THE CULTURAL REPRESENTATION OF DISABLED WOMEN IN MALAYSIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61841/jec2sn46Keywords:
role model,, representation, disabled women, poverty, MalaysiaAbstract
--This paper sets to explore how disabled women in Malaysia are being perceived in society. The data of this study was collected from in-depth interviews with 33 Malaysian women with physical (mobility) impairment. Over a period of 6 months, 17Malays, 8 Chinese and 8 Indian women were interviewed twice in Malaysia. The majority of informants came from low income and rural families and thus many of them had limited access to basic living needs; such as healthcare, transportation, education and training, as well as employment. Being disabled in Malaysia is complicated by the fact that there are very few positive public role models. Not only are disabled people rarely seen on the street, they are also almost entirely absent from the media, television, or other forms of public life. Living in a society that has very low representation of positive disabled role models in the public and media, and also a persistent negative cultural representation of disabled people, have made many disabled women developed low self-esteem. Many of them were systematically excluded from full participation in society. They spent much of their time within their home environment because many of them lived in remote areas and living in poverty. The family played a key role for them and they had very limited contact with the wider population (both disabled and nondisabled people) so their recognition was almost totally absent in public. Therefore, further discussion on these aspects will be discussed in this paper.
Downloads
References
1. Aminah, A. & Narimah, I. (1992). Wives Work Roles Among Rubber Farming Households in Two Districts of Malaysia. XVIth World Congress of the International Federation of Home Economics, 1992: Paris.
2. Aminah, A. (1998). Country Briefing Paper on Women in Malaysia. [Online]. [Accessed 20 October 2010]. Available from: http://www.adb.org/
3. Amin, A. S., Shaari, A. H., & Khairuddin, K. F. (2019). Barriers to marriage and motherhood: the experiences of disabled women in Malaysia. History of the Family, 00(00), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/1081602X.2019.1663548
4. Gupta V, Puri R, Gupta S, Jain S, Rao GK. "Tamarind Kernel Gum: An Upcoming Natural Polysaccharide." Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy 1.1 (2010), 50-54. Print. doi:10.4103/0975-8453.59512
5. Amin, A. S., Zuki, S. Z. M., & Akhir, N. M. (2019). Accessibility to facilities for persons with disabilities at public institutes of higher learning. International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering, 8(2 Special Issue 10), 21–37. https://doi.org/10.35940/ijrte.B1004.0982S1019
6. Buang, A., Suryandari, R. Y., Ahmad, H., Bakar, K. A., & Jusoh, H. (2015). Women and liveability – best practices of empowerment from Malaysia. Geografia: Malaysian Journal of Society & Space, 11(5), 74– 85.
7. Department of Statistics Malaysia. (2011). Population distribution and basic demographic characteristic report 2010. [Online]. [Accessed 10 February 2013]. Available from:http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/index.php?option=com_content&id=1215
8. Dhungana, B.M. (2006). The lives of disabled women in Nepal: vulnerability without support. Disability & Society. [Online]. 21(2), pp.133-146. [Accessed 13 April 2011]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09687590500498051
9. Faridah S.H. (2003). Career and employment opportunities for women with disabilities in Malaysia. Asia Pacific Disability Rehabilitation Journal. [Online]. 1(1), pp.71-78. [Accessed 26 March 2011]. Available from: http://english.aifo.it/disability/apdrj/apdrj103/diswomen-malayesia.pdf
10. Fatimah, H.D. (1993). Malaysia: case study report. Kuala Lumpur: KPMPN.
11. Jayasooria, D. et al. (1997). Disabled People in a Newly Industrialising Economy: Opportunities and challenges in Malaysia. Disability & Society. [Online]. 12(3), pp.455-463. [Accessed 15 March 2011]. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09687599727281#.U3iuSxsU-ic
12. Kiani, S. (2009). Women with disabilities in the North West province of Cameroon: resilient and deserving of greater attention. Disability & Society. [Online]. 24(4), pp.517-531. [Accessed 6 May 2011]. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687590902879205#.U3UZvhsU-ic
13. Koshal, M. et al. (1998). Women in management: a Malaysian perspective. Women in Management Review. [Online]. 13(1), pp.11-18. [Accessed 9 July 2011]. Available from: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1412111&show=abstract
14. Manap, J., Kassim, A. C., Hamzah, M. R., & Idris, F. (2013). Parenting role model: The professional virtues of Malaysian exemplary mother (Ibu Mitha¯li¯). Pertanika Journal of Social Science and Humanities, 21(December), 173–187.
