READER RESPONSE: FEMINISM

Feminism a social re-engineering toolAbd Rahman Abd TalibApr 25, 06 4:07pm


Many in the world believed that feminism represent empowerment and the struggle for justice and equality for women. This is the image projected by women’s group around the world. The truth, unfortunately, is far from this. Many are unaware of the basic premise behind the feminist ideology. If one were to read the bible of feminism, The Feminist Mystique by Betty Friedan, one cannot but notice one thing.

Feminism is about struggle for women, but not necessarily all women. Mothers and wives are especially exceptions. Freidan, in the book, makes this obscene comparison between concentration camp inmates and motherhood. ‘They were reduced to childlike preoccupation with food, elimination, the satisfaction of primitive bodily needs; they had no privacy, and no stimulation from the outside world. But above all, they were forced to spend their days in work which produced great fatigue ... required no mental concentration, gave no hope of advancement or recognition, was sometimes senseless, and was controlled by the needs of others... ‘(pg 306)

Freidan’s above statement is the basis for feminists’ paradigm all over the world. Motherhood is a form of slavery, in which a mother is forced to enslave herself to her husband and children. In response, the feminist ideology is then pronounced to the entire world. It is meant to bring women out of their homes and into workplaces as a way from rescuing them from ‘concentration camps’. The feminist ideology assumes that being a wife and mother is a form of oppression against women.

The feminist mindset simply assumes that fulfillment in life is attained only by success in careers and not by caring and nurturing their young ones. Amazingly, Betty Friedan’s paradigm is reflected also by so-called Malaysian women’s rights groups in Malaysia. The International Herald Tribune quoted Zainah Anwar, president of Sisters Of Islam as saying of her unmarried status: ‘I don’t want to be a slave to a man’. From what I see, some so-called ‘women’s group’ in Malaysia are doing nothing more than espousing feminist ideology under the disguise of Islam.

Although I do admit that there are women’s groups in Malaysia and elsewhere in the Islamic world that genuinely exist for the betterment of women, but they are rarely given media space or allocated resources. Sadly, ask anyone about feminism, almost all of them would say it’s about fighting for the rights of women. The question now is, were women deliberately denied of their rights? Were women discriminated against simply because they are women? In the olden days, when 90 percent of women were married and divorces were rare, discriminating in favour of men was actually discriminating in favour of their wives at home.

Now, since men and women are paid equally, it seems that women who decide to become full-time mothers end up being discriminated against. In short, feminism is not about the empowerment of women. It is about making it socially acceptable for women to abandon their duties as mothers and housewives for a career resulting in discrimination and oppression of mothers. Feminism survives and thrives on the assumption that all women are oppressed. The public is conditioned to accept this particular feminist notion. In fact, it is their modus operandi to further strengthen this notion so as to enable them to advance their social re-engineering agenda. In Malaysia, the ‘feminists’ are not much different from their American counterparts. They go to town about religious laws being discriminatory to women.

The Syariah Court was attacked time and time again for being discriminatory towards women. Yet, to date no evidence was ever presented by these so-called women’s group. In truth, it’s not about fighting for women’s rights. It’s about destroying the Syariah Court’s credibility. Since syariah courts enforce Islamic family laws and Islamic family laws all over the world are the most ‘politically incorrect’s laws as they are contradictory to the feminist ideology.

As a result, feminism only leads to the destruction of the family institution, the rise of homosexuality, the lowering of birth rates, the rise in divorces and not to mention producing more and more lonely men and women in a society at large.


Time to correct gender imbalance04:17pm Mon Apr 24, 2006
Azly Rahman’s paroxysm troubling04:08pm Fri Apr 21, 2006
Ill-defined feminism is anti-humanism03:04pm Thu Apr 20, 2006
Feminism is about humanity03:05pm Fri Apr 14, 2006
Separating state and religion, a polytheism03:49pm Thu Apr 13, 2006
Unfair to keep women ‘down on the farm’04:31pm Tue Apr 11, 2006
Feminism: What is he afraid of?04:01pm Mon Apr 10, 2006
Embrace ‘kampong-ism’ not ‘feminism’04:26pm Thu Apr 06, 2006
We know what feminism is, thank you03:33pm Thu Mar 30, 2006
Don’t deny women equal rights07:58pm Wed Mar 29, 2006
Malaysian feminists and still proud of it!04:45pm Mon Mar 27, 2006
Feminist movement akin to separatist movement04:39pm Thu Mar 23, 2006
Equality shouldn’t be just gender-based03:43pm Mon Mar 20, 2006
Malaysian feminist and proud of it04:41pm Thu Mar 16, 2006