Oh dear, seems like Malaysia’s former chief justice is the latest to hop onto a bipartisan bandwagon of sexism leading up to Wednesday’s General Election.
Abdul Hamid Mohamad has offered some advice to PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, if she intends to be prime minister.
His sage words? Put away the fan, honey.
Uhhhh? Sorry, sir but we fail to see how ventilation is anything but a good idea in this tropical land.
He elaborated on his blog: “My advice is to throw that paper fan away, walk straight (as opposed to how, sir?) and appear more assertive and confident. Don’t appear like a Chinese opera actress with the fan.”
For the record, this is Dr Wan Azizah and her fan:
Abdul also asks if Azizah’s trademark accessory is an attempt to shield her face … because of embarrassment.
Sir, the only thing embarrassing about any of this is your low-key, tactless shade. We might ask what in the world a fan has to do with governance? Seems like it’s inconsequential to policy, and simply an environmentally-sound way to say cool.
Moving on from fan-related sartorial critiques, Abdul also called into question the attendees at Mahathir’s recent Putrajaya rallies, saying that most of the audience looked like “Indonesian workers.” Oh right, that song again.
Pray, do tell sir what would have you think that they were Indonesians?
Turns out because they were young, and wearing collarless shirts. Apparently, everyone in Putrajaya is in their mid-40s, and only loves a good button-down.
Alright, we think we’ve had enough of these groundless claims.
Back to sexism, the incident is not the only gender-based shade to make itself public in the tense lead up to GE14.
Last week, a Cheras BN candidate was slut-shamed when her (perhaps well-intentioned, but ill-advised) campaign poster highlighted that her pregnancy did not stop her political ambitions. Girl, you do not need to make excuses for yourself.
What century do we live in?: In Malaysia, a pregnant parliamentary candidate receives sexist and misogynist insults, slutshaming remarks, and insinuations that she is a bad mother for competing in the elections. #GE14 1/3 pic.twitter.com/Ps1txIOtLt
— The Asian Feminist (@theasianfmnst) May 3, 2018
The public’s response to Heng Sinn Yee’s poster was appalling, with some users saying she “spread her legs” (poetry in motion) to serve the people, to others claiming she was asking for sympathy, to even more garbage humans insinuating that she was simply a “tea lady.”
Of course, what else would a woman be doing in politics other than serving tea, right?
Things were bound to get dirty, but ladies and gentlemen – please, do yourselves a favor and try to keep it focused on policy, not petty fans, or verging on abusive language regarding a candidate’s pregnancy.
The gloves have decidedly come off.
