Outraging Modesty

Those of you who have read my previous blog will say "Ah, there's the Bea we know and love..." when you read this post.

If you know me, you know I'm rather a feminist. Now, I am going to take this moment to explain to you what my personal definition of this term is (which happens to be the actual dictionary-style one, but is often not fully understood or known by a lot of people whose concept is clouded by lots of BS from the media etc.) and tell you that in my concept it means that I believe that men and women and people who fall outside of that category all together all deserve rights. I also happen to believe that in spite of the amazing strides our gender has made in the recent past we will have quite a bit of work to do to even things out and make sure that things like being paid the same money for the same work, or ensuring that educational opportunities and the right to consent to what is done to our bodies are made equal for both genders.

All of that being said I would like to tell you what things look like to me right now here on the ground in Singapore. The other day I read an article in the Straits Times, the newspaper here in Singapore that contained an interesting phrase. It said something about a man getting intoxicated at a bar and which then "lead to him outraging the modesty" of a female server for which he is being charged. You see, outraging someones modesty here in Singapore is a crime. One that I have often giggled at because I find the language rather humorous however I stopped and gave this some thought.

I think this law probably stems to some extent to Muslim laws about women, and the notion that their modesty be protected (case in point, women who wear head scarves or burqua) which then got me thinking about the women in religion course I took in university where we talked about how pro-women most large religions were before people came along and eventually turned them into being not so pro-women. This extends to Islam, where Mohammed (or The Prophet, if you will) can actually in many instances be seen to have been rather pro-sister.

The assumption made here ladies, is that we have this innate "modesty" which is a right and that if someone messes with it then they are committing a crime. As a feminist, I kinda like the cut of that jib. We spend a lot of time fighting for the right to sexual expression and freedom (hello SlutWalk you kinky harlot) in whatever way we choose and I think we sometimes sort of forget that women also should have the right to modesty. Here in Singapore, you walk through a crowd and to your left you might see an incredibly gorgeous, tight, short dress,  8 inch heel wearing Chinese goddess and on the other you might see a beautiful Malay lady kitted out with a beautiful headscarf and long pants and sleeves. Both of these women have the right to express themselves and their sexuality however they please and they both have the right to whatever degree of "modesty" they see fit. Now that my friends is kind of a cool thought.

I am in no way arguing here that Singapore is some sort of Gender Utopia. If I were to get pregnant tomorrow, as a civil servant I am entitled to three months  of maternity leave. Yes, three. And that is only if I am married. I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to do if I'm not. I guess have my kid on the weekend and make sure I show up on Monday? No one at the Ministry of Education seemed able to answer me when I asked, mostly out of feminist indignation what would happen if a single woman became pregnant.

Though, another interesting social state here is that men are required to enter two years of service in the military here. Yes, we can talk about how women are just as capable and the other implications of this policy. But the interesting thing that I hadn't thought about until I was speaking with one of the trainee teachers at my school is that he is now two years behind the girls who grew up with him in primary school. A woman at our school is a full-fledged teacher and she went to primary school with this guy, but he was in the Navy for his required two years and is just now finishing his training. Does that give women a bit of a leg up? Does it even out the difference because of time we may take off (our whopping three months!) if we have children? I'm not sure, but it's something to think about.

Anyhow, these are things I think about when I am wandering around and looking at stuff and I do so like to write about them. On a side note, if you've ever been to the wonderful Hillside Festival in Guelph and are familiar with the ANTICIPATION sign that leads down the curve of the hill onto the island when you first get off the bus, I kind of feel like every day that has passed this week was passing another letter of that sign when you hear the drums rise up in the night air, and start to smell the Hillside food smells until you turn that corner and you look down into the valley that the island lies in, the lights reflecting off the water and you know: it's party time kids.

inate right to modesty
slutwalk