The Wing is an all women’s club focused on bringing women together to form a community where they can be there for each other where women can feel comfortable without having to accommodate anything to a man. At The Wing, they can just be their empowered, authentic selves while creating professional, risk-taking content. Despite the many differences and backgrounds they all have, the architect Alda Ly and interior designer Chiara de Rege alongside The Wing’s own curator, Lolita Cros, came together to design the spaces to reflect the member’s talents and their potential within to not only inspire but to also make them believe in themselves tor taking creative laps.
For Kassan and Gelman, The Wing was more than building a sanctuary for women. It was also a place where women could build connections and networking opportunities with focus and the absent idea of distracting dynamics that can throw a woman off balance which can exist in co-ed offices or social clubs. In a sense, it heightens their abilities to perform better. The Wing has particularly been very popular after the MeToo movement as more women became more open with their experiences and highlighted the importance of being and staying safe. This is when The Wing became a refuge for women. The Wing is a beacon of support for women, saying they have their backs. It is actually the concept of The Wing as well.
This was inspired by the 19th century women’s clubs where women gathered during the suffrage movement for a safe environment. Although every woman has an individual personal concern now, there will still be a space for them where they could walk towards their end goal and fight their worries and improve themselves. The concept was to resurrect the distinct colour women have within and apply it to their design, appropriate for modern women.
Ultimately, due to the Coronavirus attack, I am not allowed to go anywhere at the moment. Even if I wanted to, I would get thrown in prison and would eventually have to pay a fine of up to RM1000 which would be equal to 200 pounds. My father cannot give me his plans as he leaves his work and personal life separate so I will use my house to design my club.
Taken from Google Maps, this is quite a standard sized bungalow. This land is 3000m2 with a gate and a guardhouse at the front. Built in 2005, the house was originally smaller in size however, in 2013, this house went through an expansion while still maintaining the shape of the house. Renovations were completed in the year 2015. This is the completed product.
Pros.
The location of this house is excellent. As we can see, there is a market place near the house which is a 5 minute drive away. Fresh ingredients and local foods can be bought here. Not to mention, clothes and accessories too. Sri Petaling is a street filled with delicious and trendy food. From bubble tea to traditional Malaysian food, Sri Petaling has it all when it comes to food. Bukit Jalil is a famous stadium built for the Commonwealth Games in 1998 as Malaysia hosted the games that year. People can enjoy exercising in the Bukit Jalil Recreational Park where a pond filled with turtles and fishes are there. Not only that, Bukit Jalil has a Golf and Country Resort nearby. As you can see, the location is perfect as there are many things to do around the area. Moreover, it is connected to major highways (yellow) so it is easier to get to the intended destinations. The location is hidden in a dead end with a big gate to prevent anyone from entering where almost no one can find so it is quite exclusive. This fits the questionnaire in which people, mostly women value privacy and safety. To add onto safety, the location has guards stationed outside. There will also be checks by the guards every hour on the house to see if anything abnormal is happening.
Cons.
The land is quite small so only very limited women will have access to use this club.
Girls/Women are faced with lots of problems. These problems are highlighted within the presentation I have made, ranging from sexual harassment to unequal pay to girls not having the proper education they need. My main focus with this project is to support women who have had the unfortunate experiences of being victimised to sexual harassment and being belittled just for being women. Because this project will be taken place in Malaysia, the news here will be taken more into consideration as it will cater Malaysians and their laws.
In Malaysia, it is a very well known fact that men are far more superior than women. In the survey site, YouGov Omnibus, 1002 Malaysians had participated in it before August 6 2019. It was more apparent that women were more likely to experience sexual harassment compared to men. Of all the women who got harassed, only 53% reported/told someone about their problem. Women are most likely to tell their family member (54%) or a friend (51%) about their situation. Only 15% is reported. Often at times, women feel embarrassed about their situation (54%), or the police will not be able to resolve it, or they have a fear it will backfire and women instead will face the consequences (26%). Harassments include sexual assault, verbal comments of a sexual nature such as catcalling and whistling, flashing and taking photos/videos which has not been consented.
Women compared to men, are much more likely to take further precautions in avoiding to being sexually harassed. 70% percent of Malaysian women take precautions compared to 30% of Malaysian men. Different genders have different interests towards hobbies so as a precaution, the genders feel different in terms of avoiding sexual harassment. Men are more keen to learning self defences whereas women are the opposite. In terms of styling, women are more likely concerned with what they wear on the outside to protect themselves. Women in Malaysia are supposed to dress conservatively without showing too much skin as it might “trigger” men into wanting to have sexual intercourse with a woman. There is also the fact that majority of Malaysians are Muslims, meaning as a form of respect, we need to respect the Malay culture. Not only that, most of the elderly in Malaysia are very conservative people.
