A PERFECT PARTNERSHIP

Evening Star, Issue 21099, 11 May 1932, Page 9

A PERFECT PARTNERSHIP

MARRIAGE IN BURMA EQUALITY OF SEXES In no country in the world do man and wife dive in such equality as in Burma. When I made this remark m a speech at the Burma Round-table Meeting the other day I had no idea it would so surprise people (writes Daw Mifa Sein, woman delegate to the Burma Round-table Conference, in the * Daily Herald ’). Yet it is the truth. Marriage in our country is a perfect partnership, because, like all perfect partnerships, it is founded upon absolute equality. . In the first place, marriage is a civil contract, an arrangement entered into on the grounds of common consent. By this I mean to say that because a man and woman discover that they love one another, or because they believe that they are suited to one another, they agree to live together—to set up a new household. , , ' , . , There is a good deal of importance attaching to the phrase of “ setting up a household.” In old Burma a tax vyas levied upon every household as beui" one particular unit. So the start of another home meant the _ commencement of a new unit of taxation, and the affair had a State importance as well as a personal one. . , . . . In Burma everything is shared m this marriage partnership. There are joint earnings and perhaps a joint inheritance. I mean to say that if a Burman receives an inheritance after marriage ha shares it with his wife, or vice versa, as the case may be. A legacy or property, however, held before marriage remains the solo property of the individual. Business transactions entered into_ by married people are don© in their joint names. It a house is purchased or a mortgage arranged, husband and wife must both sign the agreement. These conditions strengthen the ties of home life and the woman’s.place in the home as "wife and mother. At times of agricultural crisis wives often supplement the family income by entoring into some kind of trading. Perhaps they have a little shop, or it may be they ‘only sell among their friends. But, whenever necessary the wife may he depended upon to help the family purse, for she feels that when the occasion arises it is just as fair and important for her to earn money as lor her husband. . , , , This equality in marriage leads to better understanding in every _• There are no feelings of sex superiority or jealousy. Everything shared that is the whole idea —business, troubles, joys, and happiness. Another factor that helps to promote matrimonial happiness is that a Burman Buddhist is prevented by his religion from making a will. He cannot make his own arrangements to operate after death. . For example, should a wire who lias property of her own die before her husband he inherits as a matter of course, and the same law prevails should the husband be the one to die jyest. After, the death of parents the

children automatically inherit, and other relatives, and so on. ' What happens if a husband and wife do quarrel? Well, they can obtain a divorce in the same way as they get married—by mutual consent. If it is definitely clear that the divorce is the fault of one of the contracting parties, then that one must suffer by receiving less property when the partnership is dissolved. But I do not think that there is any inequality in this, because the same would be the case in a business partnership, would it not? Divorce is not common among our people. There are so many contented married couples for the reasons I have explained. Also, although divorce is so easy, it is really against public opinion. The Burmese woman has no inferiority complex because there is no sex seclusion. The absolute equality with man that she enjoys gives her a perfect knowledge of life and an ability to go unhampered into the world and earn her living if the case demands it. Yet this does not make her less homeloving. The home is on a bigger scale than in England. The Burmese live in much larger families. Cousins, aunts, and other relatives may form part of a household. This gives the mother time for outside work, because' her home duties are shared. Even outside the partnership of marriage there is complete equality. No difference of treatment is meted out to girls and boys. On feast days all go to the pagoda. Women and girls share in the festival just as much as the men. Burmese marriage is based on the same idea as that which governs us from birth. We women are all individuals having our own special personality. What wo earn, what we own is ours. "We are responsible for our own actions, and therefore when married wo are not just .someone’s husband or someone’s wife. We are ourselves. Wo do not wear wedding rings, so you cannot tell at a glance in Burma whether a woman is married any more than in England you can tell the same about a man. Burmese women would consider that if wo had to wear a wedding ring it would destroy that ideal of perfect equality upon which our happy partnerships arc based.