Of Acting Like A Woman

It's a really good thing I'm not Muslim. Otherwise, my very existence would be the reason for lots of overtime on the part of the Malaysian religious authorities.

In their latest spate of brilliance, Islamic clerics in Malaysia have ruled to ban tomboys:

Malaysia's main body of Islamic clerics has issued an edict banning tomboys in the Muslim-majority country, ruling that girls who act like boys violate the tenets of Islam, an official said Friday.

The National Fatwa Council forbade the practice of girls behaving or dressing like boys during a meeting Thursday in northern Malaysia, said Harussani Idris Zakaria, the mufti of northern Perak state, who attended the gathering.

Harussani said an increasing number of Malaysian girls behave like tomboys, and that some of them engage in homosexuality. Homosexuality is not explicitly banned in Malaysia, but it is effectively illegal under a law that prohibits sex acts "against the order of nature."

Harussani said the council's ruling was not legally binding because it has not been passed into law, but that tomboys should be banned because their actions are immoral.

"It doesn't matter if it's a law or not. When it's wrong, it's wrong. It is a sin," Harussani told The Associated Press. "Tomboy (behavior) is forbidden in Islam."

Under the edict, girls are forbidden to sport short hair and dress, walk and act like boys, Harussani said. Boys should also not act like girls, he said.

"They must respect God. God created them as boys, they must behave like boys. God created them as girls, they must act like girls," he said.

Now I'm really not the authority on how girls should act.

My ex-colleague Lisa and I once made a pact to wear a skirt to work on one day of the year. We got a kick out of seeing the facial expressions of our male colleagues. :)


Alright, maybe not that particular skirt. :) Something more proper. *ahem*

Those are Mastercard moments, I'm telling ya!!

But seriously, more often than not, I'm seen wearing what our esteemed religious authorities would refer to as "men's clothes". I wear slacks to work and when I'm chilling out with friends, I'm usually in a comfortable pair of jeans.

Not only that, I'm nearly always spotted wearing lipstick (frankly, because I like looking hot) and high heels (well, because if the truth be told, I'm vertically challenged *sniff*).

You and I know what other Muslim authorities feel about lipstick and high-heeled shoes.

It's confusing how they can't get their edicts straight. And sometimes, you just can't win.

But it reminds me of the chorus of this old Blur song:

GIRLS WHO ARE BOYS
WHO LIKE BOYS TO BE GIRLS
WHO DO BOYS LIKE THEY'RE GIRLS
WHO DO GIRLS LIKE THEY'RE BOYS
ALWAYS SHOULD BE SOMEONE YOU REALLY LOVE