There is a lack of statistics in Malaysia surrounding the issue of sexual harassment but with this statistic, it is very evident that Malaysia suffers from serious sexual harassment issues that needs to be solved efficiently by the government. Hopefully, they will take this survey as a starting point to improve because the surprising numbers of sexual harassment that go unreported is baffling as the numbers are quite high.
On top of sexual harassment lies unequal pay between both genders. TheStar News has collected data based on the Salaries and Wages Survey Report Malaysia 2018. As a median men earned RM2,342 a month while women earned RM2,227 a month. The difference between the two is RM115 which is quite a lot of money. This is a visual representation of how much men and women earn as a total in RM (Ringgit Malaysia)
It has been established by a World Bank report that women have better credibility than men as they have a better learning ability and have greater educational success. Girls are statistically known to outperform boys as much as their studies go. Women should be earning if not more, equal to what men earn. There are various reasons why this bar chart shows that men earn more than women.
It is unfortunate that many women take the brunt force from being wrongfully discriminated. As the employees climb up the career ladder, the gender wage gap appears to widen due to the effects of gender discrimination being showing up more often without any action taken according to WAO (Women’s Aid Organisation) Advocacy and Communications Officer Tan Heang-Lee. Both genders enter the workforce with the same amount in their salaries however, as they continue their careers, favouritism can be found more towards men as they gain promotions from opportunities and praises for their performances. Women need to learn how to negotiate for a better pay raise/promotion as they are less likely to do so. Some do however, they are labeled as pushy and entitled if they do so. Transparency should be established as women often do not know how much they are paid compared to their male-counterparts. The lack of transparency further calls for a wage gap.
There is also a matter of fact when women give birth, they become mothers. Because of their new children, their employers would find them incompetent as they would have to take time off to take care of their children, finding them unfocused in their work even when their credentials are similar to a man. This is completely opposite for men as they are perceived to be more competent and committed to the job. There is a whole stigma against mothers and it is unfair for women. To mitigate potential gender bias and ensure that these criteria are fair, employers should review their performance appraisal criteria. Because women have a caring nature, they take up careers like nursing to better suit them. This is when there is a problem. Labeled as caring professions, they are often underpaid because our society undervalues care work. This would then cause an occupational segregation contributing to gap as women and men pursue quite different occupations.
To expand the range of career options available to women and girls, we must challenge gender stereotypes. Often times, Malaysian elders favour men more because they were taught from a young age that men are supposed to provide for the family while women are supposed to take care of the family and clean the house. With times changing, barriers put up against women and girls must be taken down for them to see that they can dominate a field in which men normally work such as engineers, architects, scientists, doctors and etc. Women are more likely to graduate with a degree under their belt meaning, they have a better success rate and are overall, better educated compared to men. World Bank gave out a statement saying that the chart was just an illustration that was not quite accurate however, they gave out an estimate saying that women on average should receive a higher salary compared to men when looking at their qualifications from their respective educations.
Reproductive Rights Advocacy Alliance Malaysia honorary secretary Dr Subatra Jayaraj said that stigma remains a prevalent hurdle that prevents Malaysians from getting safe abortions. — Picture by Choo Choy May
Abortions are legal in Malaysian however, not many women can get the surgery done. Also, while it is legal for women in Malaysia to get abortions, abortions pills are still not sold over the counters.
Compared to other countries like Indonesia, Brunei and etc, Malaysia is quite progressive in terms of this issue however, it is only from a medical standpoint. There is a blockage from women who want to abort. Women are allowed to abort their children when the practitioner believes the pregnancy will endanger the life of the woman mentally and physically. This is not the case when we are talking from a social standpoint. There is a social stigma in Malaysia when wanting to abort babies due to personal reasons. Most are unable to receive the surgery. The reason for this is medical professionals are conflicted with their own religious/personal beliefs and the Hippocratic oath they take. Health professionals are allowed to refuse surgery if they think it would not complicate the pregnancy process. Even with reasons like rape or incest, they have the right to refuse the abortion process. The termination of a pregnancy is only done to save the mother’s life however, even women receive judgements just for terminating an unhealthy baby. Health professionals should respect the decision of the women as it is not their right to exercise this choice. The women standing in front of them are already taking it as hard as it is. Women will be mentally assured if they don’t judge, leading to lesser problems such as depression and anxiety. With this being said, abortion pills should be available in pharmacies. Pharmacists can assist them in taking the pills the correct way safely. This leads to lower costs and also it is more discreet for women who do not want to disclose their pregnancy.
