In The News
This piece was originally published in the Sun on 30 April 2007.
Reclaiming feminism
Ng Tze Yeng
My insightful sister asked, "Che, if you dislike labels and being
labeled, why do you call yourself a feminist?" Good question. Why
indeed?
It was personally testing for me to "come out" as a feminist. I
shuddered in terror at the prospect of receiving hate mails and
screams of "Western puppet! Man-hating bra-burner! Megalomaniacal
bitch!" and the very likely possibility of being, well hated. So why
did I do it?
I believe that all human beings deserve to live a life of dignity. A
pressing change is urgent as I look back on the times where I
witnessed or experienced the humiliation, fear and pain of being
discriminated against, sexually assaulted, verbally and physically
abused, and ridiculed. I believe this happens because of beliefs and
structures supporting constructed ideas based on gender, ethnicity,
race, class, age, sexuality, religion that are becoming more
uncompromising and intolerant of differences.
No one's insulated from social inequalities, either as a beneficiary,
victim or both. I think, there comes a point whereby one's
consciousness of the need to act towards ending these inequalities
beckons. A choice is presented, if whether or not one will harness
that consciousness towards achieving social justice. This choice
usually involves a personal transformation; or transforming one's
family, workplace, community; or perhaps joining forces with others
to create a movement. A choice to critique and transform the way we
look at our relationships with each other, our "absolute and
universal truths" and how we view and behave in the world.
I took like duck to water in my initial encounter with feminism:
achieving gender equality through legislation, and policies on
employment and education. After all, liberal feminism was exhibited
on a public scale in the 1960s, when women teachers, led by the
National Council of Women, demonstrated to demand equal pay with
their male counterparts. I learnt though, that a change in mindset
of the roles of women, women's contribution and the value of women's
contribution is needed to achieve equality. We still have long way to
go, as the "invisible contribution" of unpaid care work in 2006 is
valued at RM45.3 billion by the Women Family and Community
Development Minister.
It got a little complicated however, in my discussions with anti-
feminist friends who accuse feminists of being hate-mongers, wanting
nothing more than to create an existence without men. This widely
propagated interpretation of feminism, I think, is based on a one-
dimensional interpretation of radical feminism. Though there were
some radical feminists who wanted nothing to do with men, it would be
unfair to generalize all feminists as separatists and downplay
radical feminism's contribution: that the patriarchal system
oppresses and exploits women, through marriage, porn and rape. It was the idea that men should not have control over women's bodies that vocalized violence against women and created shelters for women in crisis, amongst others.
I soon began to discover that feminism, just like any other rich and
complex ideology, has many different strands. The multifaceted and
multilayered analyses of power relations at many levels in society
are outcomes of historical conditions; developed in different socio
and political contexts, raising different questions and strategies.
Socialist feminism took the gender analysis further with the insight
that class, gender and race/ethnic power relations are important to
understanding society as we all have multiple identities, and thus
experience multiple forms of oppression. I am profiled as a middle-
class, educated, married, Chinese woman; thus I, to a certain degree
enjoy privilege in my class and heterosexuality but am disadvantaged
to a certain degree by my gender and race/ethnicity in today's
context. Privileges and disadvantages are all symptomatic of
inequalities, and one struggle is not necessarily more significant
than the other.
Post-modern feminism questions the acceptance of a clear, absolute
truth of how we understand the world. The rejection of traditional
ideas of what constitutes a man and woman, and the refusal to
construct a universal theory of gender subordination or any fixed
ideas explaining power relations. This paved the way for marginalized
voices to gradually be heard.
These are only a sprinkling of the strands of feminism that I've so
far managed to grapple with. Each strand presents perspectives to
understand my life and the world as I look forward to learning about
the other strands of feminism; eco, black, nationalist, market-led,
Marxist, and Islamic feminism.
The personal is political. Feminism has helped me understand why I
experience life as I do, as I synthesize and analyze each argument
and experience put forth, reflecting upon my own actions, inactions
and beliefs that contribute to social injustice. Each angry,
imposing, hurtful word uttered; each action made in pursuit of self-interest; each time I chose apathy.
Feminism does not provide all the answers, nor is it flawless.
Feminism is, a voice, a movement, an alternative advanced
courageously by female and male feminists at the risk of alienation
and even persecution. It was inconceivable then, and sadly still in
some societies now that humans of certain ethnicity/race, class,
sexuality were categorized as "irrational" and unfit to perform
logical acts such as voting, writing, going to university, being in
decision-making positions, a being of self-agency. Feminism and other
social justice movements, have to a certain extent, changed that.
Laws and constitutions may have reformed, but there's still a long journey ahead in changing mind-sets and behaviours.
I am a feminist. In celebration, gratitude and hope that humanity
does believe in living a life of dignity.
Tze Yeng is excited about Fiesta Feminista, which welcomes all
interested in feminism and activism to Kuala Lumpur from 15-17 June
2007. For more info, please email info@fiestafeminista-malaysia .org
or call 778 44977.
