“Why can’t these gay rights activists keep their sexuality issues private? No one needs to have their sexual preferences shoved in our (sic) faces or marching down the streets like they do in gay pride marches. Sexuality should be a private matter, like religion.” Sounds familiar? It’s what people say when they don’t like to… Continue reading Sexuality can never be a private affair
Category: Sexuality
Being gay in Malaysia: The myths and realities
In a class I was teaching recently about transgender identities in Indonesian films, I explained that Upi Avianto’s 2006 film Realita Cinta dan Rock n Roll broke the mould of many earlier Indonesian films depicting trans* people, as it featured a transwoman character who was a mother (played by action actor Barry Prima), who was… Continue reading Being gay in Malaysia: The myths and realities
Seksualiti Merdeka dan pengaruh homofobia Melayu
This is an article I wrote for Merdeka Review, published on 9th November 2011, commenting on the murkier aspects of the Malaysian public discourse surrounding the banning of Seksualiti Merdeka. Pengharaman Seksualiti Merdeka yang diumumkan secara tiba-tiba pada 3 November dan kecaman terhadap perasminya, Ambiga Sreenevasan, adalah satu lagi sejarah hitam dalam perjalanan Malaysia ke… Continue reading Seksualiti Merdeka dan pengaruh homofobia Melayu
Unless we respect sex workers, we will never respect all women
First posted on Loyar Burok’s LoyarEqual Feminist Week on 17th to 21st October. Being called a “slut”, “thevadiya”, “sundal”, “whore”, or “jalang” are probably the worst forms of verbal abuse anyone, woman or man, can inflict on a woman or girl. But they needn’t be. One only needs to unpack the toxicity in the abusive… Continue reading Unless we respect sex workers, we will never respect all women
Bogel
Saya ingin membuat pengakuan: saya suka bermandi dalam keadaan bogel. Telanjang. Au naturel. Mungkin ini sebuah pengakuan yang remeh-temeh dan bukan panas membakar, tetapi bagi saya ia agak penting sebagai pembuka topik. Semasa menghadiri acara Fiesta Feminista di Kota Kinabalu bulan November lepas di mana kesemua hadirin bermalam di asrama dan berkongsi bilik tidur dan… Continue reading Bogel
On sexual slavery and the question of what makes something ‘Islamic’
First published on Muslimah Media Watch, on June 28th 2011. Salwa al-Mutairi, a Kuwaiti politican, gave a cold-blooded proposal for Muslim men to take female slaves, especially non-Muslim female prisoners of war, for sexual use (or rather rape). It has rather unpredictably come under fire. Slavery is one of the most abhorrent forms of abuse… Continue reading On sexual slavery and the question of what makes something ‘Islamic’
What Malaysians talk about when we talk about pornography
Mercifully, this week will mark the end to the hormonal excesses of Porn Week on Loyar Burok. Articles on a topic Malaysians are supposedly tight-lipped about were purged onto unsuspecting readers like a satisfying diarrheic release – it must have felt good for the writer of the articles concerned but for many others in virtual… Continue reading What Malaysians talk about when we talk about pornography
Some notes on sluttiness in Jalang
The best part about being a researcher in film and media is the joy of discovering half-forgotten ‘gems’, like the Malaysian film called Jalang (2009). Jalang (Malay for slut, whore, wayward butterfly, you get the idea) is the ground-breaking cinematic masterpiece by Nazir Jamaluddin about a high-flying young woman Maria who apparently sleeps her way… Continue reading Some notes on sluttiness in Jalang
Two steps forward, one step back: On Dalam Botol, Malaysia’s first ‘gay’ film
Written for the LSE equality and diversity blog For a country keen on displaying its hyper-modernity, Malaysian law and social attitudes on sexual morality in general have always had a conservative bent. While there are pockets of change, much of the public discourse on sex and morality are dominated by sexist and homophobic language. A… Continue reading Two steps forward, one step back: On Dalam Botol, Malaysia’s first ‘gay’ film
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
Alicia Izharuddin 