The purpose of her speech was to encourage countries in the Asia Pacific region to provide equal opportunities to women in the work environment, provide access to capital and markets, and equal access to education. She believed that if the gender barrier of suppression by men in the region were demolished, it could increase prosperity and the economy for all the nations across the world. By not allowing the women of South East Asia to reach their full potential, it will affect the economy of the countries and the people around it due to the suppression. The gender issues lead to this situation, which is tied to a major concept in our class called Orientalism that was discovered by Edward Said.
Edward Said, an English professor, at Columbia University brought an issue about socially constructed divisions of the world. This is issue was Orientalism. The concept was of Orientalism was derived from Said own life as a Middle Eastern living in America, perceiving the depiction of Arabs in the Middle East. He wondered how people formed the ideas of other cultures and representation. Thus the concept of Orientalism was born, it unravels the stereotypes and common misconceptions that people receive and hold onto. Orientalism is described as “objective knowledge” used to understand