THREE GENERATIONS OF SINGAPOREAN MALAY WOMEN

Abstract

Women live in a social world-one that is constructed out of commonly-shared and -held notions of things, including meanings of being a woman. Also, talk about women usually places them in the context of marriage. The present study is an exploratory one which looks at Singaporean Malay women across three generations. One finds such concepts as 'anak dara' and 'jodoh' in the everyday life of these women. They indicate the importance and centrality of marriage in the Malay construction of a woman. Marriage itself follows a particular ideal path. It is hoped that the present study will increase our understanding of how women are constrained by societal values and structure, yet may be the engineers of their own fate.