http://www.malaysiakini.com.my/archives_news/2000/nov/nov1/news1.htm
       Nov 1, 2000

       Unmasking rape
       M Nadarajah

       Noor Suzaily's rape was brutal enough to have jolted a large number of
       Malaysians even in spite of the fact that we are told that it is just a "rare"
       occurrence and there is no need for us to be alarmed.

       This rationalisation through the "statistical mode of thinking" strategy for
       administrative and political consumption really kills our humanity and
       substitutes cold numbers instead. Even if a nation does not grieve over this
       very unfortunate incident, we can avoid being unkind.

                       In the rapist life, in a moment, one aspect of civilisation
                       had melted away while "another" pushed the cold,
                       calculative animal that had come to be, to its logical end.
                       It is not about numbers we are dealing with here as much
                       about democracy and humanity, its scope and its
                       presence in our norms and values and as part our private
                       and public behaviour in the context of social
                       relationships.

                       In considering civilisation, people seem to think that rape
                       is uncivilised behaviour (so we call a rapist an "animal")
                       when in actual practice there is an aspect of our
                       "civilised practice", or civilisation, in which rape can be
       socially located. This aspect of our civilisation needs to be intensely
       interrogated and confronted. What are we really dealing with here?

       Perverse logic

       The general tenor of the way we deal with social problems in this country is
       to further punish the victim. That is part of our national problem solving
       strategy! So when we are faced with a violent situation in which a woman's
       body is violated, we seem to, overtly or covertly, blame women.

       Thus, men involved in the act of rape are presented by making women share
       the blame for it too. The blame on the male is sought to be reduced, if not
       legally, at least in terms of general public opinion. There is an attempt to
       frame a non-binding, but damaging, social verdict: women are also partly or
       fully responsible.

       The other side to this "the-woman-provoked-it" argument is saying, "Men will
       be men, women have to watch out". This general socio-biological position, or
       the wisdom of the evolutionist-biologist, simply implies "women take care". In
       a sense, this argument also suggests "all men are potential rapists".

       So, for one group of people (certainly not outside civilisation) the cause of
       rape is a man's biology. He just cannot help what he is doing. It is, as the
       evolutionist-biologist likes to argue, a violent "form of male reproductive
       behaviour". The male rapes in order to maintain the continuity of our species.
       What perverse logic?

       An extension of this argument is one that focuses on misguided individuals,
       irrationally acting individuals, badly brought up individuals, etc. Thus, rape is
       presented as the act of an individual. Is it?

       These explanatory or rationalisation attempts take away and hide a "cause"
       that is embedded deep in the structures and attitudes of our society. While
       we can take the individual rapist to task through a legal process, how do we
       take to task the patriarchal - an ideology and practice that privileges men -
       society we live in, the "societal womb" that is the Father of all rapists? In
       fact, it is one aspect of our so-called civilisation that is at the root of what
       happened to Noor Suzaily.

       Noor Suzaily is certainly the victim of our patriarchal patterns of behaviour as
       much as the poor public security measures that we have and the individual
       who actually committed the act, an individual produced by the same society
       that treats women on principles different from that applicable to the men.

       Gender inequality

       There are many kinds of rape situations, some of which are:

        Rape taking place when an anonymous male rapes a woman in a place not
       "visible" to the public - "anonymous male" rape;

        Rape taking place during social conflict - communal/ethnic confrontation or
       war;

        Rape within marriage when a husband rapes a sexually unwilling wife -
       "domestic rape";

        Rape taking place within a family - adult and senior male member of a family
       raping a younger female member of the family;

        Rape during a period of captivity, either as prisoner - prison rape - or as
       "slave"-like work situation, and

        Rape during a date -"'date/acquaintance' rape".

       Consider these situations with the following observations.

                   Among the social inequalities in Malaysia is certainly the form
                   that exists between the male and the female - gender
                   inequality. This form of inequality articulates at the economic,
                   political and socio-cultural levels. This has serious
       consequence. Work, a critically important activity, is by definition "male
       work"; "housework" certainly is not. Housework, and consequently women's
       work, is as free as fresh air, or of poor quality.

       Thus, a typical structuring of a patriarchal society contributes to the
       economic marginalisation of women and the assertion of the male position.
       The power to make important domestic or public decisions is hardly in the
       hands of women. This consequence also becomes a cause for her marginal
       status.

       Stop for a while and make casual calculations of women's housework in terms
       of hours of work. Put a wage bill on it and soon you will realise how much her
       contribution outstrips men's. This is not about her larger contribution as
       much as how we treat her in spite of her larger contribution. What civilisation
       are we talking about?

       Then there is serious "cultural framing" of the female in terms of values,
       norms or her expected behaviour. The cultural framing also defines the
       "masculine" and the "feminine". A close examination of this will also reveal
       how we treat our womenfolk or the girl child at home and in society. For
       instance, career is about the upward mobility of men. She is expected to
       move where he goes, even give up her career.

