lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

314PEOPLE OF MYANMAR (BURMA) WOMEN IN MYANMARJust as boys between the ages of five and 20 usually undergo a prepubertyinitiation as temporary novice monks, girls around the sameage participate in an initiatory ear-piercing ceremony (often called ‘earboring’in Burmese English). Some also become temporary nuns at thisage, but nuns are not as venerated in Myanmar as monks.Saw Myat Yin, the insightful author of Culture Shock! Burma, expressesa viewpoint common among Myanmar women, who see their role asequal but ‘supportive and complementary…rather than in competition’,and that ‘if they accept a role a step behind their menfolk, they do sofreely and willingly.’