“A man is gold, a woman is cloth” goes a Khmer proverb. While Vartey, who’s married to a Swiss expat, sees more social progress for women in cities like Phnom Penh, she says rural Cambodia retains many of the strictures of a traditional patriarchy. In 2015, 14 percent of women fell victim to financial control by their partner and 11 percent experienced physical or sexual violence, the World Health Organization reports. Even more alarming, a 2013 U.N. survey revealed that 1 in 5 Cambodian men admit to having raped a woman. “Women can’t work outside,” Vartey says about the countryside. “You can only work for your husband at home.” And men are free to do whatever they want, she adds. “If they want, they can go out and fuck another girl. Women can’t. If they do? People talk shit.”

Vartey is “challenging the current ideas of what a female singer writes about,” says Vanntin Hoeurn, lead singer of the Cambodian metal band Sliten6ix. It’s not the music necessarily; it’s the message, he explains. In another of her songs, “Yerng Ker Chea Sattrey (We Are Aware),” she belts out: “We are the women that have come to build a masterpiece for Cambodia.” Her message? Cambodia is ripe for a #MeToo debate, and the masterpiece will be a better Cambodia built by women.

Full article :http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/cambodi ... song/82985

Playing live on stage: Vartey Ganiva at the Diamond Moon Festival in Phnom Penh last November (2017).

July 5, 2019
Punk princess no more

When she first took the stage with a song called Evil Husband in 2016, Vartey Ganiva was immediately labelled Cambodia’s first Queen of Punk due to her ‘unusual’ taste in music. Three years into her career, the 26-year-old said she has found a new sound that fits her best. Anith Adilah Othman speaks to Yab Moung Records’ co-founder to inquire further on her newly-revamped repertoire.

Interview with Vartey Ganiva: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/621342/pun ... s-no-more/

Live gig coming up soon in Phnom Penh.
GT2: Could you tell us more about this upcoming show?
VG: So this July 27, my band and I will be sharing a stage with Samrocker Band at LF Social Club. I am looking forward to this gig because the other band also has a female lead singer. They are all Khmers too. Expect the unexpected.

More power to her. With a name that looks like Farty Vagina, I wish her all the best.