I went to watch this last night with a few of the Sayoni girls. It would be a crime for me to miss this when it is finally playing in Singapore. Eve Ensler’s celebrated groundbreaking play was given a local flavour by director Loretta Chen, produced by Zebra Crossing.
This originally appeared on Popagandhi, and is a part of our series of publishing the works read at Contradiction this year.
Why I am Still a Feminist
by Adrianna Tan
I am still a feminist because I am no longer ashamed of saying I am one. I have grown tired for apologizing for so many of the things I am: for being liberal, lesbian, anti-Bush and anti-war, a Christian that hates the fundamentalists. Anymore to apologize for, and I may have to apologize for being Chinese.
I was feminist before I was lesbian. I was feminist before I was liberal. I was feminist before I knew feminism had become synonymous with ‘bra burning’ and ‘aggressive’ (I like my bras too much, and I prefer to be passive-aggressive). I was feminist the moment I was acutely aware that being a girl meant there were many things I could not do, and so much more I was expected to.
Indignation 2008 season is now over - all good things must come to an end - and at the end of yet another successful pride month, Sayoni would like to thank all its supporters and volunteers who have worked tirelessly to make our events possible. We would like to thank, as well, all the people who turned up at the events and made it vibrant.
Here’s wishing for another year of progress!
Ms. Constance Singam, current president of AWARE, Singapore’s leading advocacy group for gender equality, will shed some light on the place of queer women within the feminist movement. Where have we been?
She will speak about political and historical context, difficulties negotiating for respect and diversity, her personal experiences and the future.
Find out more about the feminist movement in Singapore and our part in it.
About Constance Singam
Constance is well-known for being an active and vocal social activist and feminist. She has two degrees in Literature, including an MA.
Her recent publications include “A History of the TWC: Building Social Space in Singapore” and the essay “Quietly Resisting; Silently Subverting: The Wayward Ways of Singapore Women” (Postmodern Singapore, Select Publishing). She was a co-editor of the book “Re-Presenting Singapore Women” (Landmark Publications).
Her social contributions were as Founding Member of TWC1, TWC2, and MediaWatch and as the Past President of SCWO.
Constance was a Columnist in several publications, including “Her World” and “Today” and held AWARE presidency for two terms prior to the present one: 1987-1989, 1994-1996, 2007-present.
About AWARE
AWARE is Singapore’s leading advocacy group dedicated to promoting gender equality and understanding. Since its inception in 1985, AWARE has brought women’s perspectives to national issues and has focused on Research & Advocacy, Educational Programs, and Direct Services.
AWARE seeks to identify areas for improvement in gender equality, encourage positive change and support women in realising their highest potential. It believes that gains made by women are not gains made at the expense of men. Rather, they are gains which benefit families and society as a whole.
AWARE is a not-for-profit non-governmental organisation and is funded solely by donations, grants, and member subscriptions.
Date: Saturday, 16 August 2008
Time: 7:30 pm
Venue: 72-13
“It’s so disgusting to see two men getting intimate!”
“Lesbian sex is unfathomable…”
“Homosexuals shouldn’t exist on this planet.”
Which of these statements is/are homophobic in nature?
AnJ Ho will take you inside homophobia, to find out from the perspective of research: What constitutes homophobia? What’s the profile of a typical homophobe like, and what might make a difference?
AnJ undertakes research at a local tertiary institution. Her research interests revolve around social psychology.
Date: Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Time: 7:30 pm
Venue: 72-13
MDA rating: M18
This year, we are bringing back a classic which explores gay issues in Singapore Chinese theatre. Performed in 1992, Another Tribe was written by Otto Fong and is the first local Chinese play to explore gay issues. The original cast, Jackie Liu and Kevin How will be reading for their own roles from over 10 years ago. Together with Otto Fong and the director Kok Heng Leun, they will be present to share with the audience their experiences and thoughts while embarking on such a taboo topic at that time. Renowned writer and playwright Quah Sy Ren will also be on the panel to comment on the play as critic and audience.
Performed in Mandarin.
Date: Wednesday, 6 August 2008
Time: 7:30 pm
Venue: 72-13
Read the interview with Otto and Jackie on this play, published by Lianhe Zaobao.
Singapore’s 4th annual Pride Season is coming again - in August 2008
There are talks and forums, art and literature, and of course, fun social and outdoor events - for learning, celebrating and building bridges with those outside our communities. So please keep your evenings free in August and come to as many as you can.
