Letters to the Editor
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If this were the '80s . . .
and Beyonce announced she wouldn't play Sun City, would there even be a question about the wisdom of her decision?
Screw the misogynist prudes. She did the right thing.
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guess you haven't visited Romania recently
Or you'd be aware that Cluj - and Romania in general - is certainly not prone to prudery about the way women dress.
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Sad, and why?
This saddens me, in that I found Malaysia to be an unexpected paradise, where the majority Muslim Malays got along quite well with the minority Chinese Christians and Buddhists. Also when I was there I saw a lot of women wearing very revealing clothing, so I cannot understand why they would have a dress code for performers.
I consider Malaysia to be the world's only Islamic nation with a functional Democracy, so hopefully these stage decency standards will be addressed in their upcoming elections.
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Both sides held firm to their principles.
Beyonce was right, I think, to not perform in a country that censored how she would dress for her performance. Good for her.
I don't know if Malaysia's official stance on female performer's outfits reflects the general societal consensus, but if they want to prohibit female performers dressing like whores onstage, so be it.
To each their own.
Personally, I think Beyonce should have the right to dress like a whore when she sings. I also would hope that she and other female performers would choose not to exercise that right.
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@DubiousJoe is Slut Shaming? Whores?
Beyonce is a whore says sensitive new age guy DubiousJoe?
Remarkable!
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@Petboy, what about Turkey, you forgot Turkey?
@Petboy, what about Turkey, you forgot Turkey?
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Dearest Page, in what way is this Beyonce's right?
The singer fights for her right to bare skin onstage by moving a planned tour date to Indonesia.
Is Beyonce' a citizen of Malaysia?
How does her "right" compare to the rights of a citizen of Malaysia?
In fighting for her rights, how does her fight compare to Rosa Parks or Aung San Suu Kyi?
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Just goes to prove
these performing and touring "artists" are all about themselves and their egos, and not about their "art," i.e. the music.
Nobody's asking Beyonce to perform in a burka, after all.
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Malaysia, The Complex
Malaysia is officially Islamic, ruled by its plurality of Muslim Malays. Chinese make up about 30%, Tamils 20%, with a tiny minority of native people. "The Rules" are set by the Malays. This is inherently undemocratic and unfair, particularly for the largely Christian and Buddhist Chinese, who make up much of the entrepreneurial middle class, and who are taxed at high rates for being, well, Chinese. Society is stratified and completely segregated. There is no freedom of speech.
And yet, the three racial groups live in relative calm, side by side, where the authorities are much more tolerant of non-Muslim practices (drinking alcohol, for example) than most other Islamic countries seem to be. Sometimes, the incongruities are stark. In a country where scooters and motorcycles outnumber cars on the road, it is not unusual to see a woman stopped at an intersection on her Harley or Honda, wearing a burqa, her face covered. (After seeing one such sight, my wife commented "There rides a rebel!")
My extended stay in Malaysia was fantastic. Laura and I were taken in and doted over by our (mostly Chinese) friends at Dell. It was so great, I would return in a minute. Whenever I imagine a return visit, perhaps to work or possibly to just hang out, only the strictures of the extremely conservative Islamic authorities give me pause. (One may easily cross the border into Thailand, but the Malaysian government is known for drug testing and imprisoning foreigners who re-enter Malaysia from that route.)
I believe it important that people stand up for their rights: Beyonce is right to cancel her performance if she believes her integrity as an artist is abridged by the rules. I don't know that the authorities will take much notice of her snub, but people will talk, free speech or no. And one never knows where talk will lead.
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When in Rome
do like the Romans. Is that really so bad? Need we force our bad manners and poor dress down everyone's throats?
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I dunno
On the one hand, wearing skimpy clothes and shaking and shimmying on stage is relatively benign (outside of reinforcing negative body image issues in younger girls/women...but that's a discussion for another day) and it's kind of daft to force her to not do something so essentially silly.
But on the other hand, She's there to make money. And as such should probably be required to follow the regulations that country decides on, no matter how daft they are.
It might be different if her attire was part and parcel of some kind of political statement - like if she was trying to subvert gender norms and the conservative government of Malaysia was trying to keep a lid on that, then I could see her as some kind of crusader, but she's not - all she's really selling is titillation...which isn't exactly a noble cause or anything...
I guess if she wants the money she should just put on a blouse and sing her songs...
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hypocrisy much?
I find it beyond hypocritical that the people who think Muslim countries shouldn't impose a rules for dress and behavior on visitors are some of the same people who think that Muslims who live in Western countries should be prohibited from dressing as they wish, justifying their position with the argument that when someone chooses to live in a country they should be required to conform with its cultural norms. Will the people arguing for Beyonce's right to bare her midriff also stand up for the right of Muslim women in France, Britain and Canada (to name off the top of my head three places I know of where this has been an issue) to wear veils? Or is a performer's right to bare her body for "art" somehow more important than a woman's right to cover hers for her religious beliefs?
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Wearing No Clothes
I'm not a Beyonce Knowles fan, but...Good For Her! Whether it affects the Malaysian government's behavior or not...well, that government does like to project an image of modernity. It can behave in accordance with that preferred image, or not, as it's voters wish. Others should feel free to point out when the Malaysian Emperor is wearing no clothes. The Malaysian government can address that feedback as it wishes. While wearing no clothes, of course.