around my apartment in Yangon brought up fear of imminent arrest and there were other unpredictable risks. Still, I continued working with the same organization but keeping a low profile. But moving meant I couldn’t continue with my activism.
Fortunately, my family is safe, and we have regular communication, but I still can’t be open about my identity. Discussing my family and the current political unrest has brought back many difficult memories. During the 1988 uprising, my family got harmed and discriminated against by a group of people threatening them with swords just because they didn’t belong to the same ethnic and religious group. My father saw one of his friends shot right before his eyes. My family has gone through a lot and has lived a tough life. So the February coup has brought so much worry and really made them panic. They asked me to listen to their concerns, so I did.
All my plans have turned upside down: in February 2021, I had planned to pursue a master’s degree abroad, and I was improving my English skills for that while also working for women rights in Myanmar. But after the coup I decided not to go abroad and stay. Some of my friends abroad invited me to stay with them, but my decision was firm.
As a female activist, I am satisfied with my participation in the protests. I am also glad to see female activists like Ei Thinzar Maung playing leadership roles in the marches. Women were empowered during the demonstrations, although there was persistent and noticeable gender discrimination and gender bias: women were forced to stay at the back, away from the front line, for example. Nonetheless, I saw many women participating in the protests: women from the textile factory, low educated women from slums, the LGBT community, sex workers, and disabled women. They were all loving and defending our country and our rights with their whole hearts.
The most significant experience during the protests was on March 8th, 2021—International Women’s Day. It was a hugely powerful day and we used the female htamein (traditional skirt) to protest. It was a historic day. I felt that we were getting rid of the conservative norms of our society, as they used to see the lady's htameins as something of low dignity. We could fight back against the double standards that had been invented and use them against the military. It was ridiculous seeing the soldiers so mad when they noticed the htameins hanging along the road. Then they tried to remove the skirts with sticks and didn’t dare to walk under them. I really felt strongly discriminated against when women were forced to withdraw from the frontline during the protest. I have also kept records of mockeries against women and of bullying of women using cartoons and comic content on social media. Some media have no ethics when it comes to women’s rights and they make jokes about the feelings and behavior of women. It doesn't fit with democratic standards.
Some women’s stories and images have stayed in my mind; unbelievably, a lady from Kachin State said she had experienced three coups in her lifetime! This is my first time, and I empathize with her. I felt pretty uncomfortable seeing a religious sister from Kachin kneeling in front of soldiers on the road. During these past months, I have seen and met pretty powerful women socially and politically. It is meaningful to see such strong women in our environment, despite the fact that some people still consider women the second sex in our society. We seriously need to change society's views on women and the maltreatment of women. It has been tough for me trying to cope with the situation after the military coup. After seeing Mya Twe Twe Khaing's shot to the head in Nay Pyi Taw, I was shocked. But it really happened; it wasn't just a story anymore. My life has not been easy in the past few months, but some people have helped me hide in safe places. I think I am still managing to cope with the difficulties so far. Although the news I hear day after day is tragic, and I have lost my future, I try to take it one day at a time and try not to think about the long term.
I think the fighting in Myanmar will take a long time. Then, after sacrificing our lives and time, we will have to rebuild our country again. I hope, at that time, we will have equality among men, women, LGBTs, and different religions in a new federal democratic nation. I hope we will have a nation that considers women's identities and rights from elite to grassroots levels. I wish for more women to hold positions in decision-making processes."
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.