Feminism and artists

From Media Indonesia

The feminist movement has strongly demanded that women should no longer be regarded as second-class citizens. Instead, they should be valued and placed on the same level as men. However, many of the women activists should introspect because in real life, many women have been abusing or downgrading their own dignity, giving an impression that they are disgraceful, low and cheap in the eyes of their male compatriots.

Women are indeed created and blessed with beauty. Unfortunately, not many of them realize that this very beauty can be a boomerang against them if they have no self-respect. As a result, even a well-known artist can become an object and thus can be dealt with like a market commodity. So, an artist may serve a certain business interest by posing half nude under the pretext of "being artistic", to support advertising products such as candies, toothpastes, soaps, foodstuff, cheap publications, etc. Such women artists are better called a hawked commodity.

They seem to have a false idea that by posing nude they will earn the praise from the public but, on the contrary, the people regard them as a cheap commodity. Everybody from street cleaners to scavengers can enjoy their so-called artistic picture freely and free of charge.

So, the emancipation is merely an obsession in their dream for the feminist movement as some female groups themselves serve as a hindrance to their cause. Why don't they contemplate on this?

M. FACHRIZALA

Jakarta