Angry Malay Woman

Orgasm Inc – My thoughts

The orgasm. Feminists laud it, good lovers work hard to give it, pharmaceutical companies make it a business model. The inability to experience an orgasm is thought to be as devastating as the inability to delight in the joy of wine, sunrise, spring flowers, and other wonderment. But this is hardly an overstatement. Last week… Continue reading Orgasm Inc – My thoughts

The joys and sorrows of writing

I often feel the compulsive need to write (though much of the product of that compulsion remain unpublished) to channel anger, frustrations, anxieties, but very rarely I write about joy or when I am overjoyed. Joy is to be enjoyed in the moment. I take pictures instead. Writing is a therapeutic process, and the miracle… Continue reading The joys and sorrows of writing

Feminism in Malaysia is dead, long live feminism

It takes not knowing enough (or choosing to ignore) about the ways of the world to make a foolish optimist. This is the lesson I learned about sisterhood, in which the ways of the world happens to be ‘just how people are’ in Malaysia – too busy for activism, frustrated, idealist non-doers, too scared to… Continue reading Feminism in Malaysia is dead, long live feminism

Dahulukala – Sebuah manifesta berangkap

Dahulu kala saya pernah percaya tudung itu bukan sahaja harus bagi wanita solehah tapi juga bagi awek lelaki soleh dan yang memejam sebelah mata. Dahulu kala saya pernah dituduh kurang ajar dan lemah pedoman jika mencabar kepimpinan lelaki yang tidak berbeza rupa dan sifat kepimpinan seorang perempuan. Dahulu kala saya pernah percaya kewanitaan itu lumrah… Continue reading Dahulukala – Sebuah manifesta berangkap

Hello to new readers and long-time followers!

One of the smaller joys of blogging is knowing that you have regular readers who are interested in what you have to say on often rather disparate topics. The disparate part is really interesting to me, because every newly-minted post can be a wildcard (hence a turn-off for some who like predictability; but that’s so… Continue reading Hello to new readers and long-time followers!

A feminist’s take on love

First published at Loyar Burok as part of #LoyarBerkasih’s Valentine edition. When one cares enough to wonder about the moment a woman becomes a feminist, their overheated imagination conjures a woman done wrong by a male lover or wronged by simply being overweight and unattractive by society’s arbitrary standards, or imagined as a homosexual misandrist… Continue reading A feminist’s take on love

When ‘feminist’ and ‘gender’ become embarrassing dirty words in academia

I am a research student in gender studies in one of the constitutive colleges of the University of London and feel extremely privileged to be part of such a thriving intellectual community. But one brief episode of anti-intellectual feminism in the main building’s lift was enough for me to rethink the breadth of my social… Continue reading When ‘feminist’ and ‘gender’ become embarrassing dirty words in academia

Between worlds: the jilbab and being transgender in Indonesia

It is a scene that wouldn’t be unfamiliar in France or Belgium: a woman’s hijab is snatched away by strangers on the street from her head despite her protest. She is told she shouldn’t wear it, or rather, she has no right to because her wearing it mocks other women and femininity itself. But it… Continue reading Between worlds: the jilbab and being transgender in Indonesia

How did DGM do last year?

This is somewhat late, but in a mercifully brief moment of vanity, I’d like to post a summary of Dove Grey Matter’s blog health in the past year, based on hits, number of comments, and overall awesomeness. This is what WordPress found out: The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads WOW. Yes, that’s a ‘Wow’, and thanks mainly to… Continue reading How did DGM do last year?

Judge a book by its cover?: Women and sex on retro Malay book covers

They say you can’t judge a book by its cover. But you might well be able to sell a book based on its cover. The world of Malay book jackets of the past (circa 1960’s to mid 1970’s) was a different place then, where nude women as decorative elements were apparently no big deal. Nowadays,… Continue reading Judge a book by its cover?: Women and sex on retro Malay book covers