15. Ministry of Human Resource Malaysia. (2013). Minimum wage policy. [Online]. [Accessed 24 January 2014]. Available from: http://www.mohr.gov.my/docz/Minimum_Wage_Policy_19032013.pdf
16. Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. (2007). Measuring and monitoring gender equality - Malaysia's gender gap index. [Online]. [Accessed 15 November 2010]. Available from: http://www.undp.org/content/malaysia/en/home/library/womens_empowerment/MGGI/
17. Mubarak, A.R. (2006). Employment status, psychiatric disability and quality of life: comparison of men and women with schizophrenia in Malaysia. International Journal of Social Welfare. [Online]. 15(3), pp.240-246. [Accessed 8 May 2012]. Available from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
18. Nagata K.K. (2003). Gender and disability in the Arab region: the challenges in the new millennium. Asia Pacific Disability Rehabilitation Journal. 14, pp.10-17.
19. NGO Shadow Report Group. (2005). NGO Shadow Report on the Initial and Second Periodic Report of the Government of Malaysia: Reviewing the Government’s Implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). [Online]. Kuala Lumpur: NCWO and WAO. [Accessed 2 April 2011]. Available from: http://www.iwraw- ap.org/resources/pdf/Malaysia_SR.pdf.
20. Nor Rafidah Saidon, S. D. & M. S. (2017). Faktor Kepimpinan dan Gender dalam Penglibatan Politik Wanita di Malaysia (1980-2013). Akademika, 87(3), 61–73. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.17576/akad-
2017-8703-05
21. Noraini, M.N. (1999). Roles and Women’s Well-Being: Some Preliminary findings from Malaysia. Sex Roles. [Online]. 41(3/4), pp.123-145.[Accessed 3 April 2011]. Available from: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1018846010541
22. Ramakrishnan, P. (2007). Critical factors influencing employment of disabled persons in Malaysia. Ph.D. thesis, University of South Australia.
23. Razak, N. A., Nadiah, F., & Pisal, A. (2016). Development of Muslim Women Social Entrepreneurs: Towards Digital Economy. International Journal of Business, Economics and Law, 9(5), 52–57.
24. Rohana, A. (1997). Shame, Secrecy and Silence: A Study of Rape in Penang. Pulau Pinang: Women’s Crisis Centre.
25. Anju Meshram, Nidhi Srivastava (2015) Epipremnum Aureum (Jade Pothos): A Multipurpose Plant With Its Medicinal And Pharmacological Properties. Journal of Critical Reviews, 2 (2), 21-25.
26. Rosli, H. F., Mahmud, W. A. W., & Mahbob, M. H. (2016). Peranan media sebagai alat kesedaran sosial dalam kalangan orang kurang upaya di Malaysia. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 32(2), 471–488.
27. Tan, P.C. (1991). Female Participation at Higher Management Levels in the Public Sector. Status and Role of Malaysian Women in Development and Family Welfare. Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya.
28. World Economic Forum. (2012). The Global Gender Gap Report 2012. [Online]. Geneva: World Economic Forum. [Accessed 12 March 2013]. Available from: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2012.pdf
29. Yousof, J.M. (1995). Women in finance in Malaysia. Working Paper Series, The Office for Women’s Research, University of Hawaii at Manova, Vol. 4.
30. Cateni, F., Nitti, P., Zacchigna, M., Procida, G., Lassiani, L., Drioli, S., Florio, C., Pelin, M.Synthesis and antitumor activity of α-alkyliden-γ-lactones(2018) International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 10 (4), pp. 1-8.
31. Zhang, J. (2007). A Survey of the Needs of and Services for Persons with Physical Disability in China. Asia Pacific Disability Rehabilitation Journal. [Online]. 18(2), pp.49-85. [Accessed 13 July 2012]. Available from: http://english.aifo.it/disability/apdrj/apdrj207/china_zhang.pdf
32. Soorya,B.,Shamini,S.S., &Sangeetha,K. (2017). VLSI Implementation of Lossless Video Compression Technique Using New Cross Diamond Search Algorithm. International Journal of Communication and Computer Technologies, 5(1), 27-31.
33. Cheriyan,J.E.,SatheesBabu,S.,&Balasubadra,K. (2014). Efficient Filtering and Location Detection against Insider Attacks in WSN. International Journal of System Design and Information Processing, 2(1), 19-22.
34. Tonello, L., Cocchi, M.The cell membrane: Is it a bridge from psychiatry to quantum consciousness?(2010) NeuroQuantology, 8 (1), pp. 54-60.
35. Conte, E., Khrennikov, A.Y., Todarello, O., Federici, A., Zbilut, J.P. On the existence of quantum wave function and quantum interference effects in mental states: An experimental confirmation during perception and cognition in humans(2009) NeuroQuantology, 7 (2), pp. 204-212
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
