Thesis of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, 2022
BA Interactive Media Design
This paper examines the question: What impact have archetypes in Malaysian folklore had on the idealisation of women and their socio-cultural expectations of gender and sexuality? To answer this question, I conducted a systematic review of common Malaysian folktales, folk comics, folk epics and mythology, examining their use of female characters and language to ascertain what common archetypes emerge from these forms of storytelling. From this systematic review, it is clear that archetypes in Malaysian folklore attempt to subjugate, stigmatise and objectify Malaysian women. While it is impossible to quantify the exact effect this has had on Malaysian society; I submit that there is a causal sequence in place in which we see the same lessons being propagated by the archetypes in Malaysian folklore being mirrored at every level of Malaysian society, ranging from the beauty industry to the political sphere.
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