With reference to the Malaysiakini news article entitled “Gerakan man moots ‘young, sexy women’ candidates to boost polls chances” dated 9 October 2016, it was reported that Gerakan legal and human rights bureau chief Baljit Singh proposed a formula to ensure the party’s victory in future elections by fielding young sexy multicultural women.
Echoing comments made by my comrades-in-arms[1][2], I agree that the statement by the Gerakan leader reinforces the chauvinistic and misogynistic perception of women in politics. This is among many reasons why talented young women stay away from politics because they are constantly sexually objectified by people like Baljit Singh and other leaders from BN.
He also noted that if Gerakan fields young women candidates, they are most likely to lose. Worse, he only cites physical attributes as the requirement for these young women to contest under the Gerakan ticket. This reveals how little he thinks of young women’s capabilities.
I appreciate the fact that he wants to encourage youth and women participation in Malaysian politics, however, Baljit Singh has a very different idea compared to DAP and Pakatan Harapan. In Pakatan Harapan, we encourage intelligent, dedicated and brave young women to join politics because they are capable, patriotic and hardworking; making them winnable despite their physical attributes. Meanwhile, the Gerakan leader and many others who are on his side of the fence prefer to sexually objectify women in politics with cheap rhetoric as if the Malaysian voters vote according to their sexual urges instead of their brains.
In DAP and Pakatan Harapan, young women are empowered and given opportunities to represent all Malaysians, as well as participate meaningfully in politics rather than become “decorative flower pots” merely to increase the aesthetical value of campaign photo, as the Gerakan leader seems to imply.
For example, PKR’s president is a woman, while DAP approved a 30% quota for women in its Central Executive Committee to boost female representation at decision-making level in line with United Nation’s Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 1995. Perhaps Gerakan may consider the same move instead of the brazen sexual exploitation of young women to win elections.
A woman can be beautiful, smart, talented or even sexy if she wants to and society should respect her decision. Sexualising women in a patriarchal political society will not bring us ahead in an era where one of the contenders for the US Presidency is a woman, 50% of United Nation Secretary General 2016 election candidates are women and the de facto leader of the largest economy in the world, the European Union, is also a woman.
I hope Gerakan takes Baljit’s idea seriously and allow more young women participation in politics. However, I also suggest that they discard their outdated, sexist and misogynistic mind-set and treat women with equal respect if they are truly sincere in empowering women in Malaysian politics.
Love & Respect,
Dyana Sofya
Executive Member DAPSY National
Executive Member DAP Perak
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