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Bewitching Women, Pious Men: Gender and Body Politics in Southeast Asia

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This is a mixture of Southeast Asian studies and gender studies. Though most of the articles are by women, some are by men. Though most articles are by people with European last names, there are some contributors with Asian names. Like many gender studies anthologies, there is more information on femininity than masculinity. However, I blame no one since men's studies is such a recently emerging field.

This book focuses more upon Southeastern Asian island nations than other places. There are no articles on Vietnam or Myanmar in this book. Still, given that Indonesia is approximately the fifth most populated country in the world, the work here is novel. I mean, how often do you hear about Indonesia and Malaysia in American books?

Unfortunately, this book says little about feminism in the region. Further, each chapter begins with a summary that tells you everything you need to know. Really, students could get away with reading the summaries and not having to read the rest of the text.

My main reason for being proud to own this book is because of the cover painting by Arunothai Somsakul. I definitely have to find more of her work; it's pure beauty. I missed whether the editors explain the title. But I find it misleading in two ways. First, it comes off as somewhat sexist that men are labeled "pious" while women are labeled "bewitching." Too, this book is not about religion in Southeast Asia. It focuses on fertility, employment, and family dynamics, not spirituality.

It's funny to me how books become timely. There were no fears about tsunamis when this anthology was collected in 1995. However, this book covers the nations that were worst effected by the recent disaster. Anthropological and other academic studies of the area may have some useful impact on the recovery efforts taking place as I write this review.