Those who believe that women should not take up modelling jobs are ignorant of the real problem: Men who treat women as sexual objects.

This, according to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Youth chief Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman, was at the heart of the controversy surrounding the outcry over lewd acts involving the life-size cutout of a woman previously used as promotional material at Shell petrol stations. 

The incident had attracted comments from pressure group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) president Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman, who said that "women with dignity" should not accept modelling jobs, properly attired or otherwise.

Syed Saddiq said that Abdullah and all men do not have a right to dictate what women wear or what their dignity was worth.

"This is quite disturbing, and is another way to blame a lady and deflect the accountability of the culprits by placing the responsibility on the lady," he told Malaysiakini. 

Slippery slope

According to Abdullah, women in advertisements was a form of exploitation and was un-Islamic. He said it was "natural" for men to be terangsang (aroused) by women in advertisements.

For Syed Saddiq, it would appear that those who believe in moral policing had extrapolated the old argument that wearing headscarves would prevent harassment to a new argument that women should be kept out of public view altogether.

"Then, it was concluded that if you didn't dress properly, you would be sexually harassed.

"Now, the argument is 'why would you want to give up your dignity?'... We are going down a slippery slope," he said.

In a related development, Perak Mufti Dr Harussani Zakaria has declared that the cutout used by Shell was un-Islamic.

According to Astro Awani, Harussani said that such promotional materials should be made illegal because it could cause keghairahan (lust).