       Socialisation

       Far more serious is the socialisation of our children. Socialisation is gender
       biased and, through the process, we build a number of myths about women's
       inferior position in relation to men's superior position. It helps to culturally
       sustain her marginalisation. In all these, the "male supremacy complex" is
       subtly introduced. And, along with it emerges a sense of how one is
       privileged as a male and what is expected of women.

       In relation to this, a close and careful examination of some of our legislation
       will also reveal gender insensitivity. Our religions have aspects of gender
       inequality. Some commentator on the rape incident mentioned about the
       Hindu society having some control over rape behaviour because of the
       practice of Mother Goddess worship.

       I do not have the comparative figures, but some of the worst atrocities on
       women - like bride burning - can be found in India and among the Hindus,
       which is the predominant religion. In fact, it puzzles the average Indian social
       scientist of the contradiction - Mother Goddess worship on one side while
       beating and killing women on the other.

       Cultural framing also influences the assignment of work and to what levels a
       woman can go up in an organisation. There are "glass ceilings" that obstruct
       her career paths. Culturally, an unkind aspect of this kind of society is the
       general negative opinion about raped women (extrapolating the findings of a
       1977 study of rape in Penang). A rape victim would have had to go through
       the shame of it all and daily face a society that will look at her as a "spoilt"
       woman.

       A critical look at the socialisation process will reveal a democratically
       unsustainable gendering process in place. Within a supposedly caring
       atmosphere of the home environment, a difference between the male and
       female child is slowly converted into a socially unequal situation. Many
       amongst us certainly privilege the male child. This shift also has a serious
       societal presence.

                       A logical development of this shift involves the
                       transformation of a physical difference between the male
                       and female in strengths into an expression of social
                       power. A physical difference, in combination with other
                       features described above, becomes symbolically
                       evaluated. And one very serious logical conclusion of this
                       development is rape.

                       Another serious development is the threat the male can
                       present to the female in many areas of social life in which
                       he "rules", which can force her to agree to do many
                       things, including sexual favours. The "sex-as-strategy"
                       used by women only make sense if one evaluates why it
                       has become a strategy in the first place.

                       The media adds to the problem - eroticising, commodifying
                       and marginalising women. And with the Internet, the
                       commodification of women has reached a new height.
       There is almost an infinite classification of the sex act in which the framing
       of the act is always from the point of view of the "male gaze".

       The images almost always portray the physical satisfaction of male sexual
       desire through penetration or ejaculation within a context of the male
       dominating the female or her unalloyed attention to satisfying his desire.

       They even have a category called "bondage" where images represent the
       eroticising of male brutality. Images and depiction of situations in our popular
       books, magazines and advertisement also contribute to our children and
       youth acquiring a view of society in which the female is eroticised and
       commodified as an object.

       The general features cited above are aspect of the patriarchal society that
       we live in. This is supposedly a civilised society. It is not difficult to see that
       "civilisation" is as much responsible for Noor Suzaily's death as the individual
       and the poor public security measures.

       Public security

       The modernisation of society has opened up and enlarged the public sphere
       for our activity. This process puts women in the public sphere but does not
       adequately prepare support structures or a democratic environment for her
       protection in that sphere. There is hardly a careful consideration of serious
       public security measures or procedures.

       Consequently, there are many lonely places in the public sphere or lonely
       situations in the private sphere that neither has democratised normative
       protection, which is more pervasive, nor police protection, which is more
       localised.

                  Practically, the police cannot be everywhere. The chances of
                  police being present at a place of possible rape are really low.
                  We therefore need actively sustained public security procedures
                  and measures that can help ordinary folks defend themselves.
                  But the only serious and sustainable defence we have is
                  normative pressure within a democratised culture.

       If not, a combination of lonely public or private spaces and a patriarchal
       mentality or social ethos based on the male supremacy complex that turn
       women into erotic commodities makes a perfect ground for social predation,
       and that can certainly lead to rape.

       Patriarchal society is certainly guilty of doing to women, on a daily basis,
       more harm than we can imagine. For now we have convicted the individual
       rapist but patriarchy is still at large. We need to address the roots of the
       patriarchal society we live in and weed out unsustainable expressions of
       woman-man relationship.

       There is a need to build an all round democratic culture. That will eventually
       reduce the unfortunate occurrences like the one in which Noor Suzaily got
       entangled.
 

       The All Women's Action Society is organising a public forum, "Eliminate
       Rape! Our Responsibility", this Saturday, Nov 4, at 3pm, Pearl
       International Hotel (Forum on rape to dispel misconceptions, Nov 1).
 

       DR M NADARAJAH teaches sociology and organisation theory at Stamford
       College and is involved in activities related to sustainable development and
       urbanisation.