The ultimate aim of feminism is to end sexism and establish gender equality by dismantling patriarchy. While this has not yet happened for the majority of the world, this will be a ‘feminist future’. Thus, feminism is a project that is temporal in quality; it is about the now (not ideal) and tomorrow (ideal). Feminist… Continue reading Women, feminism, time and temporal emancipations
Category: Feminism
Ambivalent Malay-Muslim Women: Why They Reject the Hijab
I’ve been asked to write a blog post for The G-Blog on women who do not wear the hijab as a ‘counter’ opinion to other pieces on women who wear it. During the editorial process of the blog post, I was reminded again how sensitive the topic of the hijab is and that ‘strong’ views… Continue reading Ambivalent Malay-Muslim Women: Why They Reject the Hijab
The emotional labour of dealing with sexual harassment
Since 1st June, I had been implicated as a complainant in a sexual harassment allegation in the local progressive activist scene, details of which I will provide soon here. But in the subsequent days after making allegations on social media about a serial harasser of women, my corroborator of the allegations who had gone semi-public… Continue reading The emotional labour of dealing with sexual harassment
New journal article publication – the female gaze in Malaysian horror film
I have a new journal article published in the latest issue of Asian Cinema, Vol. 26 Issue 2. Abstract: Female ghosts and other supernatural entities, including the pontianak, in Malaysian horror cinema are excessive psychosocial articulations of traditional Malay femininity gone awry. In Malay ghost stories, the pontianak is a vengeful spirit. She is the… Continue reading New journal article publication – the female gaze in Malaysian horror film
The rise of the modern female subject in modern Malay literature in the 1960s
The following is an excerpt from an early version of my book chapter on modernity and the ‘new woman’ in 60s Malay literature. It’ll be discussed at my public talk this Saturday in Silverfish Books, Kuala Lumpur: Extant literature in both Malay and English makes it rather clear that there appears to be a divide… Continue reading The rise of the modern female subject in modern Malay literature in the 1960s
The object of feminist reading groups
I have organised three feminist reading group meetings at the women’s organisation and advocacy centre, AWAM, in Petaling Jaya (see here, here, and here for details) between December 2015 to March 2016. Considering the limited means of publicity at my disposal, the three meetings were nonetheless a success at getting people to engage rather deeply,… Continue reading The object of feminist reading groups
Sound, fury and écriture féminine in Violette (2013): a review
When I first heard about the film Violette (2013, dir. Martin Provost), I had little knowledge about the life and work of the French writer, Violette Leduc (1907-1972), on which the film was based. What drew me to the film was the fact that she was one time a protégé of Simone de Beauvoir. Imagine… Continue reading Sound, fury and écriture féminine in Violette (2013): a review
Alat-alat tukang kepunyaan penindas tidak akan meruntuhkan rumah penindas
“Alat-alat tukang kepunyaan penindas tidak akan meruntuhkankan rumah penindas. Alat-alat itu boleh menewaskan penindas hanya buat seketika, namun ia tidak akan menjamin perubahan yang murni. Perkauman dan homofobia adalah perkara yang kian dialami oleh kita semua. Saya menyeru kepada semua untuk menyelam ke dalam minda masing-masing dan ‘menyentuh’ unsur-unsur yang menimbulkan ketakutan dan kejelekan yang… Continue reading Alat-alat tukang kepunyaan penindas tidak akan meruntuhkan rumah penindas
Visiting the Reading Lasses bookshop
First published in my now defunct academic blog, ‘Alicia Izharuddin’, on 14th September 2014. In the last leg of my rather prodigious series of travelling this year, I went to Scotland for the first time during a thrilling period of the nation’s history. My visit there was made more exciting, however, by the prospect of… Continue reading Visiting the Reading Lasses bookshop
All-male panels – an indirect way of shutting women up
All-male panels are an indirect way of shutting women up. This is not a hyperbolic statement but a call-out on both symptom and cause of a patriarchal society. When men are invited to speak in a forum, they are invited based on reputation and/or because the invited already belongs to a network of friends. Actual… Continue reading All-male panels – an indirect way of shutting women up
Alicia Izharuddin 