"A PROPER WOMAN" is written by a Cambodian female author, Thavry Thon, who was born and raised in a poor family on an island on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. She has been devoting her full life to fulfilling her dream through education and battling against "A PROPER WOMAN", which does not align with the norm for ladies to do in Cambodia at all in her generation.
"A PROPER WOMAN" in the Cambodian context during her time refers to a lady who does not attend much education but is obligated to get married very young, raise children and take up other household chores. However, in this day and age, the practice of "A PROPER WOMAN" only exists in remote areas where education is not easily accessible, and quitting school to get married is seen as the best option to lift the family out of poverty. The gradual disappearance of this norm is due to the fact the Cambodian government has put a lot of emphasis on the importance of education as well as gender equality. Besides the government, the author of this book has also contributed to this fading-away norm via her sharp commitment to proving that a lady can reach her biggest dream through education and her meticulous records are written down in this book.
The author described her adamant devotion to fighting against the norm of "A PROPER WOMAN" by first finishing the final grade from a school in her village, then continuing her studies in the capital city, and finally being accepted to study in the Czech Republic. Her academic achievement has given hope to other ladies, especially the young ones, to keep fighting for their dream and it has also started to prove the older people "A PROPER WOMAN" outdated and urge them to be more open-minded to let ladies follow their dream and heart and trust them that they all can do things men can do and can be the future human capital and leaders of our country.
In spite of suffering from some great culture shock in terms of the way people hug and kiss one another in the public place, language, food, people's way of interaction, etc., while studying and living in the Czech Republic, she was lucky enough to have a very caring and compassionate host family to make her feel at home. After having been exposed to the way how all genders are treated in that society along with her studying at the university, she finally became more and more confident and independent, was able to truly see the value of cultural differences, and was able to communicate with people coming from different cultural backgrounds effectively. As a result, every time she visited a new country (place), she really enjoyed seeing her new destination and meeting new people very much. In addition, being able to adapt to cultural differences and seeing their values always makes her keep flying to various destinations.
