I really wish I had pictures to share but I don't.
I was part of a Women's day celebration today at One U Central Park. Oh well, I wished I could have done more to help though; I was basically standing there looking real stupid and not contributing much. But I met some people there which was quite an experience. I guess half the crowd was washed away by the rain. The grass became super muddy and squelchy, so it wasn't really pleasant to look at, let alone walk on. Not that I mind, but it just made my feet feeling super uncomfortable after that.
No worries though I had a friend staying nearby and I got to get rid of my dirty pants and clean my feet.
I was really kinda intimidated today because there were so many successful and great people (all who are human rights fighters) there. I really feel that I lack the in-depth knowledge to mingle with these people. They were lawyers, politicians...you name it, they were all here today. So, I'm glad I was part of it. It was a great experience.
Next to our booth was the PT Foundation which helps people with HIV. They preach safe sex and also help people who are HIV+ through counselling and various other stuff. They also offer free HIV tests. They gave us free condoms...Funny because I guess I've never taken safe sex seriously because it is not really in my culture to practice sex before marriage. But I guess the fact that in Malaysia, they are giving away condoms as goodies shows that our society is getting liberal. Seriously, I still have no idea what to do with the condoms. I opened it out of curiosity just now, and oh well, wasted some latex because I threw it away. But on a more serious note, it is important to practice safe sex if you are sexually active. I guess it is naive to believe that most Malaysians save their virginity for marriage because seriously, people are changing drastically. The more I open myself to the society, I realized that staying a virgin is really not mandatory anymore for many. This is an arguable issue; I have my stand but I guess I'll also have to be open to those who have a different standpoint (so that people don't call me 'dinosaur' for my conservative thinking). I mean, I guess there is really nothing wrong about sex before marriage. I mean, I'm not condoning it personally (because I believe sex before marriage might get you into some serious s***) but there's really nothing super wrong about it, especially in the context of today's society.
This event's theme this year is to fight for women's equal rights and that women and men can progress forward together.
I guess in Malaysia, we are in a better situation than Middle Eastern countries in which women are really really of low status. I once read a book entitle "Mosaic", it's about this American Arab women whose husband took her children away from her because he feels that she is too Western and thus, not doing what a woman should do - and that is, be a domestic wife who subdues to her husband. The story is about how this woman resorted to illegal methods to fight for her rights on her children, because in Arab, she can't do anything in law to gain custody of her children. It shows that women in Arab countries are powerless. They are, if put in the harshest words, slaves to men.
I always find defining the word 'feminism' an interesting topic to argue.
What defines a 'feminist'? Is it a description of a woman who is good with domestic skills and caters to their man's needs? Or does it define a woman who is independent, confident and successful in her career? (The best way to argue this issue is using the movie "The Stepford Housewives". It is a brilliant movie that highlights feminism. One of these days maybe I will put into words my thoughts about this movie.)
I guess both are correct. It really depends on which standpoint you look from. I always find girls who subdue to and are dependent on their men weak but if we see it differently, perhaps they can give men something that some successful and opinionated women can't - they are always there for their man but career woman can't because they are just too busy. It is not easy to be a woman who can successfully take care of a whole household and patiently listens to their husbands or boyfriends (I really can't do that because I'm toooooooo egoistic to give in to others haha).
It's best to be both but, yo, we are not all Goddesses and perfect. So...let's not be idealistic. I'm not sure if I'm going to be the career woman type yet (no signs of being successful yet haha) but I'm kinda pretty sure that I'll fail miserably as a domestic and loving housewife. Opps!
Anyway, I'm really happy in a way that here in Malaysia (no matter how we dislike some of the things here) that we still get almost equal rights as men. We see successful women spearheading managements, we also have women doing stuff that men do, and most of all, we have the rights to celebrate WOMEN. Of course we are still in some ways discriminated to a certain extend, and also sometimes, we are victims of sexist remarks made by "you-kn0w-who"s, but I really hope that we are getting there.
Okaylah!
I am off to bed already. Today was a long day for me though it didn't really zap up my blues. I'm really very emotional these few days I friggin' have no idea why. I'm still trying to pull myself together again, face the challenges and move on. Hope to have better days.
Cheers~
With Lotsa Love,
TammyC
ps: I feel that I've lost something that I can't tell...
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