This October, MAAS Student Hla Moe Tara Hlaing presented her research on the "smart woman" archetype in Myanmar at the 2025 New York Conference on Asian Studies.
Her paper was entitled, "A Smart Woman in Myanmar, ထက်မြက်တဲ့မိန်းမ." Here is what Tara had to say about her work:
"This paper argues that the representation of a smart woman emphasizes traits such as independence, financial autonomy, resilience, beauty, and proficiency in both paid and unpaid work. The discourse around the concept of a smart woman, while fluid, exists at the tension of patriarchal and nationalistic pressures and the push for women's empowerment. However, this idealized image often overlooks intersectional challenges, poverty, and heterogeneous ethnic backgrounds, and reinforces binaries of who is "smart" versus "not smart," inadvertently devaluing the contributions of women who do not fit these characteristics."
To support her on her conference journey, Tara was awarded an "Asian Studies Student Research & Creative Activities Award" by the Department of Asian Studies.