ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the militarisation of Burma’s government in the two periods 1962–88 and 1988-present writing 1999 meant that the Burmese state became more masculine. In the middle of the twentieth century Burma had been a country rich in natural resources and recognised as the rice bowl of Asia because of its productive agricultural sector. Much of the high social status and considerable economic autonomy held by women In Burma were due to customary practice rather than strictly legal prescription. The anthropologist Melford Spiro has called these extra-structural or Informal rights. Within Burmese society monks are granted the most prestigious social status. In 1886 Burma lost her Independence and became an adjunct of British India. The colonial government provided girls with the chance for formal government or missionary sponsored education. Burma’s fragile parliamentary democracy came to an end with a military coup, led by General Ne Win, in March 1962.
