Or if not, in the Malay Dramas, the tudung wearing women are also depicted as those defenseless creatures who ended up being oppressed and abused by their husbands, then doing nothing but crying and lamenting their fates.
More often, these tudung-wearing women would be the ones who will talk about Islam, the ones who give advice to the other so-called not-so-pious women who do not wear tudung.
It kinda gives the same stigma, the stereotype of women wearing tudung. They did nothing in the dramas/movies but to preach about religion, and of course, to display good moral conducts, being role models among their peers and colleagues.
Of course, those are the attributes that tudung-wearing women should have. But come on la, is that all? No other images given to them?
I have yet to see a drama or a movie about a tudung-wearing woman:
1. Who won karate competition, competing with a woman from different religion, to show that Muslim women too, could enter and win martial art competition, completely blowing off the common misconception non Muslims have about tudung-wearing Muslim women.
2. Who becomes the advocate of Humans' Rights, and even entered jail for defending women's rights. This happened in real life of course but sadly, haven't been portrayed in dramas or TVs.
3. A strong minded woman who does not talk about religion 24/7 to show that she is pious. Being a Muslim woman doesn't mean that you have to become Perempuan Melayu Terakhir, acting all sweet and soft, up to the point that you're being labelled as LEMBIK.
4. Who entered sports and won! We can do sports as well!
5. Who is a scientist and managed to create a time travel machine using a DeLorean and flux capacitor (okay, this sounds ridiculous).
6. A journalist disguising as a student at school (now why does this sound familiar?)
The list of things that tudung-wearing women could do is endless(almost!). We are not defenseless like Bella Swan in Twilight saga. In fact, we are independent! Tudung does not restrict us doing stuffs we like as long as it does not contradict the Islamic teachings. Islam is an easy religion. It's the followers who make things so difficult.
Seriously, the TV producers nowadays need to change this stigma. It's always the same old storyline. Bad woman who doesn't wear tudung, good tudung-wearing woman, the hero who is attracted to the tudung-wearing woman, the bad woman devising strategies to sabotage the tudung-wearing woman. The tudung wearing woman knowing about the bad woman's intentions yet choosing to do nothing but to become patient and leave everything to God. (and cries) Purrr-leaseeee...
They should vary the roles of tudung-wearing women. Barulah best.
They should vary the roles of tudung-wearing women. Barulah best.
No wonder cerita Melayu sekarang bosan. T__T
4 comments:
i want to like ur post a zillion times if possible..:P
"We are not defenseless like Bella Swan in Twilight Saga"
-priceless quote!!
we're certainly doesn't want to be a helpless Bella, but i wouldn't really mind to be saved by Jacob or Edward..tehee
Hahaha, thank you!!! :D
Yeah, me too! But it will be better if WE rescue the guys instead, so that they will be indebted to us. HAHA. *evil laughter*
LIKE LIKE LIKE :D
Though I might add: entertainment mirrors the society and its culture. Seeing what's popular in movies and tv right now, clearly, those attributes of tudung-wearing women are deemed ideal by our societal standards. Sadly those aren't going to change any time soon. 'The evolution of entertainment is forever intertwined with the evolution of societies in which it resides.'
tbh it ain't going to change any time soon. /pessimist
In case anyone mistook this whole thing; There's nothing *wrong* (loosely defined there) with you wanting to be demure, sickly-sweet, priggish, one-dimensional, mary sue-ish, etc. Up to you, sure, whatever.
It's just that we want better, DIVERSE representations of MUSLIM WOMEN in media. And we need to call out writes/directors for their crap.
Also, after watching a certain Malay movie, I'd say "We are not defenseless like Izzah in Ombak Rindu."
Dude, she made freakin' Bella look like the freakin' role model for feminism.
Nice post. Kudos :)
NICE COMMENT!!!! xD
Ideal attributes of tudung-wearing people huh? I'm sure that I (plus most of my friends) do not fit into that 'ideal' category. I don't even want to. :P
A lady-like, soft-spoken (and any other criteria, you name it) woman is often deemed as someone who befits the definition of a perfect woman in the society.
It's not like it's wrong being lady-like and sweet. But sometimes they hold too much of that particular conviction that they tend to forget about their own rights!
Outspoken women are often appraised as being rude, unladylike, those who do not act in accordance to how a woman should behave. Pfft, what's with this?
I've heard of a quote. A woman should behave like a lady and think like a man. That's what we should do of course.
I haven't watched Ombak Rindu, but I've read the book and watched the trailer of Maya Karin acting as the oh-so-vulnerable Izzah.
To tell the truth, Maya Karin/Izzah inspired me to write this post. :P
And thank you!!! :D
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