Do not get your sexy on in the conservative town of Kotu Baru, Malaysia. You will be fined 138 dollars. And why? Because scantily clad women mar the image of the town.
The Kota Baru town's municipal council has said it will no longer tolerate indecent dressing and will begin enforcing an existing Islamic law that prohibits indecent dressing, The Star newspaper said.The bylaw on proper feminine attire prohibits Muslim and non-Muslim women from wearing body hugging outfits, blouses that show the navel, see-through blouses, miniskirts and tight pants.
Women's groups are unhappy and ask rightfully, "I would like to know what is the (acceptable) level of tightness of a pair of pants or jeans, and what happens to those of us who have larger buttocks?" I understand differing cultural/relgious practices (whether I agree with them or not), but I bet there are no laws restricting what men wear.
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Actually, we were always taught that Muslim men are supposed to dress modestly as well. Maybe that was just the particular school of thought where I lived, though.
I still don't agree with this. It's way too arbitrary, besides being fundamentally unfair. How much do Malaysian women make a month? I'm sure $138 is a pretty good chunk of change.
while cultural differences can and should be considered in order to understand why certain cultures have such laws, by no means does it mean we have to agree or think certain practices are acceptable. there are certain cultural reasons why people perform female genital mutilation, but we can not stand by and refuse to condemn such a practice because it is part of a culture. what you have here is a classic example of how the behavior of women is indicative of the "image" of a town or country.it is tied in to why women are raped during war times, and how during nationalistic fervor governments hone in on the behavior and dress and procreation habits (you should have as much children as possible to increase our nationality) of women.
and yeah i am pretty sure no such laws exist for men. while it am certain that islam says men should dress modestly as well, you wont see fines imposed on them, or in more extreme countries, death by stoning.
It's hard to say how much Malaysian women make off the bat... because there is a large range of salaries there...
according to the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority's 2005 figures, wages range from 480RM (127$US) for an unskilled production operator to 18,074RM (4,794$US) for a top-level marketing exec.
suffice it to say, though, that if it's possible for the fine to be more than a full-time factory worker's monthly income, it's somewhat severe.
on the other hand, maybe this town has higher-than-average wages. doubtful, though, as Muslims tend to be on the lower end of the wage scale in Malaysia (with Indian- and Chinese-descended Malaysians taking up many of the top spots).
from a purely islamic point of view, it seems over the top in that islam doesn't require that non-muslims adhere to aspects of the faith (which is why, in many muslim countries, there are different legal systems for muslims and others with regards to social policy).
if islam doesnt require its non-adherents to adhere to aspects of its faith, why do you have to wear a burqua in places like afghanisant and saudi arabia? even if you are non muslim and from the US?
i should qualify that...
or just take it back... i'm not muslim, but in the first books of the quran (qualified : english translation), it is pretty clear that if one doesn't know allah, one is not beholden to the same laws as one who does.
i see phenomena like what you're speaking of as more symptomatic of a patriarchal bent on domination that precedes just about any modern spiritual path.
this is evidenced by the high variation of dress regulations among muslim states (qatar and jordan are very different places from saudi arabia and afghanistan, though both places are overwhelmingly muslim and their public policy is guided by islamic ethics)...
Katie, it's like puck says. Those countries just suck.
I used to live in the UAE, right next door to Saudi Arabia. We didn't have any legal restrictions on our dress. Some women wore burkas, but those were cultural expectations in their communities. Alcohol was sold there, even if it wasn't always easy to get. (My family never drank, so I don't really know.)
Most religions have at least some misogyny in them, but the biggest problems come when certain groups of people (men) decide to appropriate those things and ignore the other, more tolerant aspects of religion, ie. at least basic respect, freedom, and autonomy for women.
Speaking of which, I saw this on McSweeney's today:
UNVEILED IN YEMEN: THE BRAVEST 13-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN THE WORLD.
Don't be so sure a man wouldn't be stoned, katie. I'm sure it could happen if there was anything about his clothing that suggested he might be gay. (I'm not saying that's right. I'm saying it's possible. You can't tell that I would say it very dryly on here.)