A man on social media was called out after he referred to an independent female candidate running for Malaysia’s 15th General Election as a ‘pornstar’.
Nur Fathiah Syazwana who is running for the Batu seat in Kuala Lumpur highlighted the man’s sexist remark on Twitter and said “I am a single mother of two children. Please do not say this to me.”
“I am aware that some people are unhappy with my life to the point of slandering and insulting me and my two children, Andromeda and Astreanova,” she added.
“Still, I accept whatever is thrown at me and leave the matter to Allah SWT because only he knows best.”
Saya ibu tunggal dua cahaya mata. Please don’t say this to me. pic.twitter.com/MXkS29d8dT
— #RESETBATU Nur Fathiah Syazwana. Cleo. 🇲🇾 (@lxcleopatraxl) October 17, 2022
The man made the comment after Nur Fathiah, also known as Cleopatra, posted on Twitter asking for volunteers and poll workers to assist her during the election.
One Twitter user commented on her tweet saying “Look, it’s this messy woman,” which prompted the man to reply, “Oh, this woman? She’s a pornstar,”.
Unfortunately, attacks on female politicians and women who are critical of politics in Malaysia are not new developments.
From the stereotyping of women’s political candidates to sexist remarks in Parliament against female MPs, to threats made on social media against women who hold a critical political view, the political environment in Malaysia has consistently been and continues to be hostile towards women.
Nur Fathiah received widespread attention in October 2019 after she was seen in a picture with the country’s former youth and sports minister, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.
The contender for the Batu parliamentary seat has 200,000 followers on Instagram, where she has shared pictures of herself with former prime minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and interim international trade and industry minister Mohamed Azmin Ali.
P Prabakaran, a member of the PKR, presently holds the Batu parliamentary seat. As far as is known, Siti Kasim, a human rights lawyer and activist who is also running as an independent, will face Fathiah to compete for the seat.
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