Women go around the country seeking for help from medical practitioners as they do not what the baby. They have their reasons as to why they do not want the baby however, they are unable to receive the termination. This leads to women leaving their babies on the streets, drains, trash bins, landfill sites and other discreet places. This is not right as universal contraception should be available for all women. Not only does it harm the baby, it harms the mother too as they try all sorts of things to kill the baby. Some even drink cleaning chemicals, hoping it would cause a miscarriage. Abortion should be accessed and not denied by medical and health practitioners because in the end, it will harm both the baby and the mother. Women and men should be educated on sex education as it will lead to more people having safer sex. Sexual intercourse cannot be prevented even in a country that thrives on morality and abstinence due to the fact that humans still want to reproduce and produce their own offspring. One of the ways we can reduce unwanted pregnancies is through proper sex education. This is to protect their well-being and lead them to make better decisions in their lives. While we have made significant improvements, there are still things we could work on. The key is to empower women so that they have the voice to fight for their right.
New Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
There is a new government that has been selected by the king. In Malaysian politics, the king is not supposed to be involved with politics however, the country was in chaos after the previous Prime Minister, Mahathir Bin Mohamed renounced his title when he still had time left in his rule. It was also a time where the Coronavirus was in Malaysia so it had to be dealt with quickly. With the exchange of Prime Ministers, a new cabinet also had to be formed. For a country to be equal and well thought out, women need to be leaders as well. However, the selection of the Ministers was unfair and unjust. Much like the unequal pay between men and women, there was a lack of female ministers and deputy ministers. There are a total of 5 out of 31 women who are ministers. The majority are men. The lack of women representation is disappointing to say the least however, there are still women representation so it is not too bad overall.
It was the most disappointing to see the Malaysia’s Women and Family Development Ministry, Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun, a female minister, posted several posters online on how women should behave during the MCO (Movement Control Order, quarantine period) in Malaysia.
The translation for the first one says, “Don’t wear comfortable clothing at home. Be prim and proper as if you are working in the office and wear neat clothing.”
The second one says, “If your spouse does something that you do not like, don’t nag him. Use humour and tell him ‘this is the way you hang the clothes, my darling’ (using Doraemon’s tone and giggling.)” It is titled how to humour your husband in the house.
Thankfully, the whole of Malaysia did not sit right with these posters and fired at the ministry for posting such posters. Women’s rights activists in Malaysia left and right called out the ministry for supporting the stereotype that women nag and are loud. There is also a comparison to Doraemon, implying that women should portray themselves to be childish. On that day, the ministry’s hotline had a 57% increase in distressed phone calls made by the people of Malaysia who were affected by these posters. Ultimately, due to the whole nation calling out the ministry’s bad choice of releasing the posters, the ministry apologised and took it down from their website within a few hours. This is a very good example of progression within the nation. If people came together to voice out their opinions, issues would be solved quickly and efficiently.
First established in 1693 with a Gentlemen’s Club, White’s, the men’s only club was previously notorious for a place where the most respected and noble upper-class gentlemen could relax and enjoy themselves by drinking and holding intelligent conversations. Women were not allowed to enter unless a man had invited them. The club was said to have originated in London and then spread to neighbouring countries. The concept of a gentlemen’s club was to socialise and gain connections through introduction while drinking to loosen themselves. Nowadays, there are more clubs being sprung to existence with different intentions. The reason why clubs still exists is because it makes enjoy themselves and feel included within a community that thrives to achieve the same goal. Clubs were created with the idea of acquiring a sense of purpose, strong connections, making alliances, working together towards a goal whilst achieving their idea of fun and enjoyment.
The thought of a Gentlemen’s Club inspired me. In my proposal, I expressed that I wanted to design a sanctuary for women. The proper definition of the word sanctuary means, a safe place from danger. With this club, I want them to feel a sense of belonging where the can enjoy the things they want together. Like a men’s club, this club will have limited members for a sense of a tighter sisterhood. This is a safe space where they can be themselves and be productive. With the survey filled out, I have enough material to work on the different rooms and what this club should have within the spaces. Women are constantly being exploited by men all around the world without their consent. I have read countless articles on women being harassed and abused by men that it baffles me however, it is only to an extent. People left and right do get harassed however, women ultimate are the main targets. A survey finds that 81% of women get sexually harassed. It is a major problem that is not discussed enough. Women tend to keep information about being harassed to themselves as they fear that it would be a sign of weakness. Often, they feel like it isn’t worth talking about but being harassed is an offence that should be taken seriously as it can not only cause physical trauma but mental trauma which will affect them in life. This is why I have decided on a Women’s Club.
