Challenging double standards

“I AM a feminist and proudly so,” says Sarah Amer. And it’s not just lip service with the 23-year-old documentary maker who has almost single-handedly put together Kota Wanita, an event for the women of Kuala Lumpur to come together and talk about issues that affect them daily.

“The activities and workshops we will be organising at Kota Wanita are bread and butter issues that affect all women of Kuala Lumpur – from safety, personal liberty and celebrating togetherness through various mediums like workshops, panel discussions and so on. It is a safe space for women and I hope we can keep the dialogue going and not leave it as a yearly event,” she says.

Although activities at Kota Wanita focus on women, Sarah hopes to attract a mixed crowd because “in order to achieve equality there is a great need to work together to achieve that goal”.

She says, “Think about it, the theme of this year’s International Women’s

Day is Empowering women: empowering humanity. I couldn’t agree more with

that!”

Describing herself as a “proud Malaysian”, Sarah was greatly shaped by her mother, Aminah Ahmad, whom she describes as “incredibly selfless”.

Her other role models include Shamsiah Faekh, the leader of Malaysia’s first nationalist women organisation, Angkatan Wanita Sedar as well as American writer and activist Susan Sontag.

“I am a feminist as I believe in the need for equal political, social, economic rights for both all sexes. In Malaysia, feminism has been a part of our lives since the 1940s when Angkatan Wanita Sedar, the first women’s nationalist organisation in Malaysia. fought for the emancipation and liberation of women through education.

“At the time, feminism didn’t have a label. Throughout the years its been said to be a “westernised” ideology when actually it just calls for fair treatment.

Sarah says she identifies strongly with feminism because of the “misogyny and double standards against women in our social construct, even in our media where women are objectified.”

“Many of us have benefitted from feminism. Without the efforts of feminists around the world who continue to fight for women’s rights, it would have been impossible for women to have the rights to be educated, work outside the home, vote or inherit property.”

Kota Wanita happens tomorrow at Findars, Jalan Panggong from Noon to 10pm. For more on Kota Wanita, go to their Facebook page.