Much ado about ‘indecently’ dressed women
Its time the Kelantan state government educated its people on the virtues of restraint instead of banning certain posters for fear that males are getting sexually aroused.
Early last week, the chairman of the Kelantan Local Government, Housing, Youth and Sports Committee, Abdul Fattah Mahmood said he supported the ban by the Kota Bharu Municipal Council on pictures and posters bearing the image of ‘indecently’ dressed women.
According to him, posters showing models not “properly covered” would cause males to get sexually aroused, which in turn would lead them to engage in unhealthy activities.
To be honest, I have wondered why women are often sexually exploited in the marketing of products. Have you seen the advertisement of a men’s fragrance where the bottle is nestled between a model’s naked breasts? How about the poster marketing a brand of sneakers that depicts a naked woman using one to cover her most ‘private parts’?
To be fair, men too have been exploited in the same manner – advertisements of almost fully-naked men parading in their undies is nothing new. But the most important question is – were the posters banned by the Kelantan Government as outrageous as the ones I described?
I took a look at the poster of Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai modelling a watch, which resulted in the owner of the watch shop slapped with a summons. Aishwarya was decently dressed and looked really elegant. The other poster that was banned was an image of a Chinese model displayed in a hair salon – the poster only revealed the model’s hair, face and part of her neck. And I wonder, what is so indecent about these posters that the Kelantan government is alleging it to be the root cause of unhealthy lifestyles?
I showed these posters to a few male friends and asked if they were sexually aroused. They burst out laughing. According to them, if decent pictures like these could get some men horny, there was something seriously wrong with those men.
Is it because they have the hots for Aishwarya or because the Chinese woman’s flawless skin was too tempting?
While the Kelantan state government imposes its hard-line Islamic values on both Muslim and non-Muslim traders (who may not agree with the values imposed on them) based on their perception about what constitutes sexual arousal, traders operating in Kelantan are being forced to fork out extra money to design new posters and billboard images to market their products and services.
I called a friend in Kota Bharu, asking if it were true that most men in Kelantan were easily aroused. He said that after only seeing tudung-clad women most of the time, perhaps even a little show of skin could easily get some men going ‘badabing badabong.’
His cheeky answer while amusing, got me thinking – if Kelantan says ‘no’ to uncovered women, what do they say yes to?
This is what I found out:
- There are no restrictions when it comes to advertisements in newspapers and magazines – however when those same advertisements are made into billboards, a male will roll his eyes in ecstasy if the women depicted are not wearing the tudung.
- There are no restrictions when it comes to what one watches on the Internet – Kelantanese men are free to watch online porn because porn does not cause men to elicit unhealthy behaviour, only posters of women not wearing the tudung do.
- There are no restrictions on the kind of phone calls one engages in – everyone in Kelantan is free to make use of sex hotlines, because having a steamy conversation does not elicit sexual tendencies, only posters of women not wearing the tudung do.
- There are no restrictions on the sale and consumption of Tongkat Ali – every male is free to get stimulated, because stimulation doesn’t elicit horniness, only posters of women not wearing the tudung do.
And here’s yet another argument – Kelantanese watch the same TV channels as the rest of us. This includes dramas with scantily-clad women in wet sarongs; bedroom scenes between non-muhrim actors; and stories of romance that make viewers squirm with excitement.
If Kelantan is truly an Islamic state, the state government should educate its people on the virtues of restraint instead of forcing them to abide by ridiculous man-made rules.
They should also not be blaming a poster for getting their males sexually aroused.
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