From “Burmese Brides” to Burmese wives : analyzing transnational marriages of women from Myanmar to Chinese Men Along the Myanmar-Yunnan frontier

Abstract

Since around 2000, there has a growth of Myanmar women who have married men in Yunnan, China. Media reports from China, Myanmar and the West typically call these women "Burmese brides" and link them to human trafficking, fake marriages, HIV-AIDS, among other issues. This gives the public a negative impression of these women, and views them as mostly vulnerable victims caught in a faceless transnational marriage process. This thesis seeks to correct this limited view and provide a fuller picture of these women and to stress the role of their choice or “agency” in forming their transnational marriages beyond the perspective of “Burmese brides” by examining this growth from a structural (macro) perspective and an individual (agency-centered) perspective. Key structural factors affecting the expansion of transnational marriage include a broad feminization of migration trend, ethnic ties in border areas, economic disparities, gender imbalance and the resulting marriage squeeze in China, civil war and drug-AIDS issues in Myanmar, marriage policies and laws. For individual factors tied to choices and decisions, this thesis examines how Myanmar women exercise their “agency” or decision-making powers by using and expanding social networks so they can actively participate in diverse types of marriage practices, includes voluntary (autonomous) or commercial marriages on their own terms, by following their own varied motivations, rather than merely being passively involved in forced marriages. Both of these perspectives have contributed to the growth of Myanmar women who marry men in the border. This research bases on analyzing media reports about “Burmese brides” issues, 20 interviews with Myanmar women who marry Chinese men conducted between July 2018 and February 2019 in rural and urban areas of Ruili and Tengchong districts, in Dehong prefecture and Baoshan city, respectively as well as visits to local and regional government offices in Yunnan. These analyses aim to show how and why these China-Myanmar transnational marriages increased in the 21st century, stressing the role of Myanmar women’s agency in marrying men in Yunnan.