Breaking Barriers

As members of a tiny ethnic minority in Indonesia—the world's largest Islamic nation—Chinese-Indonesian women face hurdles of race and gender that others would find insurmountable. In Breaking Barriers, author Aimee Dawis profiles nine highly accomplished women who have overcome these obstacles and thrived. In this book you'll meet:

• an Olympic gold medalist
• a world-class concert pianist
• a media mogul and style icon

Plus six other extraordinary personalities in the worlds of business, science, sports, politics and the arts. In these profiles, Dawis shows us how Chinese-Indonesian women serve the needs of family and community while carving out a strong and independent role for themselves in their chosen fields through determination, a belief in their ability and strong pride in their ethnic roots. These Asian women may be members of a minority group, but their stories provide inspiration for future generations of Chinese-Indonesian women, and women everywhere.

Aimee Dawis teaches at the University of Indonesia. She has shared her experiences as a Chinese-Indonesian woman in various newspapers and journals in Indonesia. She is the author of The Chinese of Indonesia and Their Search for Identity: The Relationship Between Collective Memory and the Media (Cambria 2009).