I’m surprised that I did not discover this earlier. I’m also shocked that an academic of his stature is completely ignorant about what Feminism is generally about. Azly Rahman really thinks that women of Malaysia needs “Kampong-ism” to combat problems like sexual discrimination and other gender-biased conundrums. In this piece in Malaysiakini he uses Islamic principles and his own conjectures to support this brilliant philosophical branch.
He says:
1. Women are not inferior to men; they exist in “smart-partnership” in a “win-win” situation to men, both in practical living and in religion. Only biologically and in social function there may be slight variations.
I say:
There is a danger of abusing this so-called “smart-partnership” between (Muslim?) men and women. I have strong reasons to believe that this is what he means by the concept of “Equity” between the sexes, then he’s got serious issues to contend with. In “Equity”, men and women have specific and separate gender roles to fulfill, with hopes of ensuring peace and harmony in the land. Each of their roles (remember: different) have equal value. For example, the role of husband as breadwinner has equal value as wife who does the domestic duties at home. This can create pressure on the man whose “rightful” duty is to provide for his wife and children, and for the wife if she chooses to work outside the home. What does a man under pressure to do? Predictably, he might consider seeing other women, and almost certainly, causes family breakdown. It is unfortunate that patriarchal societies insist on the man being the head of the family, instead of promoting equal partnerships between husband and wife, mother and father.
Mainstream feminism on the other hand, recognises “Equality” for both sexes, in that (using the husband-wife model again) spouses share equal responsibilities in all aspects of homemaking and childcare. There is less pressure and more flexibility for both.
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He says:
2. In general, men and women in Islam enjoy protected statuses and the misconceptions may arise out of ‘high profile case highlighted by the profit-driven, ideologically-conspiratory Western media inspired by the ideologies of Hollywood and Disneyland.
I say:
Ugh. I am not even going to comment on that drivel above.
He says:
3. The suffering of women are due to poverty and illiteracy and not due to religion. The notion that Islam pushes women backwards is a clever invention of the Western illiberal democratic ideology. Malaysian Muslim feminists unknowingly and confusingly adopt this misconception and use this perception as the basis of their ideology.
I say:
Azly Rahman is delusional. Why does he think that the West is out there to destroy Malaysian women? Women of any educational and economic background can be discriminated against. A female high-powered professor in Malaysia does not even have equal rights to divorce her husband in the Syariah court, for example. A nation with a female leader does not guarantee equality between the sexes (consider India, Bangladesh, Pakistan as examples here).
He says:
4. The norm in the Muslim world is monogamy as it is not only economically sensible but also metaphysically apt if Muslims are to understand the principle of Ying and Yang in the happy symbiosis between man, Woman, and nature. In this sense, homosexuality does not fit in the ecclesiastical, ontological, and cosmological doctrine of Ying and Yang in Islam, especially when one situates this discussion within the poetic and literary context of Laila and Majnun.
I say:
Does the above scream, “Azly Rahman is a homophobe?”.
He says:
5. In Islamic Family Law, the financial burden falls heavily on men as the traditional breadwinner.
I say:
Again, embrace ‘equality’, not ‘equity’.
He says:
6. Domestic violence cannot be solely attributed to the alleged aggressive nature of men; they arise out of economic condition and cuts across all cultures, nations, and civilizations across time and space. Women inflict emotional damage onto men all the same. Islam, as well as other religions protect women and men from abusing each other.
Finally, I say:
Okay, finally he talks some sense here. But how come all the sudden he’s all about “Men are just like women too”?
Alicia Izharuddin 