Malaysian model caned for drinking
By Tom Henheffer - Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 15 Comments
Kartika wants to be punished in public, not in a Malaysian jail
Six lashes—that’s Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno’s sentence for quaffing a beer with a few friends in a Malaysian bar. Kartika, a part-time model, will be the first woman caned there, and her case has divided the Southeast Asian country. Drinking isn’t technically illegal in Malaysia, but since Kartika is Muslim she is subject to Islamic sharia law, under which the consumption of alcohol is a punishable offence.
Moderates and non-Muslims say the ruling establishes a dangerous precedent by disregarding human rights and undercutting the mainstream Malaysian legal process. According to Hamidah Marican, executive director of Sisters in Islam, which works to strengthen women’s rights in Malaysia, “Kartika’s case has . . . caused damage to Malaysia’s reputation as a model Muslim country.” Continue…
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How not to fall down in high heels
By Julia McKinnell - Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 1:00 PM - 1 Comment
In Vancouver, women are paying a former runway model to show them how to walk tall
In Vancouver, a former runway model is giving classes to teach women how to walk in high heels. At 6 p.m. on a Tuesday evening, the professional-looking women, who have each paid $25 to attend, are sitting in a semicircle listening to the tips dispensed by High Heel Appeal workshop instructor Suzanne Fetting.Forty-six-year-old Yvonne Van Amerongen raises her hand to share a nightmare high-heel story. “I was in Grade 12. I’d worn a dress to school that day and high heels to go with it. A boy I had a crush on was coming up the hallway. I was descending a set of stairs toward him and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to impress him.’ The next thing I knew I was in a heap on the floor in front of him. That kind of swore me off high heels for the rest of my life. I just always associated high heels after that with the danger of humiliation.”
