Orang Asli women once had important responsibilities and functions that are not labeled male-only. The discrimination spread throughout Orang Asli society during the last few centuries as Orang Asli came into contact with male-dominated cultures and internalized these alien norms for gender roles. It is the stealthy, relentless erosion of Orang Asli life in general, and the life of Orang Asli women in particular, that provide a true account of the problems of Orang Asli life today. This book provides the context in which the ordinary problems of Orang Asli women can be seen to be, in reality, severe. These problems are not only meaningful to them. When we think carefully about this issue, we may safely conclude that the problems of Orang Asli women, while extreme, highlight problems that can beset other women in Malaysia, and indeed elsewhere. These problems typically arise from a failure to achieve needed reforms in old institutions. The views of a variety of writers on Orang Asli women are presented in this book. From these writings and also from what Orang Asli women themselves have said, we can explore key features of Orang Asli womens lives in the past, the present, and what this means for the future.
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