All events are free of charge unless otherwise stated.
Sayoni will also be hosting our own events during Indignation. Please check out the full list of events HERE.
“She just turned straight.”
“She was straight… but now she’s with so-and-so…”
I think it’s high time we differentiate sexual gratification from sexual attraction. With all the muddle over sexual orientation and its pervasive inaccurate conclusions, surely we need to know what we really mean when we use words like “gay” and “straight”?
In the “ideal” world, people get attached to those they find physically attracted to. In the “ideal” world, people are sexually satisfied/gratified with someone they find physically attractive. Very ideal… But it doesn’t always happen that way.
Sexual gratification… is just a fulfillment of your sex drive.
We have all heard of sex drives. Those who say they don’t have it are either asexual, occupied/distracted/physically unwell or in huge denial. Sometimes people “self-help” by masturbation. Sometimes people use toys in their sexual activities with themselves or others. Sometimes people just have sex with other people. And then they become sexually gratified.
No one has ever come up with a sexual orientation for those who have sex with toys. Like, “oh, you sleep with your toys? You are toy-sexual” or “touching yourself makes you narcissist-sexual”.
So why is it that a woman who slept with a man is labeled “straight” automatically?
Why do we brand women who slept with other women as “gay” immediately?
What if she’s just “using” him/her for sexual gratification?
I think lots of people just settle for sexual gratification.
Like folks who tell me that partners who look too good give them insecurity. [Well lady/dude, if you looking good doesn't give her/him insecurity, what does that tell you about you?]
Plenty of people say it’s more important to find someone you can “click” with than having a good-looking face. So there, emotional attraction is prized above physical attraction. Since sexual orientation is about physical attractiveness, i would hesitate to label a woman who receives sexual gratification from another woman she didn’t find physically attractive as “lesbian”.
Maybe that’s one of the reasons why people make love in the dark.
Maybe some people are not bi-curious or exploring their sexual orientation. Perhaps they are just interested in a wide array of sexual gratification methods/activities…
This article is written by our guest writer, Ho Chi Sam.
Image taken from aboutleap.com
The world is so much easily understood if we saw and believed in everything in binary opposites, and ideally, both ends/poles function in tandem, in contrast, interdependently, symbiotically, and eventually contribute to a whole, a stable system, a status quo.
Where does the woman stand in the world of binary opposites? For millennia, literature, rhetoric and discourses have by default refer to “humanity” as “man”, “humankind” as “mankind”, most random persons as “he” (Freudian slip any one?). This whole, stable system and status quo privileges a dominant kind – the male-oriented. It is gendered and sexed accordingly to toe the line of the androcentric, patriarchal and heterosexist establishment.
This was reported in the Straits Times on 8th May.
IN THE first case of its kind, a chef infected with HIV was charged in court yesterday with engaging in oral sex with a 16-year-old without first informing him of the risks of contracting the virus that causes Aids.Chan Mun Chiong, 43, pleaded guilty to that charge as well as to another of committing an act of gross indecency with the teen.
The Ministry of Health summons charge said he had oral sex without first telling the teenager about the HIV risk. He also failed to get him to voluntarily agree to accept that risk. The offence carries a fine of up to $10,000 or up to two years in jail, or both.
The sex charge said that the bespectacled, spiky-haired man and the boy performed the sex acts in a cubicle of a men’s toilet at the Northpoint Shopping Centre in Yishun on Sept 15 last year. For the gross indecency charge, he faces a jail term of up to two years.
Chan, who did not have a lawyer, was released on $10,000 bail. He is expected back in court today for his case to be dealt with.
He does not face stiffer penalties that were passed by Parliament last month as they had yet to go into effect.
Under amendments to the Infectious Diseases Act, those found guilty of having unprotected sex even if they do not know but have ‘reason to believe’ that they have or have been exposed to HIV can be jailed for up to 10 years and/or fined up to $50,000.
The Health Ministry has in the past investigated some cases, but no one has been prosecuted until yesterday.
One case was compounded last year. In another case, a foreigner being investigated left the country in 2005 before he could be charged.
‘Tis the season, not for merry and joy, but for news after news of institutionalized homophobia, here in Singapore. Firstly, two media providers were separately fined by the MDA for airing content deemed to be too pro-gay, barely weeks apart. Secondly, a gay sauna was unreasonably and (possibly extra-legally) raided by the police.
Results for the Sayoni Hot 20 List 2008 are out!
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