AWAM Feminist Camp Book of Proceedings AWAM Feminist Camp Katak di bawah tempurung no more! Book of Proceedings Further Explorations on Feminism in Malaysia January 29-31, 2016, Port Dickson, Malaysia 1 AWAM Feminist Camp Book of Proceedings Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Sessions Climate Change and Feminism 6 Cutting The Vagina - FGM & Circumcision 6 Do We Treat Women’s Labour in a Feminist Way? 7 Fandom & Feminism 8 Feminism & Capitalism - Putting Our Money Where Our Mouths Are 9 Feminism & Pornography or BDSM (Can Pornography be Feminism) 9 Feminism and Emotions (Hypersensitivity vs. Desensitisation) 10 Gender and Education 11 Gender Inequality as the Sole Cause of Feminist Issues 11 Gender Roles in Reproduction Health and Contraception 12 How Relevant Extreme Feminism in Malaysia and the Practicability of Feminism in Malaysia 13 I’m a feminist but… 13 Is There Gender Inequality at Your Workplace 14 Islam’s Point of View on Feminism, Islamic Authorities and Human Rights 15 Kau Perempuan - Padan Muka! 16 Marital Rape, Domestic Violence, Rape 16 Men & Feminism 16 Men and the Spaces They Take Up 17 Motherhood & Working Women 18 Religion & Sexuality 19 Religion & Feminism 19 Sexuality & Feminism 20 Situation of Married Migrants in Malaysia 21 Transgender Lives in Malaysia 21 What is the Issue with Feminism and How to Overcome It 22 Why are Marginalised Communities Expected to Perform Free Labour When it Comes to Educating 22 the Masses Why Women Themselves don’t Support Feminism - How to Advocate Feminism to Everyone 23 Women & Media 23 Women in Politics and Top Management 24 Women Who Have Abortions Are Murderers 25 3. Closing Circle 26 4. Five principles of Open Space Technology (OST) 27 5. List of 2016 Feminist Camp Participants and Organising Committee 28 6. Acknowledgments 28 2 AWAM Feminist Camp Book of Proceedings Introduction After the resounding success of the first Feminist Camp, the Feminist Camp Organising Committee (FCOC) of AWAM was inspired to hold a second Feminist Camp in 2016 from January 29th-31st. The first Feminist Camp affirmed the value of “creating and holding space” for conversations about feminism in the context of Malaysia. In this second Feminist Camp event, we decided to hold the main theme from the previous camp, Katak Dibawah Tempurung No More, and changed the sub-title to Further Explorations of Feminism in Malaysia. Using the insights we gained from running the first camp, we tweaked the programme to enhance the balance of self-organized and organiser facilitated spaces. Returning to Port Dickson, this year’s event brought together a total of 47 participants as compared to last year’s 38. The event was designed once again using Open Space Technology (OST), as this methodology had proven so successful in eliciting the highest possible self-organising, freedom and choice in participants. OST presupposes that participants have the best possible learning when they are able to decide upon, lead and engage in their own conversation topics. This year, a total of 30 topics were put up and convened by participants ranging from serious political and economic issues such as climate change, corruption and capitalism to longstanding feminist concerns such as reproductive rights, pornography, sex work, violence against women, labour rights, media and religion to more contemporary issues such as fandom and men and feminism. Participants engaged in these discussions based on their interests and passions and were encouraged to delve deeply in these topics, how they affected the live of the most marginalized and how gender intersects with issues of sexuality, class, ethnicity, and religion. The participants enjoyed two and a half days of intense interactions and camaraderie including conversations on the beach after the formal sessions were over. The feedback received from participants confirmed that the Camp provided an open and safe space for topics of discussion that people may not commonly have been comfortable talking about in other spaces. We hope to continue hosting more Feminist Camps in the upcoming years and creating more spaces for people to explore feminism within the Malaysian context in ways they never thought possible before. A word on the Feminist Camp organisers This second AWAM Feminist Camp continued to be a part of AWAM’s Membership Development Committee’s (MDC) programme to bring the conversation of feminism in Malaysia to the fore both in AWAM and in society. The Feminist Camp Organising Committee (FCOC) for this camp was a subcommittee that was structured to include previous 3 AWAM Feminist Camp Book of Proceedings participants and other AWAM members. A couple of the original members of the first FCOC were not able to participate in organising this second camp, but we had a couple of new members including AWAM interns. The process of organising was once again an exhilarating, challenging but wonderful experience, and