Balinese Women in a Changing Society

Abstract

Balinese women face the dilemma of maintaining their vital role amid a rapidly changing society. In Bali, the primary female role is one of fostering balance and harmony within families. The Balinese people view women not from the vantage of career success but rather from the vantage of whether they can produce good quality children, and can work as part of a family team. Balinese men and women work together as partners. Indeed, men are not enemies; the genders help and need each other. Values underlying emancipation for women clash with traditional values, leading to frequent misunderstandings. Emancipation advocates neglect those elements necessary for complementing Balinese values. Applying educational and preventative methods, as well as therapeutic innovations to such problems, is helpful at all levels of society.

Random Number Generation in Bilingual Balinese and German Students: Preliminary Findings from an Exploratory Cross-Cultural Study

“…In general, the sex difference may derive from biological characteristics (Brugger, Loetscher, Graves, & Knoch, 2007), different lifestyles, or daily activities. In this context, it is interesting to note that in Balinese society women and men are regarded as equal, but different, having the same abilities in developing themselves and successfully adapting to modern life (Suryani, 2004). Nonetheless, separate norms for men and women may be a prudent course of action in further studies of cross-cultural neuropsychology.…”

Art as a cultural tool: deconstructing exotified notions of Balinese society during an American study abroad programme

“…The uniqueness of the Bali Hindu religion and cultural landscape has beckoned the minds of researchers and travellers for decades. In addition to the natural, material world seen by humans (sekala), the Balinese believe that the self also resides within a supernatural, unseen world populated with spirits, gods, and demons (niskala) (Codron 1999;Samadhi 2001;Shapiro 1990;Suryani 2004). Though the Balinese believe in gods and goddesses (dewi and dewa), these are recognised as manifestations of one Supreme God (Sang Hyang Widi Wasa).…”

“…Maintaining balance and harmony (Tri Hita Karana) between these worlds is critical, not only to achieve spiritual liberation (Moksha), but also good physical and mental health (Shapiro 1990;Suryani 2004). Music, dance, sculpture, and prayer offerings -no matter how meagre or elaborate -are ways that spirits, gods, goddesses, and demons express themselves and can be communicated with, making art and aesthetics a central part of Balinese life (Davies 2007).…”

“…The purposeful integration of arts and aesthetics into Balinese life through daily religious offerings (Codron 1999;Davies 2007), regular ritual ceremonies (Codron 1999;Davies 2007;Suryani 2004), dance and masked theatre performances (Davies 2007;Turner 2011), and even the spatial orientation and place-making within towns, villages, and family compounds (Samadhi, 2001) differs from many college students' lives in the United States. For many, arts and aesthetics are conceived as relegated to special occasions such as weddings, places such as museums or galleries, and often viewed as elite or inaccessible.…”

“…All 16 students who completed the assignment engaged with the Balinese concept of balance and harmony (Tri Hita Karana). Maintaining balance and harmony with humans, nature, and the gods is believed to be one of the keys to well-being and prosperity (Suryani 2004). However, there were contrasts between cohorts when it came to their narrating about how this philosophy of living is put into practice.…”