Pagoda Stairs

A cartoon from the Burmese artist JMP that needs no translation of words, however the context may need some explanation. In Buddhist pagodas, women are explicitly prohibited from certain sections. There is no mistaking this denial of entry, as they are demarcated by signs in which a large X is drawn across the figure of a woman, as seen in the lower right of this image. The simple representation, therefore, is to show a Burmese woman (complete with an eingyi, longyi, a pilgrim's tawbat, and a flower in her hair) proceeding with her act of defiance by proceeding beyond this sign. Also of note is the perhaps over-exaggerated nature of the pagoda stairways being decrepit, which may be a nod to how poorly some have been maintained.

In this time of revolution, all concepts and conventions are being questioned, from LGBT inclusion to ethnic rights to environmentalism. Similarly, gender equality in Myanmar society, along with nun empowerment in the Sangha, is also a topic that has been gaining attention among the democratic forces. Therefore, this image by JMP, belied by its simplicity, is a very powerful expression which supports the intersection between feminism in society and equality in the monastic order, and indeed is promoting both. By sketching this figure of a woman gracefully approaching the upper tiers of the pagoda structure, she is challenging not only the military regime, but also those traditional patriarchal forces that would have her occupying a lower level of society as well as religion.