Category: Feminism

Kakak Killjoy, Malaysian feminist webzine

Something happened last week which I hope will become a beginning of greater things: I started Kakak Killjoy (Sister Killjoy), a feminist webzine together with a number of Malaysian feminist writers. The project I hope will foster a sense of online community for critical and transgressive Malaysian women. Blogging can become a hazardous pastime for… Continue reading Kakak Killjoy, Malaysian feminist webzine

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Categorized as Feminism

for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf – a review

There is something quite redemptive about the 2010 edition of Ntozake Shange’s experimental “choreo-poem,” For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf, which is published as a tie-in to Tyler Perry’s underwhelming film adaptation, For Colored Girls. Shange’s words restore the choreopoem’s original libratory message without the gloss and A-list names in… Continue reading for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf – a review

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

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

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

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