Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-07
\ PARADISE FOR WOMEN
In Burmah They Are Practically the Superior
of the Men.
Take the More Active Part In BUSH
ness-Are Hemmed In by Few
Restrictions.
From the Ladies' Realm.

eastern women. Burmah is woman S
paradise. There is no necessity to have
Women's Rights Associations. A woman is
the equal of man. There are no harems,
and no restrictions to love-making. except
Irritation and kissing, which are indecorous.
All the business of Burmah is done by the
women. while the men stay at home to
smoke and mind the babies. Every woman
has a shop of some sort, and when her
husband is not kind she gets divorce. She
Is probably better off than she was before.
Indeed, the Burmese woman has far the
best of it, Yet when she goes to the pago-
da 1t is always her wish that in her next
existence she will be n man. The Burmese
woman is petite, and, though at first her
features seem strange and are not attract
I've, you soon get used to them. Every girl
is an artist and she dresses artistically and
in bright sunshiny colors. She wears a
square, loose-fittng, overlapping white
jacket, short in sleeves. Her frock is a
piece of red or yellow green silk tied
tightly, so that she walks with short, mine
ing steps The mold of the figure is dis
tlnctly shown, but, as every girl walks with
curious twist of the heel, there is nothing
imm Oldest.
In Burmah, as in other lands, the pride
OF e. girl is her hair, and if IL reaches to
the ground she has reason to be conceited.
she never wears bonnet, but there is al
ways rose or some other flower stuck in
the folds OF her treSSes. She is fond of
Jewelry. necklaces, bracelets and rings, but
she Is never guilty of showiness. AS in
the old days, our grandmothers and great
grandmotherS used to turn piece of silver
over in the palm of a gypsy to hear about
some tall. fair man who would soon return
from long voyage and make them happy
forever and ever, SO the Burmese girl con-
suits witches about her future husband,
and wears charms which she believes will
attract certain youth.
Every Burmese boy is tattooed about the
ilmos He knows that no nice girl will
look at him till he has a mass of tattoo
designs, for, among other things these sig
nl1y that he must have undergone much
PAIN and is therefore a brave man. Some
tunes girl will have a tattoo mark placed
between her eyes This is not often, but
only when she is afraid she may lose the
directions of her beloved. Besides, with
this tattoo mark. every girl feels that she
cannot possibly die an old maid But if
she mas not the mark, and there is a pros
pect or her being ION the shelf" she will
cut away the hair above her ears and this
Is public sign that she would be infinitely
Obliged If somebody would marry her.
AS soon as she can toddie she starts
smoking. She smokes all through life, and
with her last breath will probably Duff
smoke. Burmese cheroot is very mild
In flavor, but 1t makes amends in size. 1t is
anything from six inches to a foot in
length, and SO thick that winsome maid
u. "A
cheroot is seldom out of a Burmese girls
mouth, and she puffs with the unceasing
regularity of an English girl munching
chocolates. l have seen a little Burmese
boy slide up to little girl and look sheep
ishly at her TIL she offers him puff at
her cheroot, just as a London boy will do
to his sister who owns an apple. For sew
eral people to smoke from the same che
root is quite the usual thing, and half
dozen girls will sit in circle chattering
and passing the torpedo-szed cigar around.
When first l went to Burmah / naturally
threw away my cheroot when had enough.
But afterward always presented it with
bow to some non-smoking Burman for in
Burmah to give some one else your half
smoked cigar is as great an honor as in
Persia for your host to pick a tt-bit of
stewy meat from his dish and stick it into
your mouth with his fingers.
There is much juvenile sweethearting
among the youngsters of Burmah. But a
girl must give up such nonsense when she
reaches twelve thirteen years of age,
for then it is time for her to be serious
and give her thoughts to possibly being
soon married The transition stage in Eng
land from girl to young lady is the adop-
ton of long skirts and the doing up of
the hair. In Burmah it is when the ears
are pierced. The ceremony is marked by
a great feast to all her girl friends. The
day and the hour are fixed by a sooth-
sayer, and then. in the midst of the jubila-
ton. the girl is seized and the needles run
through the lobe of the ear, and the
more she screams the louder all her friends
chatter, and the native musicians outside
get hot in banging doubiy hard at their in
struments. A piece of gold wire is usually
passed through the ear, but later on thick
material is used until there is quite a
large hole, maybe half inch in dame
ter: and in this the girl-or young lady. as
she is now-wears a tube, either of gold
studded with precious stones, or amber, or,
If she is very poor, colored glass. After
the ear-boring a Burmese girl begins to
put on airs.
Love making in Mandalay is very much
the same it is in Bayswater. young
man and a young woman. by strange CO.
incidence, are always meeting at friends
houses or they happen to meet at pagoda
feasts or at pwes, or native performances,
and people begin to remark the coinci-
denee and say things; and when the maiden
Is Intercepted on the point she probably
bushes. When 1t is understood the couple
are to be married the young man does love
making in the evening; but he never sees
his sweetheart alone. She has always three
four girl friends with her. and so all
the nice things he wants to say must be
id in their presence