Nineteenth-century: In Anna Leonowens's day, women were expected to show respect for men by not challenging their authority. They were to be demure and beautiful, not strong and self-willed. Few career opportunities existed for women who had no husbands to provide for them.

1950s: World War n necessitated women joining the work force to replace the men who were fighting overseas. By the 1950s, women had a secure place in the work force, although their career options were usually limited to clerical functions.

Today: Women can choose from almost unlimited career possibilities and are no longer expected to appear subservient to men.

Nineteenth-century: Europeans looked down on "Orientals" as backward, morally inferior people who could only benefit from an encounter with Western culture, an encounter that would place the Asian countries in a socially and economically dependent position.

1950s: World War H interrupted the...