Understanding the Women’s March
KUALA Lumpur saw hundreds of people gathering for the annual Women’s March over the weekend and, predictably enough, this led to some derision on the part of the masses due to certain perceived abhorrent acts. In this article, I shall try to bring some enlightenment, but one must bear in mind that I am no expert in the matter and my points are gleaned from my experience.
Many are finding certain demands in the Women’s March unpalatable. One such picture that has been shared a lot on social media shows a woman carrying a placard stating “Let My Nips Be Free” alongside a drawing of nude breasts. The outcry has focused on pictures such as these, decrying feminists for not talking about proper issues during the march.
With that out of the way, let me wade into more obvious waters: the presence of pro-LGBT rights groups in the march. What we might not understand about women’s marches is that they are almost always intersectional. This means all women from all walks of life get to participate. As I mentioned before, the march included Orang Asli women, refugees and the like. This is usually an open platform for a variety of women to put forth what they are fighting for.
Whilst it is no secret that I am a defender of LGBTQ+ individuals and their rights, this is not even a matter of accepting them. One can reject certain individuals and still accept they have the right to state their case peacefully. This is exactly what happened for the anti-ICERD rally organised by PAS and Umno last December. Many people, myself included, did not support their cause but respected their democratic right to gather peacefully.
The demonisation of certain women and pro-LGBT rights groups shows an inability to rise above one’s own biases to look at the matter at hand in its entirety. It shows an inability to try to understand, learn and grow. There are those who still say they are pro-women and anti-violence against LGBT individuals but only seem to fixate upon parts of demonstrations, like the Women’s March, that irked them whilst not paying any heed to the other parts.
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