It interests me the fallacies that prevail and misunderstanding by people who have never traveled or lived in Asia regarding the character of the women in the region.

The stereotype of a submissive cowed underclass could not be more wrong.

It is an overwhelmingly matriarchal society where women hold all the power, and direct many if not most of the longer term planning that affects the family. This prevails among all Malay ppl from here to zamboanga to kupang.

If they have a shiftless husband- it is often the woman who pulls the plug.

I wonder where these misconceptions about malay women come from overseas?

Is it some kind of compensation mechanism by the women who lost out to an asian girl or is it a yearning wish fulfillment thing by clueless bachelors?

It is sure as hell far from correct.

most of the views of asia in the west are 30 years or more behind reality.

the stereotype is correct if the woman follows the Chbab Srey,
but i do also agree with your observation it is quite on point from what ive seen

chbab srey the girls i know have never heard of it.
well, they laugh when i ask so maybe they don't know what i am talking about- or- maybe they do!

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While I agree that Khmer women are hardly submissive or for that matter subservient, I disagree that they hold power any where but in household affairs. The Chbab Srey was basically the rule book for good Khmer females until this slightly more enlightened generation ( and still is in the provinces). The old saying "Men are like diamonds and women like cotton" is still regularly used in this day and age. How many ruling Queens has Cambodia ever had ( I believe 2)? How many female Okneahs are there today (None)? How many female politicians(this is an interesting read - http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/w ... w-cambodia) Why is it the role of the youngest daughter to support the family, including all the bludging older brothers?
No, this society is ruled by the men.

frank lee bent wrote:chbab srey the girls i know have never heard of it.
well, they laugh when i ask so maybe they don't know what i am talking about- or- maybe they do!

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haha im sure they do, im sure i mentioned it to them when i was round yours the other day, as i like hearing different opinions on it, near enough every girl ive spoken to knows about it, at first a lot are unsure but after repeating it a few times theyre like aahhhhhhhh chbab sreyyyy, yes i know... whilst most believe in it, in the traditional sense, but they see it as an old thing now and not really practicable in modern culture, they often talk about their mums do chbab srey but they dont, i guess with it being taken out of schools curriculum in 2007 its changed peoples perspectives on it

There is a simple rule for how it works. The laws of biology always favour that alternative that maximizes the reproduction rate of the species. That is also necessarily the long-term trend in human behaviour. It is also invariably how religious or cultural rules tend to work. Every type of behaviour that maximizes the rate of reproduction is considered "good". Every type of behaviour that reduces the rate of reproduction is considered "bad". Everything else is just "permissible".

So, indeed, it is a biological requirement that you will find in every historically-evolved religion or culture, that when the man wants sexual intercourse, the woman must be submissive and yield (unless there is a very good reason not to). But then again, if a type of behaviour has no possible effect on the reproduction rate, there will normally not be an expectation that the woman would be submissive concerning that behaviour.

eriksank wrote:Every type of behaviour that maximizes the rate of reproduction is considered "good".

How does waiting until one is married to reproduce maximise the rate of reproduction? It doesn't.

Complete sexual waywardness produces far more offspring, witness the 60s and 70s and baby boomers.

Your statement needs to be qualified with 'within socially-accepted parameters'.

One could almost say marriage reduces the rate of offspring, yet it is considered 'good'.

vladimir wrote:How does waiting until one is married to reproduce maximise the rate of reproduction? It doesn't.

Traditional culture and religion encourage marriage as early as possible. So, if in that context you ask "marry now" or "marry later", they will choose "marry now΅. In a traditional setting, the girls will marry, pretty much as soon as they have their periods. Furthermore, in the marriage system there is always a male (their husband) making sure the female gets pregnant and remains pregnant. In terms of reproduction, the number of males does not matter. It is the number of females that does. In case of shortage of males, multiple females will be assigned to one male. Therefore, the age of marriage for males does not matter. By the way, single mothers do not seem to desire or even to get many children.

Jamie_Lambo wrote: i guess with it being taken out of schools curriculum in 2007 its changed peoples perspectives on it

Apparently it wasn't entirely removed from the curriculum:

In 2007, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs requested that the government pull the “Chbab Srey”, or “Rules for Girls,” from the school curriculum. The request resulted in the elimination of some of the rules, but a shorter version of them is still being taught to Khmer literature students in grades 7 to 9.

https://www.cambodiadaily.com/opinion/t ... ols-85230/