we learned as much as we did about ourselves as a team as we did about what it takes to pull off the organising an event such as this one. Overall Process of the Camp Similar to the first Camp, this event began on a Friday afternoon with most of the participants arriving to the Regent International School in Port Dickson in the afternoon. Room keys were distributed and participants registered their presence at the event, had some tea and had time to explore their home for the next two and a half days. After this, we held a facilitated session where participants were led through an ice-breaker game, a round of introductions, setting group norms and creating space for participants to speak about their expectations. After dinner, an evening session was held to surface a conversation about feminism in Malaysia. We organised participants into small groups, and each group was given a set of words that they needed to use to create a short skit about gender relations in Malaysia. This resulted in 6 unique and highly creative skits – that generated laughter, empathy, connection and a deeper level of conversation. The small group work also gave participants the opportunity to further get to know each other and engage each other in conversations about feminist perspectives on gender relations in Malaysian society. Day 2 and Day 3 were shaped entirely by Open Space Technology (OST). A typical OST even begins with everyone sitting in a large circle facing each other. The facilitators walk in the inner space of the circle while explaining the process. The space was “opened” by the two facilitators for this meeting, Susanna George, who gave instructions in English, and Thency Gunasekaran, who explained the process in Bahasa Malaysia. Participants were invited to suggest the topics that they were most passionate about under the theme, “Katak Dibawah Tempurung No More: Further Explorations of Feminism in Malaysia. Once topics were decided and the agenda wall was filled for the two days participants were free to choose which of the workshops they wanted to attend. Participants had been informed by the facilitators of the five principles of OST namely: Whoever comes are the right people Where ever it happens is the right place Whenever it starts is the right time Whatever happens is the only thing that could have When its over its over As simple as these principles sound at the outset, they establish the norms for a complete mind-set shift in participants. Rather than being told what to discuss and directed as to how to discuss a topic, participants are left with a great deal of choice. The agenda is determined 4 AWAM Feminist Camp Book of Proceedings by the participants themselves, and they take responsibility for their own experience. If embraced in its fullest sense, participants realise that they have choice, can self-determine their degree of participation, and do not rely on the organisers to make the meeting a learning experience. Instead, participants steer and shape their own experience, and the quality of the conversation is determined by the participants themselves. Besides the five principles, there is one “Law” known as the “Law of Two Feet/Mobility.” The Law of Two Feet states that when a person feels that they are no longer contributing to a conversation or a conversation is not contributing to their own learning, they have the responsibility of getting up and leaving the conversation. This too goes against what is normative in meetings, and certainly in the Malaysian context, where politeness is of premium importance. Even so, this Law is what enables people to participate on the basis of choice, and this is fundamentally a feminist and liberatory concept. Day 2 concluded with participants gathering back into the big circle and engaged in a sharing of insights in a process known as the Evening News plenary. During this half hour session, participants get to share with each other the highlights of the day with each other. Notes are produced from each of the topic workshops, and these notes, known as Convenor’s Notes are put up on the News Wall. Participants are encouraged to read through these comments and find out from each other what the sessions they did not attend were about. The evening of Day 2 was left unstructured for participants to self-organise. Participants did a range of things in the free time: some hung out on the beach chatting or swimming or playing the guitar into the wee hours of the morning, others played board games or games they invented along the way, and many of the conversations that began in the morning continued to deepen through the evening. Day 3 began with an opportunity for participants to name new topics for discussion in the workshop groups. After two more rounds of conversation in the morning, participants had the opportunity to indicate using dots on the Convenor’s Sheets the topics that they found the most interesting and the most worth pursuing.