Feminism, the new bad word

I was shocked and disappointed after reading a recent statement by Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz calling for a ban on the word feminism and the 30% quota of women in high-ranking corporate positions.

Speaking at a UCSI event entitled "Staying ahead in the competitive world: How Malaysia should align itself with the 21st century", she also claimed that Malaysia has been doing more than other countries to promote women's development and told women to improve ourselves. According to her, it is quality that matters, not quantity.

As a female scientist, who also happens to be a Muslim feminist, I am indebted to feminism. Perhaps fellow public university lecturer, Alicia Izharuddin would be the best expert to explain this; but feminism began as a movement to allow women the same opportunities as men – the right to education, to vote, to work, to be able to make our own choices and to be included, heard and recognised.

In aligning with the 21st century, we should instead promote and expand feminism, not ban the word and the movement.

There is diversity and intersectionality within feminism. Personally, I do not think that feminism belongs solely to the West, for the egalitarian spirit is found in the Quran. Feminists can be found wherever there are girls and women fighting to be treated and respected as human beings; rather than being denied the same opportunities and privileges as men.

I have written before on why I think feminism is important. Ironically, I cited Rafidah as one of my inspiration when I was young. I am honest about this.

For a young girl from the small town of Perai back in the 80s, watching a woman, to use the term made famous by Beyoncé, "slaying it", was empowering. Her ministerial portfolio was not "Women" or "Welfare", but International Trade.

That her recent Facebook posts advises against extremism and calls for better governance gained her new supporters among the younger generation too, I am sure.

Yet when a successful woman made a statement that feminism and quotas are not presently required, it feels like a blow to the sisterhood. Perhaps this is a caution to never trust politicians, even the ones we like.

The 30% quota was not intended as tokenism. There are many capable women in various fields, yet we usually only see men.

Just look at the panel discussions happening every week around town. Only a fraction of them do not have #allmalepanels.

From topics of finance, libertarianism, economy, politics, Islam and even social activism; the most common reply I personally receive from organisers when calling them out on this is that there are not enough female experts in the field whom they can invite and are available on the date and time of their forums.

To resolve this, we need quantity. We need more women to be known as experts and given the space to share our viewpoints. Further, women do not only talk about women issues, we are as knowledgeable as our male counterparts on any given topic within our expertise.

Currently, only 16% of key decision-makers are women in public company boards, with only 10.3% in listed boards.

While women are appointed as Shariah Court judges, their numbers and powers are limited, even though they are proven to be more knowledgeable than men.

No woman was appointed as a committee member in the recently elected Majlis Perundingan Islam (http://www.bicara.news/majlis-perundingan-islam-kerajaan-pusat-lantik-haron-din-ketua-kluster-dakwah/). Despite making up 61% undergraduate enrolment in STEM, the percentage of women decreases when it comes to employment and career advancements.

Surely, we still need feminism. Further, we must no longer be content with superficial gender-equality.

A young Malaysian woman, Hafizah Noor Isa, is part of the LIGO team that proved Einstein's Gravitational Waves theory and possibly will be the first Malaysian to win a Nobel Prize in Physics. Would it not have been more inspiring to the next generation of Malaysians if we have more women, those conducting research and residing in Malaysia, making such discoveries?

I agree with Rafidah that quality should be the main criteria of selection to any key decision making positions. This should be true of any gender. I am just concerned that if we do not start with a quota, we will never see capable women been given the opportunity to prove ourselves.

After all, we must never assume that every person has our same privileges.

To quote Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in her book "We Should All Be Feminists": "Some people ask: 'Why the word feminist? Why not just say you are a believer in human rights, or something like that?' Because that would be dishonest.

Feminism is, of course, part of human rights in general – but to choose to use the vague expression human rights is to deny the specific and particular problem of gender.

It would be a way of pretending that it was not women who have, for centuries, been excluded. It would be a way of denying that the problem of gender targets women." – February 24, 2016.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer, organisation or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.