Feminism in Malaysia

Feminism is a political ideology where people fight for women's rights on the ground of the equality of genders. It has been first recognised in the 19th and early 20th century where the Women’s Suffrage fights for their rights to vote. If people are familiar with the 1964 Disney’s classic, Mary Poppins, Mrs Winifred Banks is an activist of feminism as she fights for women’s rights to vote as the movie was set in the 1910s. However, it is not quite a favourable topic to discuss in Malaysia. Evidence of this would be a declaration back in 2014, where the president of the Malaysian Muslim Solidarity (ISMA), declared that feminism is a “facade used to dishonour Muslim women”. So, because of people like them, we need feminism present in our country.

Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir is a well-known socio-political activist and writer in Malaysia and the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir bin Mohamad. Marina is also an active feminist in Malaysia as she focuses on the issues related to Islam and gender and advocates for justice and equality for them. She is not afraid to express her thoughts even if she was courted with provocative thoughts that could be offensive to some people as long as she thinks carefully about she will phrase it. Marina and her feminist Malaysian Muslim “sisters” don’t actually argue with the Al-Quran; they argue with the interpreters of the Quran who are putting their own biases on it. Sadly because of her support in feminism for Islam Women, she and her group were accused of being anti-Muslim. Nevertheless, they are not afraid about calling themselves feminist, but they believe that it should be rooted in their lives and not somebody else’s idea of what feminism should be. She also believes that equality in wages will lead to a true balance between men and women in Malaysia because it’s a recognition of equal worth. So, a woman can earn the same as a man but still works at home.