Proudly feminist

MAYA Angelou said “I’ve been a female for a long time now. It’d be stupid not to be on my own side.” That’s what I’ve always believed all my life. My mother, a strong advocate for women’s rights, instilled these ideals early in me. My late father, to his everlasting credit, fully supported this idea of his children becoming strong, independent human beings regardless of their sex.

Feminism did not need defining to me. But I quickly learnt that to many others, it was a misunderstood and threatening concept.

I started the project #Whos Afraid Of Feminism when feminism increasingly began to be demonised in Malaysia - from interest groups who clumped it with moderation, liberalisation and human rights as the great cesspit of evil in the country. Some Muslim groups defined the label as anti-Islamic and conveniently used that as a means to further erode women’s rights.

And then there were people who just did not understand what it stood for, quickly dismissing it as “too radical” and not culturally-relevant to us, and instinctively rejected any association with being a feminist.

But the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back was when one female too many said to me, “I’m not a feminist, but...” while espousing whatever women’s rights they believe in.

They believe they should be able to work and earn wages equal to their qualifications. They believe they have the right to wear what they want without fearing sexual assault. They believe they have the right to speak up and voice their opinions and be heard. They believe they are equal to men and should be treated equally.

Yet, they hasten to add, “Look, I’m not a feminist...”

It made me wonder, what exactly did they think feminism was, and how did feminism get such a bad reputation?

I think people feel that to be a feminist is to hate men. Or to believe that women are inherently better than men. Or to hate skinny women and makeup. Or that feminism has no place in Islam, or is un-Islamic. Or that feminism means taking away from the rights of men (rather than enhancing the rights of women equal to that of men).

I’ve had many years to reconcile in my mind what feminism is. I borrow from the Gloria Steinem definition: It is simply the belief of the equality and full humanity of women and men.

As a feminist artist, I have always used art as a platform to deliver a myriad of feminist messages.

#Whos Afraid Of Feminism is fundamentally an art project, with carefully chosen messaging to gently challenge myths about feminism while firmly inculcating this wildly radical idea that women, like men, are humans and should be treated as such. While women may not be inherently ‘more’ than men, they are certainly not less; and that social and religious constructs driven by a patriarchal society are damaging to both men and women, and must be challenged. Misogyny has no place in our society; and that being a feminist is being for justice.

Feminism and feminist art is a part of my life, and I do this because I cannot NOT do it. I feel compelled to dispel the negative notions associated with feminism, and to provide an alternative view that can resonate with every kind of person.

We need to normalise the values of feminism so that, as a society, we look back and wonder what the resistance was all about in the first place?

I don’t think this is a tremendous aberration from my usual work, only a little more focused to defining feminism in all its permutations. So the crowd who follow my work on my art page – who presumably have already bought into the whole idea of a strong woman – have been tremendously encouraging.

I have cross-posted the paintings on non-feminist art pages and have not received much negative reactions yet. People are generally positive or perhaps just unthreatened. The messaging I have chosen, while powerful, have been deliberately measured, rational, and non-controversial. It makes it harder for people to object to them, makes it easier to support.

Let’s see if the strategy works.