The new misogyny by Shanon Shah
Taken from The Sun 'Freespace' Column

Once, when I was a teenager, I had to entertain a phone call from a complete stranger. He asked to speak to my mother's genitalia, which he referred to in extremely crude Malay. Genuinely unable to make out what he had said, I asked, "Who?" He seemed unbalanced by my response, but repeated his question. Slightly embarrassed by the fact that I still could not make out what he was saying, I repeated my question, "Who?" This went back and forth a few times. In the end I feebly said, "I'm sorry, there's no one here by that name." I don't know what it was, but precisely as I finished my sentence, my brain finally processed what the obscene prank caller was saying. But the only response I could muster was, "Hoi! Kurang ajar!" Then he hung up.

When I recall this incident, I am tickled by my own reaction. Part of me affectionately thinks I must be a really blur dungu. And that's where I guess it's fun to watch hidden camera shows, where we can laugh at people like ourselves being dungus every once in a while. It might be even more entertaining, sometimes, to watch your favourite (or not so favourite) celebrities - who are normally so poised, so coiffed, so perfect - caught in situations in which their inner dungu gets revealed.

So yes, there's this local television show - which imitates a show on MTV - that makes use of its prime time slot to show local celebrities getting "punk'd" in this way. In one of the more recent episodes which aired on May 25 this year, a famous Malay female singer was accosted by three masked men, blindfolded and kidnapped. Rumour has it that the singer really fainted from shock at some stage, but this footage was culled from the cut that was eventually aired. What the camera did capture, though, was the singer (unconvincingly) stating at the end that it was all in good fun and she found it Ôbest'. (Don't know how much of this was her calculating whether it would damage her career if she decided to counter-attack on camera.) Anyway, this was supposed to be funny.

I'm sorry, but I fail to see the humour in it.

I suppose it's partly because this is one time of the year which gets me quite depressed. June 14 marks the anniversary of the abduction, rape and murder of Canny Ong. So, instead of chortling at some Malay diva's response to being the unsuspecting victim of a staged kidnapping, I am instead thinking about Canny Ong's last thoughts before she was raped, murdered, had her legs cut off and her corpse burnt.

On the other hand, there are many viewers who watched this particular episode and said that they kesian the poor female artist, but found the episode "best" anyway.

But this is precisely what is bothering me at the moment. I love practical jokes. I love saying "Boo" to my friends and then guffawing when they rain me with expletives and mock threats of revenge. And I love raining expletives on them when they finally do get their revenge. But these are my friends. And we're not simulating life-threatening situations that parallel actual, chilling incidents of violence.

So maybe the TV pranksters in this case did not intend any real harm. That's not the point. It's the context in which we were asked to accept this as entertainment. In light of unsettling reports of ongoing violence against women, being asked to laugh at a staged kidnapping of a woman - in which she honestly fears that she is actually being kidnapped - is disturbing. That there are people who were actually entertained and amused when watching it simply astounds me.

Maybe I need to lighten up. But sorry lah, dungu-ness notwithstanding, I just can't.

You know what would've been really funny, though? If the singer in this case had rained a series of colourful expletives on the pranksters. And proceeded to give them a two-hour lecture on Canny Ong and all other incidences of violence against women.

Shanon Shah is a singer-songwriter whose debut Malay album Dilanda Cinta was released last year to rave reviews. He also works on human rights issues, including gender, sexuality and HIV/AIDS. Comments: feedback@thesundaily.com

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