Many concerns surfaced my mind as to if the club was not equal enough for both genders however, in the end, I was reassured by a poll from The Telegraph. The poll asked, “Is there still a place in society for single-sex clubs? Majority voted yes.
It is healthy and sometimes necessary for men to be amongst themselves. The same applies to women as it gives them a healthy space to not think about men and just enjoy themselves. Women need to destress and have an escape from the daily pressures of just being a woman.
Talking about Equal Rights is quite a sensitive topic if we are thinking about it from a woman’s standpoint. People often criticise Feminists for being pro female when in fact, it isn’t. This world was built from a man’s point of view so when women want to more than just taking care of children, cooking and cleaning, people (mostly males) will get mad. Throughout history, it is very evident that men have been dominant figures. For example, when a woman through history seems to have been strong and dressed in armour from the remains of the skeletons, archaeologists would have deemed the figure was a male despite the pelvis (the bone which can identify genders) having a wider hip than a typical male. Women are often portrayed as weak and in love with the men in movies. In 2020, the world is changing for the better however, not fast and efficient enough. Women are still seen tearing each other down other than lifting each other up, fighting for one guy who made the obvious choice of cheating first. Men are predominantly physically stronger than women in physique. This gives them an edge against women which makes them think that they could harm and abuse women with the power they hold just because they are men. In poorer countries like Ethiopia, 2 in 5 girls get married before they turn 18. Education is not an option for them. It is a luxury they cannot spend on. In the book Invisible Women, a book based on data, facts and pure science, it blatantly puts out that this world that we live in is made by men and for men. There are also factors like rape, sexual abuse, abuse, harassment, abortion, equal pay rights and so much more that a man can have and a woman could dream. This is why Women’s Organisations that help and support women are in need.
1. International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific
From supporting other Women’s Organisations to monitoring the implementation of the Convention and mobilising the women’s human rights constituency to set the standards at the international level, the IWRAW AP has also addressed and brought up issues women face in the external environment. Having core sets of values, they aim to tackle the underlying issue of discrimination on the basis of sex or gender, freedom for relationships which are oppress the other party and having societies and individuals benefit from a sustainable and inclusive development through treaties and focusing on research where it needs to be. Alliances are also made because it is a key essential in developing a strategic network to gain gender equality. To be able to run their organisation, the IWRAW AP has connections from government institutions, National Human Rights Institutions, legal practitioners, and others.
2. Time’s Up Legal Defence Fund
Helping women who are unable to speak up or report about a sexual harrassment case whether personal or professional, they have received requests from 1700 people from different countries all over the world like the US and Kenya within 2 months of the start up. THis organisation helps women looking to battle harrassment in court by providing legal assistance which is supported by the National Women’s Law Center.
3. Center for Reproductive Rights
A woman should make the decision whether to abort or keep the baby without any guilt tripping from any other secondary party. Center for Reproductive Rights fully recognises the right a woman should make for the well being of her future as well as the baby she will/will not keep. This organisation is famous for their influence in continents like Asia, Africa and the U.S as they help share a new perspective on oppressing abortion bans. A prime example of this would be how they used their platform to address how the abortion ban in El Savador did not help women who were jailed for their stillbirths. The poster above is an offort made by the organisation to help free the 17 women who are accused of having an abortion. Their efforts were not in vain as some women are now free from prison. The rest of the womens cases are still ongoing as they try to free them all.
4. School Girls Unite
In poorer countries, it is hard to eliminate the stigma that women should not be admitted into schools and receive education because men are still portrayed to be the ones earning income for the family whereas women are seen as cooking, cleaning and taking care of the household with their children. This non profit organisation helps tackle discrimination against young women who want their rights to a proper education but are unable to receive it. 1 in 4 girls in Mali, Africa make it to 7th grade. School Girls Unite step in to help girls, as little as $75, to help them complete their education.
5. Every Mother Counts
Mothers before/during/after giving birth have a high rate of getting depression. Not to mention, the mothers may be single mothers without their significant other to support them. This is where this organisation comes in to help. Every Mother Counts is an organisation where a group of activists help improve medical care for mother through training professionals, improving transportation to care facilities, and donating crucial supplies to clinics which is founded by model Christy Turlington Burns. This organisation has seem immense success with mother mortality rates in mostly Haiti, India and Tanzania.
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