"It does make a difference what you call things" - (Kate Douglas Wiggins)

It is painful reality to realise that violence against women will not just disappear from our midst. That truth notwithstanding, it is of some consolation to know that whilst women unfortunately succumb to gender violence, there are also fellow women out there who are ready to lend the much needed moral and social support to their downtrodden friends.

These fellow women are mainly those who represent a woman's movement or society or group - in other words they are part of what is to be accurately understood as a feminism movement i.e. concerned with women's interests and issues. And by virtue of such endeavours, these women are then to be called feminists.

It might come as a startle, a little maybe, to some that feminism is very much in our midst. In fact feminism is both a way of thinking and acting.

The social result

According to author Margaret L Andersen in her book Thinking About Women - Sociological Perspectives on Sex and Gender , feminism is not easy to define because it includes a variety of political perspectives and ideas. She says there is no single feminist perspective and feminist theories and programmes for social change sometimes differ quite substantially from one another. Still, there are certain common assumptions within feminism.

Feminism, explains Andersen, begins with the premise that women's and men's positions in society are the result of social, not natural or biological factors.

Although different varieties of feminist thoughts have developed, feminists generally see social institutions and social attitudes as the basis for women's position in society. Because in sexist societies these institutions have created structured inequalities between men and women, feminists believe in transforming institutions to generate liberating social changes on behalf of women.

If Andersen's understanding of feminism is viewed in the Malaysian context, we will come to realise that yes, we too have such women, the likes of those represent various women's groups such as All Women's Action Society, Women's Aid Organisation, Women's Centre for Change, Sisters in Islam and Tenaganita.

Our understanding of the issue of feminism is paramount if women representatives of the above mentioned feminist groups are to garner support for their endeavours. As we are already aware, there are many issues that affect women, be it from the physical, sexual or emotional perspectives.

And these are, unavoidably issues of gender. Maybe that is where the sceptism lies, that because women are commonly victims of gender discrimination, they therefore develop a bitterness towards men and go on a tirade to verbal-bash them - which sums up the layman's understanding of the functions of a feminist.

Sadly, the misconception of feminism in the Malaysian context has resulted in many dedicated and committed feminists shying away from calling themselves just that. Our very own home-grown feminist groups or women's movements often get into loggerheads trying to determine if they should make it known to society that they are feminist movements.

The fear amongst our feminists, while real because of the unpredicted repercussions, needs to be quashed. Feminists back home worry that with that label will come another association, of their group being seen as one that also advocates lesbianism. The common concern is that society will promptly form a consensus that feminists are lesbians and are male haters - an equation so incongruous yet sadly and stubbornly upheld by our society.

In her book Andersen gives a few reasons why the word "feminism" is so problematic. One is because it conjures up different images to different people. As a result, many who might even agree with feminist ideas and programmes for change find it difficult to call themselves feminists. This stems from a misunderstanding of what feminism means.

Betterment of life

The other reason for the stigma, says Andersen, is because feminism to some conjures up images of man-hating and aggressive fanatics, as if to be a feminist means one cannot be gentle, kind and be reasonable or have good relationships with men.

This is simply not true as any careful look at the diverse women and men who are feminists would show. Others will say "I'm not a feminist, I'm a humanist" reflecting their belief in the betterment of life for all persons - men and women alike, but such view does not preclude being a feminist.

Would it not be logical then for one who is really in favour of the betterment of all human beings to call oneself humanist, antiracist and feminist. Popular stereotypes of feminists as angry, radical, man-hating women only further to serve a skewed perception of feminism.

To change the mindset of people that feminism is not married to lesbianism and vice-versa is no less an uphill task because people will believe what they want to believe. And feminism as an issue is one which women's groups be it here or elsewhere are treading via a very safe path.

If the understanding of feminism is made from a broader perspective, it will dawn on us that women's issues are always gender related, be it the issue of discrimination at the work place, or issues such as gender violence i.e. rape, marital rape, incest or sexual harassment.

It will also serve us well to bear in mind that interestingly feminism is not constrained to only women; men too can be feminists in their show of concern on women's issues.

The revelation that men too can be called feminist might come as a shock primarily because feminism per se has never been given its rightful identity and place in the Malaysian society by the society itself. What more acceptance of the fact that men who adopt a pro-woman attitude, who support women's rights and who do not believe men are superior to women are also feminists. But men find it difficult to call themselves feminists as they fear by so doing they will be thought of as gay, which itself is a stigmatised identity in the dominant culture; which shows another point about feminism - that men are subjected to cultural expectations about masculinity that affect their emotions, identities and social roles.

The discrepancy in respect for women rights and equality is classically seen through the apparent holier-than-thou attitude which is so lucid in the case when women who choose to suffer in silence are deemed as "martyr" by the society while those who stop crying and decide to put a stop to the violence against them are labelled by the very same society as misguided souls, women with no moral values and somehow and ironically are labelled as feminists, but with the understanding that they are male haters.

The misunderstood notion of what feminism truly denotes and the purpose that it serves is very much prevalent in our society. Such is the "power" of feminism that it not even accepted by educated women, who sadly, have yet to grasp the true understanding of the issue of being a feminist.

Male-bashing

It is sad that feminism has ended up as a label not many women dare proclaim with pride. Women championing fellow women's rights choose not to see it as an feminist effort. They fear the so-called representation that feminism brings - that of male bashing.

The unwanted fear of being associated with feminism perhaps concludes why women's groups are reluctant to refer to their entities as feminist movements.

They are unsure and unwilling to endure the backlash that might come from the masses should they go public as a feminist outfit.

The present mindset regardless, it is up to women themselves, to a very great extent, to work at eroding the pra-boiled truth that feminists are a bunch of lesbians out to do more harm than good.

As hard as it may be to accept, the fact is that if a woman is a feminist, she has at heart the welfare of her fellow women. Her sexuality has no bearings on her efforts to champion women's causes. Whilst if a woman is a lesbian, her sexuality has a direct bearing on whom she chooses to love but her sexuality will have no bearing on what issues she choose to get herself involved in.

While feminism remains an abandoned issue, feminists, in spite of that, are bravely going about trying to make the world a better place for women especially and also the men. By the way, was Tun Fatimah not a 16 th -century Malaccan feminist too?

JJ RAY started her career with a mainstream publication. A non-conformist, she soon saw the barriers that went up whenever, through her writing, she tried to make the world a home for one and all.