In this article, based on my personal experiences as an ethnographer working in Indonesia, Singapore
and Fiji, I provide two case studies of two women, who don’t know each other, who are ‘writing’ Global
Gender in Singapore and Indonesia. Both are wives and mothers, the former is a liberal-democratic
opposition party activist, while the latter is a black/death metal guitarist in a local, highly-respected
underground band. Both are totally committed to their chosen pathways and belief systems and act
as social glue within their organizations and subcultures (grounded cosmopolitanism, if you will).
Then, I present two mini-case studies that suggest some formidable barriers still exist to rewriting
Global Gender. If these barriers are not overcome, people will have to write Global Gender or notGlobal Gender within their own little independent silos or rooms with restricted views looking out over
dystopian landscapes characterized by surveillance, control, friendlessness and alienation.
