NIVEDINI JOURNAL OF GENDER STUDIES ISSN 2478-1002 | Volume 20 | December 2014/2015 Women’s Education and Research Centre Sri Lanka Scope and Vision of Nivedini-the Journal of Gender Studies Nivedini is the only English Journal to focus on Women Studies in Sri Lanka. Its feminist perspective aims to debate and discuss new ideas both in theory and practice. In addition to serving as a resource for academics, it also establishes guidelines for policy makers. Nivedini embraces a multidisciplinary approach, while retaining an intellectual rigor and factual accuracy in a simple style. It expects the contributors to define and explain technical terms and acronyms properly. Nivedini envisages issues on gender related subjects such as media, labour, culture and sexuality from a post disciplinary perspective. The journal also contains sections that encourage debate, as well as reviews of conferences, journals, books and films. The journal welcomes submissions in all disciplines and is especially interested in paper/articles written from an interdisciplinary approach to gender issues which focuses on new directions, ideas and modes of inquiry to reinvigorate studies for a new generation of researchers and readers. Topics covered include studies of gender related to: • Sexuality with its various conceptions of differences • Production and reception of meaning and knowledge. • Cultural institutions, practices, policies and powers. • Technology, change, development and globalisation in media and culture. • Convergences between intellectual, popular and corporate culture. • Cultural studies of neglected regions or areas of inquiry. • Debate on the adequacy and future of various disciplinary traditions, methods and topics in cultural studies. NIVEDINI JOURNAL OF GENDER STUDIES Women’s Education and Research Centre Sri Lanka iv © 2015 Women’s Education and Research Centre (WERC) ISSN 2478-1002 No part of this journal may be reproduced without permission from the publisher, except for review purposes. Published by: Women’s Education and Research Centre (WERC) 58, Dharmarama Road, Colombo 6 Sri Lanka Tel: +94 112 595296 / +94 112 590985 Fax: +94 112 596313 Email: [email protected] Web: www.wercsl.org ISSN 2478-1002 v Editor in Chief Selvy Thiruchandran Editorial Board Kumari Jayawardena Neloufer de Mel Vasuki Nesiah Review Editors for this Issue Dinali Fernando Harini Amarasuriya Janaki Jayawardena Karen Gabriel Maithree Wickramasinghe Mamoeketsi N. E. Ntho Mary E. John Ramani Gunatilaka Sepali Kottegoda Sumathi Sivamohan Yasanjali Jayathilake Editorial Assistance Manoja Liyanaarachchi Tarini Wijesekera vi Contents Editorial v Articles 1. Gendering the Colonized and Dressing the De-Colonized Female Body 1 Asoka de Zoysa 2. Sexual Harassment at Sri Lankan Workplaces, and its Legal Remedy 39 W Mihiri Madhushika Karunarathne 3. Victorious Soldier: Portrayal of Militarised Masculinities in Sri Lankan 51 Sinhala Pro-war Films Anushka Kahandagama 4. Pushed out and Pulled in: Sri Lankan Women Arts Graduates’ Employment 68 in the Public Sector Aloka T. Kumarage 5. Reproductive Health Services in Lesotho for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, 84 Transsexuals and Intersex Individuals Malineo A. Mats’ela , Semakaleng H. Phafoli, Tankie Khalanyane 6. Migrant Women Workers: the Legal Requirements 98 Ranjan Anno Helan Menaka 7. In the Absence of Their Wives: The Impact of Women’s Migration on 107 Men in Sri Lanka Mallika Pinnawala About the Authors 116 vii Editorial This issue of the Nivedini covers a wide range of subjects and themes, mostly related to Sri Lanka, with one article dealing with reproductive health in Lesotho. The editorial board has been debating whether Nivedini should focus on one theme and explore the subject comprehensively or deal with a variety of subjects.. The idea of a thematic issue of the journal was abandoned as we felt such an idea would limit the choices both for the authors and the readership. Besides, there was the practical problem of identifying expert scholars on the themes we select. In this issue of the journal two papers deal with particular ideological constructions: The first, “Gendering the Colonized and Dressing the De-Colonized Female Body,” considers the female dress code as it is affected by the male gaze. It deals with the subject of clothing the female body and with its relationship to the construction of masculine identity in Sri Lanka. It uses extensive empirical data to summarize the development of Sri Lankan men’s preferences regarding the way in which women dress. The question it poses indirectly is why have women not exercised their right to dressing themselves according to their own desires -- or the men, for that matter. The second paper deals with “The Victorious Soldier: Portrayal of Militarized Masculinities in Contemporary Sinhala Films”. Film producers in Sri Lanka seem to have made these films with certain undoubtedly political motives. Further, they lack representativeness and realism. They selectively depict very unreal constructions of characters and motives to appease certain sections of the populace. Supra- Nationalism