I cannot remember what I was doing in the British Library one fine afternoon in 2014, but I had found a who’s who of Malay literature published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. In it was a short biography of Anis Sabirin, a name I was faintly familiar with for being the singular critical voice against… Continue reading On Anis Sabirin the Malay feminist writer (and translation of my new column)
Category: Feminism
New piece on New Mandala: Rape and the pantomime of misogyny
I have a new piece up on New Mandala published on 19th February where I try to grips with the violent misogyny in Malaysian politics. It is a mere platitude to argue that these male politicians are misogynistic. What’s more pertinent to ask is, why are they are using their platforms to air these views,… Continue reading New piece on New Mandala: Rape and the pantomime of misogyny
New column on the Malay Mail: The economics of virginity in patriarchal Malaysia
My column on the Malay Mail, The economics of virginity in patriarchal Malaysia, published 2nd February 2015: Let’s forget that the hymen is central to the idea of (female) virginity. Focus instead on virginity as a cultural and social form of control. When we do this, we will discover that virginity is only a construct… Continue reading New column on the Malay Mail: The economics of virginity in patriarchal Malaysia
Against fluff feminism
Every so often, ‘feminism’ would bubble up to the surface of the Malaysian mediasphere. It would be shared and retweeted on social media, but it would not stimulate a lengthy (documented) discussion on what it really is, what its aims are, and how people often get it ‘wrong’. This post is on the latter concern;… Continue reading Against fluff feminism
Mahasiswa – a universal identity or a Malay masculine one?
The figure of the mahasiswa or male university student is in the news again, demanding the liberation of Malaysian academia from draconian government intervention. There is also a ‘rising star’ of student activism: 23 year old Fahmi Zainol, a young Malay man of utopian political and intellectual ambition. As the president of University of Malaya’s… Continue reading Mahasiswa – a universal identity or a Malay masculine one?
Is being called a prostitute misogynistic?
Upon arriving home from secondary school many years ago, I was slightly taken aback to find that someone had stuck ‘Slut’ on a post-it note on my backpack. I knew what the word meant and I was sure I was not that, thought my socially-awkward, pimply 15 year old self. Years later in university, and… Continue reading Is being called a prostitute misogynistic?
Feminism without women
The title of this blog post is a reference to Tania Modleski’s 1991 book [1] which has a pointed retort to the postmodernist turn in feminism and its impact on solidarity and political mobilising. The retort had a more specific aim; in 1988, Denise Riley had published Am I That Name? [2], a sort of… Continue reading Feminism without women
New column on Malay Mail Online on the ‘sexual dynamics of looking’
Do read my new column on the Malay Mail, ‘Sexual dynamics of looking‘, published on 26th June 2014, in which I talk about what it means when women are told not to look at men.
What does a city for women look like?
How does a woman walk in a city in the daytime and at night? Does she walk head held up high? Does she think her hair is showing through her headscarf, her knee-length skirt too short? Will that be commented on by someone on the street? Does she walk under what Shilpa Phadke calls the… Continue reading What does a city for women look like?
Men: the true voice of feminism
First published on The Malay Mail on 7th February 2014. When you think about it, most rights have been won by women in Malaysia and all citizens are rendered equal before the Federal Constitution. Malaysian women didn’t even have to fight for the vote. Technically, men and women are almost equal. Needless to say, the… Continue reading Men: the true voice of feminism
Alicia Izharuddin 