This book presents a comprehensive overview of the role of women in Burmese society from independence in 1948 to the present. It covers women in politics, women writers, working women, marginalised women such as prostitutes, and women'¬"s role in the 1940s as freedom fighters and since 1988 as campaigners for political reform. It shows how, although Burmese women project to the outside world an image of being strong, as exemplified by Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition, women do not in fact enjoy gender equality.