is the core value of these films, which display clear and disturbing ethnic biases. At a time when the Sri Lankan state and its progressive allies in various civil society organizations are grappling to find ways and means of achieving national reconciliation after a 30-year civil war based on ethnic prejudices, producing such films is likely to exacerbate ethnic prejudice and impede the efforts to achieve national unity. Two other papers pick up the issues of the economically “unproductive” liberal arts graduates who are pushed out of the universities and pushed into the public and private sectors in Sri Lanka. The paper that deals with the problems that arise in the families of women workers speaks of the law that is inadequate to protect the rights of these laboring women. They deserve the attention that is needed presently when we Sri Lankans are facing a crisis of losing the life of one of our citizens who is contributing to the foreign exchange earnings for us. The nameless young woman who is alleged to have had an extra-marital affair is given a sentence of stoning to death. This inhuman Sharia law, apart from being a violation of human rights, is also an indicator of the gender unequal, patriarchal laws even in the 21st Century. Sexual harassment is a persisting problem at various places. It happens while travelling by buses or by foot or at the work place. There are many internal mechanisms in work places in addition to the national law on sexual harassment. What is disturbing is the inadequacy of all of them. The author, who is taking a critical review of the laws, comes up with a few recommendations, which, if implemented, may meet with some success either in eradicating or minimizing sexual harassment. The issues raised in these two papers must be given the attention they deserve for corrective or remedial actions. Another paper deals with the problem of providing equal treatment in services to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexuals and Intersex individuals in Lesotho. While this provision is denied to many women across Asia and particularly South Asia, to argue for the rights of another special category of women speaks a lot about the disparity of the women’s rights across nations North and South. However, rights cannot be denied to anyone and we have to go on struggling and engage in multi-faceted campaigns to achieve the status of parity across the globe. We thank the contributors for their interest in our journal. Selvy Thiruchandran 1 Gendering the Colonized and Dressing the De-Colonized Female Body Asoka de Zoysa The following statement referring to a senior academic of Sri Lanka evoked a general outrage among female academics: “Prof. Nalin De Silva, Dean, Science Faculty of University of Kelaniya expressed his grave displeasure for the way the Kelaniya University students and lectures (sic) dress. He says the way they dress is not different from the way prostitutes dress. Prof. Nalin said the true Sinhalese Buddhist daughters should always dress according to our Sinhalese Buddhist culture and not appear to be prostitutes. He expressed these views addressing the monthly meeting of the ‘Veemansaka Parshadaya’ on University of Kelaniya. He said he is so ashamed that even the professors and senior lecturers who should set example to the students by their proper dress are now wearing clothes like western prostitutes. Prof. Nalin De Silva said it is his dream to see the day that all female students wear the ‘Lama Sariya’ to university. That is the only dress fit for a true Sinhalese Buddhist female he said. Even Susanthika Jayasinghe once wore Lama Sariya at an international level sports event. So why should not our university female students wear Lama Sariya to the university? He asked”1. Concurrently a female Vice Chancellor of a Colombo-based university, supported by a few senior academics, wished to impose a dress code for females at universities with the conviction that the saree is the only fitting dress for women2. At the moment the issue to impose the saree as a dress code for women seems to have died down in the universities. Nevertheless, recently a colleague and professor at the University of Kelaniya complained that she was not allowed to enter the Ministry of Education to meet the official she had an appointment with, because her hattaya or saree blouse did not have sleeves. Many leading national schools have imposed the rule that mothers entering school premises must be dressed “modestly”. In Sinhala the word that is used by the security guards seems to be “Harihati andala”, which can be translated as “properly dressed”. According to the school principals, such modesty can only be demonstrated by wearing a saree. But even wearing a saree does not seem to satisfy the whims of the security guards implementing unwritten rules. These current developments have provoked me to question through this paper, which kind of females costumes could ever reflect the “Sinhala Buddhist culture” that rejects all western influence? Many Sri Lankans still seem to believe that the saree was worn by all females in ancient times.