Stereotyping on Feminism and Feminist.

December 21, 2015

Stereotyping on Feminism and Feminist.

Even though we claimed ourselves as a modern society but the truth is we still living in a “man-made world”, an “andocentric culture” in which is one sex that is man. We talk like a man like not just only men but women also. I know sound weird but it’s the truth the way we talk is like a man since we like so called man-made world and we been raised like that. What do you think about feminism? Of course in split second in your mind is about equality between men and women. As we all know that we still live in patriarchal world and feminism is a bad word? I’m about to write about the Waves of feminism, Islamic Feminism, Feminism in Malaysia and last but least what I think about feminism. I hope some of the information that I will write make you think in a bigger picture about feminism. I do want to break people stereotype about feminism is just about equality between women and men only.

In my opinion the meaning of feminism is the belief in social, political and economic equality between sexes. The First Wave of Feminism was in the late 1800’s and it’s about Suffragettes and it’s about the right to vote for women. Susan B. Athony and Elizabeth C. Stanton widely known for helping women to receive their rights to vote and they worked together for 50 years. In 1920, 19^thAmendement to the Constitution is about the rights to vote for both men and women since before these women are not allowed to vote and their profession restricted in the domestic sphere (home) and now the First Wave of Feminism encouraged women to take up their desired profession. During the War World, men went to war and women started working at the factory to keep the nation production. They figured out that they were just productive as men and could work in the factories at their profession. With the helped of Rosie the Riveter, women began to get accepted into workplaces that before had been viewed as a man’s place. This gave women the confidence to get out and pursue the jobs they wanted.

Rosie The Riveter.

In 1960’s was the Second Wave of Feminism and this wave brought slightly different feel to the feminism movement. They began creating specific organization to assist in receiving their rights. The Second Wave of Feminism fought for abortion rights, equal pay, and property rights. Property rights to their bodies if I’m not mistaken. This Second Wave of Feminism known as Radical Feminism.

The Third Wave of Feminism is to ensure that women are still demanding for their rights. This Third Wave of Feminism is working towards redefining the way they are looked upon making it known that everyone and anyone could be a feminist. They are making it known that although Feminism Movement has come a long way there are far more barriers to break down.

Little that you know there is Islamic Feminism that fights for women rights too. Islamic feminism is a belief to provide the equality between male and female within the Islamic framework. They also fight for the equality of all Muslim people to secure their public and private life. Islamic feminism found its popularity around the world in 1990 via various contexts. They are more concerned about stopping the violence or slavery or inhuman treatment than the sense of discrimination. For example, when the non-Muslim feminists consider the custom of wearing the hijab as offensive but the Muslim women keep shut their mouth on this matter. Islamic feminism tries to make people understand the real meaning of Islam and Qur’an. They believe that Islam tells to respect women not to humiliate them.

It is very interesting to find Feminism in Malaysia and what Feminism in Malaysia contributes to the society. The feminist movement in Malaysia is a multicultural coalition of women's organizations committed to the end of gender-based discrimination, harassment and violence against women. Feminist women's organizations in Malaysia later developed alliances with other social justice movements. Today, the feminist movement in Malaysia is one of the most active actors in the country's civil society. The history of feminist movement in Malaysia, its birth and the usage of the very term 'feminist' are contested. Unlike the history of the feminist movement in Britain and the United States for instance because the struggle for women's rights in Malaysia were not founded on women's right to vote. Like many other postcolonial countries during the fall of the British empire, all Malaysian citizens, both male and female, were granted the right to vote during the country's political independence in 1957. The first documented use of women's liberation or women's emancipation as a political and social project in 1920s Malaya was by Malay Muslim male reformers and writers Syed Syeikh Al-Hadi and Zainal Abidin Ahmad, better known as Za'aba. Although they advocated the education of women and girls as a means to women's emancipation, the Malay Muslim modernists, or Kaum Muda, stressed the importance of Islamic learning as a way of equipping Malay women with the skills to fulfill their primary role, as educators of their children. In the post-war years between 1946 to 1948, women from different ethnic groups mobilized against anti-colonialism and issues related to women's inferior status in occupied Malaya. Although they were members of the female-arm of nationalist and communist parties founded by men, the women became more radicalized in their gender-oriented anti-colonial aims and eventually gained semi-autonomous status from their parent parties. Prominent radical women of the period included the likes of Shamsiah Fakeh and later, Khatijah Sidek.

Here I want to highlight two issues that Malaysian feminists still struggling. First is sexual and domestic violence against women. The first women's NGO in Malaysia, the All Women's Action Society (AWAM), was founded in the mid 1980’s as a shelter for women and children who needed legal consultation and protection from domestic violence. Soon, other NGOs, such as Women's Aid Organization (WAO) emerged to campaign against the rising number of reported incidences of violence against women. Most women's NGOs which were founded since are located in the urban centers of Peninsular Malaysia. Feminists in Malaysia are struggling in this issue due to the public perception about sexual and domestic violence is just only domestic sphere problems and should be solve between themselves with no interruption from others. The second issue is about child brides and force marriages. Cases of child marriages gained nationwide attention in recent years as a human rights and gender issue. In nearly all cases, under-aged girls were married off to men much older than themselves. As most child marriages occur in Malaysia's Malay-Muslim community and thereby sanctioned by Sharia courts, Islamic reasons are often cited as a moral and legal justification for marrying off under-aged girls. Young female rape survivors are sometimes pressured into marrying their abusers as a way of mitigating gross sexual abuses.

I’m a feminist and I’m proud to say it out loud. Just because I’m a feminist does not mean that I support what feminist’s standpoint. For example, I don’t support for the rights of abortion in the Second Wave of Feminism because I believe that life is precious. But I do support the rights for education, voting and take up desire profession for women. And feminism isn’t about women only but also for children too. In Malaysia, feminists are trying to fight against child brides and children abuse. Feminists want to break the barrier about women being oppressed in the patriarchal world. When I heard about it is worthless studying about feminism, I become so frustrated with that statement. Feminism is not about fighting equality between men and women only but more than that. When they said that feminism is not in the religion of Islam, there we have Islamic Feminism that based on Quran and Sunnah. I do want to change people perception on feminism maybe a bit. I hate seeing people being ignorant, arrogant, stupid and rude at the same time. And yes the greatest contribution for feminists in Malaysia is the raise awareness about sexual and domestic violence against women. I really hope that people especially men understand what feminism is all about. If you don’t agree with some of the feminist standpoint then find another feminist standpoint that you could support. It does not said that if you are a feminist you need to support every feminist standpoint. You can choose and be wise so that you can see the bigger picture of feminism.