Here’s an article I wrote for The Star which was published in their iPad app on the 24th June 2011 instead of print because they didn’t want to censor any of it. Very kind of them:
There’s been a real kerfuffle over the recent launch of the Obedient Wives’ Club (“OWC”) in KL. OWC principles have been viewed as an insult to women around the world and women’s rights groups are pissed off.
If you think about it, this isn’t really news as women’s rights groups are almost always pissed off. They’ll probably be pissed off with me for saying so (and in that same breath talk about how women have the right to voice their opinions no matter what.)
Women’s rights groups like WAO and SIS think they’re the bees knees in the fight for rights, so when a new player like the OWC steps in and takes a different approach to things, they just get their knickers in a twist and dismiss those methods as demeaning to women, medievel and ultimately ineffective.
Reality check! The contributions made by women’s rights groups these days are at best pathetic when compared to groups championing the causes of men. Men don’t go whining to NGOs when they have grouses to air. They don’t need research papers or case studies. They just rap.
Notable advocates like Ludacris, Lil’ Jon, Usher, P-Diddy and Sisqo (remember him?) communicate what men want in the simplest of terms, reach huge audiences across the globe, have concrete methods to measure their effectiveness (2x Platinum enough for you?), and even win big awards for their contributions! Who can forget such impactful lyrics as:
“Move bitch, get out of the way”
“We want a lady in the street and a freak in the bed”
“Let me see that thong”
“I need a girl (to ride ride ride)”
“Lil Jon and the East side boys wit me and we all like to see ass and tities”
These songs are usually accompanied by a video which works like a public service announcement of sorts depicting an ideal world for men. And judging by the way they’ve been received by the male population, i’d say they’re a good representation of what men are expecting when they say those things.
In addition to alpha males with a lot of bling, hopping around looking badass, driving the flashiest cars, throwing parties at fabulous homes; the videos typically feature tons of women scantily clad in the latest designer trends, looking pretty damn pleased with themselves.
In fact, the messages are so powerful that women all over the world are seen dancing in clubs to these songs, showing their undying support for the cause in the same way straight people turn up at gay pride parades.
So until I see Sisters In Islam at the Grammys, i’d say it’s a bit rich of them to dismiss the OWC’s methods as ‘medieval’ or ‘demeaning to women’.
That said, it’s such a shame that the OWC got the theory down pat, but the practical all wrong.
Despite all the bad press, I had been rooting for the OWC until I saw the video of their club launch. To my shock and horror, instead of “Sensual Seduction”, the whole scene was more like “The Sound of Music”. There weren’t any bikini-clad females lying around or pole dancing to a laser lights display. None of the couples were making out or rubbing up against each other provocatively. Nobody was doing coke in the toilets. No fancy cars, no bull riding, and at one point, they even had little kids line dancing with the ladies on stage!
That’s no way to be obedient! Surely that goes directly against what men want!
There was this woman being interviewed who was going on about the thousand and one sexual positions she was going to teach her club members, and to tell you the truth, she could have been talking about salad spinners for all the impact it had on her audience.
How disappointing. If you ask me, until the Obedient Wives’ Club decides to have happy hour all day long, it’s not going to have much of an impact on the stats. In the absence of good leadership, women ought to wise up and take action independently. Get some plastic surgery, accept the fact that hips do not lie, and buy a thong or two. Otherwise, men will continue to visit prostitutes, and God will get mad at us.
