"Only A Sick Person Will Harass A Standee"
The controversy surrounding the 'Gadis Air Mineral' cutouts at Shell petrol stations has escalated after ISMA questioned the use of women in ads to sell products.
By Sadho Ram — 07 Jul 2017, 11:49 AM
Yesterday, 6 July, Free Malaysia Today ran a story with the headline, "Muslim group says Shell ad to blame for 'exploiting' women"
In the story, FMT interviewed ISMA president Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman, saying that the 25-year-old Shell employee, Nor Shafila Khairusalleh, "was not completely blameless" in the incident where some men took obscene photos with her 'Gadis Air Mineral' cutouts
FMT reported that the ISMA president said "a woman should not accept the offer to become a model to help a company in its sales efforts, even if she was allowed to wear a scarf and cover up."
Abdullah Zaik, while not excusing the objectionable actions of the men, also told the portal that it was "natural for men to be aroused when looking at women."
"It's not their fault alone. This incident happened because irresponsible companies will not stop exploiting our women," the ISMA president told FMT in an interview.
Today, Amanah Wanita chief Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud challenged ISMA: "What if the standee was a male model?"
"What if the standee was a male model and some women take photos with the standee holding the model’s ‘hands’ and touching his ‘private parts’? Would that be the model’s fault then too?", Siti asked.
"I'm sure Zaik would still put all of the blame on the woman," she added.
Siti expressed her support for Shafila, the Shell model, saying, "It's those men who should feel embarrassed, not her"
"If a standee can turn them on, then they must be taught a lesson. Only a sick person will harass a standee," the Amanah Wanita chief was quoted by FMT today.
She also called for Shell to bring back the cutouts as giving in every time when some men act the way they did with the Shell model's cutouts then "it’s going to take a long time before men — who aren’t right in the head — learn."
Meanwhile, a few hours after FMT's story, ISMA released an official statement on their website, saying they were portrayed as an "extreme organisation"
This was found in the official statement after they condemned FMT:
"The President of ISMA emphasised the issue of women’s exploitation that has become increasingly present in the advertising industry. Women being shown as an object to sell a product is an act of exploitation that deviates from the value of the purity of women in Islam."
ISMA's statement says that the incident that occurred with the 'Gadis Air Mineral' cutouts "is an example of how low our society's morals are today that it gets easily aroused by a woman's image"
It adds that "In fact, veiled women are being targeted for perversion. This should be a warning sign for all of us that the society is somewhat corrupt of its religious and moral values."
However, the statement also says that "A faithful and dignified Islamic society will have a high sensitivity towards the dignity and modesty of women and will never allow his wife or son to be an object of a joke and be exposed to such immoral and obscene harassment like this."
In contrast, the statement also suggests that women or those who allow women to be "used" for selling products are responsible and to be blamed.
The Muslim group "praised" Shell for taking the decision to remove the cutouts, as it "shows Shell as a proactive company and is concerned about what's happening around it", the statement said
"ISMA would like to urge other companies that display women's image to sell products in ads, especially those who do not cover the nudity, to follow on Shell's steps."