Female Roles in Pre-Colonial Southeast Asia

'Even the gradual strengthening of the influence oflslam, Christianity, Buddhism and Confucianism in their respective spheres over the last four centuries has by no means eliminated the common pattern of relatively high female autonomy and economic importance in Southeast Asia,' notes the author, adding: 'It could not be said that women were equal to men, since there were very few areas in which they competed directly. Women had different functions from men, but these included transplanting and harvesting rice, weaving, and marketing. Their reproductive role gave them magical and ritual powers which it was difficult for men to match. These factors may explain why the value of daughters was never questioned in Southeast Asia as it was in China, India, and the Middle East.'

As for women in trade activities, the author quotes several historic sources for Cambodia, Siam, Burma, Vietnam or Indonesia:

• 'In Cambodia it is the women who take charge of trade' (Chou Ta Kuan [Zhou Daguan], 1297).
• 'It is their [Siamese] custom that all affairs are managed by their wives ... all trading transactions great and small' (Ma Huan, 1433).
• 'The women ofSiam are the only merchants in buying goods, and some of them trade very considerably (Hamilton, 1727).
• 'Money-changing is a great profession here [Tongking). It is managed by women, who are very dextrous and ripe in this employment' (Dampier, 1699).
• 'In Cochin-China every man is a soldier. The commercial operations are performed by women' (White, 1824)
• 'Women in the Birman country ... manage the more important mercantile concerns of their husbands' (Symes, 1827).
• 'It is the women [of the Moluccas] who negotiate, do business, buy and sell' (Galvao, 1544).

Also in the fields of diplomacy, war and governance, this elevated status of women has been contested by various invaders and yet persisted through the centuries.