I’ve read an interesting topic written by Marina Mahathir in today’s news paper. <Thank The Feminist Out There>
Marina Mahathir is a feminist that I’ve admire for a long time, not because she’s the daughter of our former Prime Minister, but she’s a women that played an important role in a woman’s life. She doesn’t involve in politics, but she took part in other organization like AIDS/HIV campaign, Women Rights… etc. For me, she’s a brave woman that influences a lot of people from the things she wrote on news papers.
This is something I read in “Thank the feminist out there”: (she received an email containing these)
If you are a woman voter, thank a feminist.
If your doctor is a woman, thank a feminist.
If you open a help wanted section of any US paper and see a job listings classified by occupation rather than “help wanted-male” and “help wanted-female”, thank a feminist.
If your depression is taken seriously rather than considered a by-product of having a uterus, thank a feminist.
If you can have a birth control prescribed to you without first obtaining your husband’s written permission, thank a feminist.
If you’re allowed to teach school regardless of your marital status, and you’re a woman, thank a feminist.
If you’re told you can become something rather than a nurse, a grade-school teacher, a housewife and mothers, or a nun, thank a feminist.
If you expect to be considered for admission to university programmes based on your qualification rather than your gender, thank a feminist.
If you expect your qualifications for admission to educational programmes to be considered equally, rather than after every male application has been admitted, thank a feminist.
If you’ve heard of the crime domestic violence, and know that it’s illegal, thank a feminist.
If you can drive, thank a feminist.
If you expected to be paid the same wages as a man doing the same job you are, with the same seniority and the same qualifications, thank a feminist.
If you are considered a person in your own right rather than the chattel of a man, thank a feminist.’
If you are legally permitted to own property in your own name, thank a feminist.
If you don’t expect to be fired because a man “needs your job to feed his family,” thank a feminist.
If the phrase “non-traditional occupation” seems a little old-fashioned or, better yet, you don’t understand it at all, thank a feminist.
If you hear term like “firefighter”, “police officer” or “postal walker” in everyday life, thank a feminist.
If the phrase “she’s a woman lawyer” seems odd, thank a feminist.
If you aren’t expected to leave the room at a party when the conversation turns to current events and politics, thank a feminist.
If you’re a grown woman and don’t expected to be called “girl” when you are 50, thank a feminist.
In her article also stated that there are things here in Malaysia that we can thank feminists for:
The amendment to the Federal Constitutional in 2004 which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.
The Domestic Violence Act 1994.
Proposal for laws against sexual harassment.
Longer maternity leave.
Work place child care.
But, there are also things that made feminist felt discriminated, whom do we have to thank when:
When female flight attendants are grounded after three children while their male colleagues can keep flying even if they have 10 children?
When our national airline did refuses to recruit and train female pilots even though there are already women fighter pilots in our air force?
When ministers insult bloggers by calling them unemployed women, liars and cheats?
When male judges allow women to lose their children by refusing to make just decisions just because it involves religion?
When women are blamed for “allowing” themselves to be raped even if they are 73 and doing nothing more provocative than washing dishes in their own home?
When career women are constantly reminded not to neglect their families while men who neglect theirs are never chided?
When the fact that there are more female students in universities is considered a problem that has to be corrected by preferential admissions for male?
When laws that protect the rights of Muslim women are overturned because God allegedly prefers it that way?
When women’s faith and morals are judges solely by the way they dress while men’s aren’t?
When unmarried women are deemed unqualified to speak for abused married women whereas it’s OK for men to speak on behalf of women?
When, despite the overwhelming number of cases of violence against women, men, and even some women, insist on focusing on the rare cases of women committing violence against men?
When women have absolute no chance of becoming Prime Minister in this country?
When “feminist” is considered a derogatory term, even by women, while “male chauvinist” is worn as a badge of honor by some men?
I do agree what she had stated in her article. In this 20th century time, man and woman still have their separation; women are judged because of the term of “woman”. But recently, Hilary Clinton ran for the presidential election, well, on my point of view, she’s the hope for woman. She’s a lady full of confident. I do support her to be the first Woman President of United States. Maybe after that other countries might have more female leader.
