Pas Youth Cow Analogy Against Women Sparks Misogyny Claims In Foreign Media

---

 
A PAS Youth leader has sparked outrage after likening women political leaders to cows, drawing criticism from across Malaysia’s political spectrum.
In a Facebook post, Muhammad Salman Al Farisi, Youth information chief for PAS’ Maran branch, claimed that when a “female cow” becomes leader, males “only know how to graze”, urging against elevating women in such roles.
“When a female cow is appointed as the leader, she decides everything, while the males around her only know how to graze the crops,” wrote Salman.
“That’s why, if possible, we shouldn’t be like cows that elevate their ‘female’ as their leader.”
Perikatan Nasional women’s chief Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin labelled the remarks “sexist” and “improper”, while social media users condemned the statement as demeaning and un-Islamic. Critics noted PAS itself has five female MPs and several women state assembly members.
“That statement can be interpreted as being sexist,” Perikatan Nasional women’s chief Mas Ermieyati said of the comments by her coalition colleague.
“Even though it came from a local-level leader, I find it to be not proper for him to issue a statement like that,” she was quoted as saying by the local news outlet.
Salman defended the comment as a Malay-language “animal simile”, calling it a traditional and civilised form of satire. However, observers said the incident highlighted entrenched misogyny in Malaysian politics.
PAS, rooted in Islamic fundamentalism and rural Malay nationalism, is no stranger to such controversies.
Party president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang and other leaders have repeatedly used animal epithets against rivals, calling them dogs, monkeys, and pigs. —  Focus Malaysia

---