Langkah Kajang, feminism and male leadership crisis – Dr Rafidah Hanim Mokhtar

Langkah Kajang gives rise to one pertinent question:

Are men abdicating their duties as the protector of women? 

As leaders? 

While I abhor any effort to discriminate women simply because of her gender, the conflict that arises involving women may not necessarily revolves around the theme. 

There’s a worrying trend here. 

Too many arguments are conveniently centred around the ‘anti-feminism’ or ‘male-chauvinism’ premises that men, be it in PKR or in certain faction in PAS, seemed to be intimidated, from offering themselves to take up the leadership position, when I believe, many of them are actually qualified. It was as if they were commiting a big sin to do that.  

What kind of lesson are we imparting to our youth? 

Playing the cards of feminism or male chauvinism, everytime a woman’s name popped up, teaches our society the wrong concept on leadership.

Believing men and women should not fall prey to this myopic view of championing ‘feminism’.  

Men,who believe that they’re capable leaders should not be duped into the impression that offering themselves as leaders are against the principles of being fair, non-discriminative and non-chauvinistic to the opposite gender. Being protective to women, as you offer your leadership quality, for a job that’s so challenging mentally and physically, is in no way, a mark of male dominance.

As Muslim, we’re to be reminded of Surah Nisa :

“Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means.” (Quran 4:34, Yusuf Ali’s translation)

I had just welcomed the newest batch of our first year medical students, and I saw the same scenario where boys were fewer than girls, a scenario that has repeated itself again and again year in year out. 

The statistic by MOHE in 2011 showed that the ratio of students enrollment in public universities of male to female is 39.5% to 60.5%. Judging by this year’s enrollment, I don’t think the percentage differs much. 

I shudder to think that these few gentlemen that we have in our IPTAs, will grow up thinking that being fair to the other sex means NOT OFFERING yourselves as capable leaders when it’s needed, and to always make way for female in the name of upholding those distorted views of ‘feminism’. On the contrary, men should be firmed and honoured that to assume your responsibility as a leader, you are, and you can, be fair to all mankinds, male and female alike. 

I have sons and daughters, therefore as a mother, I couldn’t afford to subscribe to this distorted, misreprented and often misleading concepts of feminism. My sons and daughters deserve a more well balanced approach of what constitute leadership and responsibility, of what it means to be a protector and the protected. Each of these roles, has its own merit and they should not be equated to men dominating the power and structure of the society in an unjust way.

Prof Madya Dr Rafidah Hanim Mokhtar
Chief Information of Wanita ISMA