MARCH 11 – The news that came out on International Women’s Day was depressing.

A veterinary officer charged with causing harm said he slapped his wife and kicked her because she was rude to him. According to a news report, he said he wanted to teach her a lesson for disrespecting him as her husband.

The PAS ulama council said a woman’s “true” function is at home as a wife and mother. The Islamist political party seems to have forgotten about its female members, some of whom are lawmakers. But this outdated mindset explains why the party’s leadership is dominated by men, with only just two women in their central committee, aside from the head of the women’s wing. 

I don’t much care for International Women’s Day. I don’t think women need a special day dedicated to them.

Women’s rights should be fought for every single day. Lest men argue about their “rights”, I’ll come out and say that men’s rights is an oxymoron. Men already have their rights and more ― they have privilege.

United Nations Resident Coordinator for Malaysia Michelle Gyles-McDonnough sums it up nicely in her article on International Women’s Day the nine areas our country must address in order to achieve the gender equality goal of UN member states, including female labour force participation, decision-making positions, gender-based violence and child marriage.

Frankly, I’m tired of citing such statistics every time someone tells me feminism isn’t necessary because in their experience, they have female bosses, so surely, women aren’t discriminated against in the workplace.

In this day and age, people still find sexist jokes funny (I recently unfollowed a Facebook friend who shared one).

And some men think women owe them respect just because they have a penis, like the vet who beat up his wife.

A Muslim man told me recently that he believes a married woman should wear a headscarf because her hair is her crowning glory, and her husband would not want anyone else seeing it.

I tried to give him a Feminism 101 lesson and said women should be treated as autonomous beings, not as possessions. He said women shouldn’t be forced to cover their heads; they should be persuaded gently. He sounded utterly sincere, even though he clearly didn’t understand me.

It’s these seemingly little things, besides the various gender inequality issues on the national and global scale, that fuel my passion in feminism.

Violent crimes like rape and domestic violence stem from these pernicious attitudes towards women that appear to be harmless, or even benevolent. But if we tell boys and men often enough that females should be seen and not heard, then they may think it’s fine to put down, or even to smack around an outspoken woman.

If we say a woman cannot (literally) stand side by side with men in religion, then that can be used to deny her the opportunity to lead a state government in a Muslim-majority country.

I’m a feminist because I’m tired of seeing injustices done to women just because of their gender. Sure, women can easily work twice as hard to prove themselves, but it would be nice to see a world where we aren’t judged by our vaginas.

It’s the 21st century. We should really be focusing on bigger things like climate change and good governance.

Instead, we’re still dealing with people who think that women should stay home and that it is okay to beat a “disrespectful” wife.

*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.