Women need solidarity: Save your “to be saved” in your heart
Posted by: adonis49 on: December 23, 2012
Women need solidarity: Save your “to be saved” in your heart
“You were born with wings, why are you crawling through life?” Jalaluddin Rumi
Women in Yemen and in States that are repressing the rights of women demand your solidarity: They don’t care to be saved. They are the ones saving whatever remains in dignity in these obscurantist states. Arab women do not need “saving”, just your consistent solidarity.
I stumbled on a link womanfromyemen.blogspost.com, and this is one of the posts:
activists are not denying that there are a number of obstacles facing women in many of the Arab countries, and I have myself written extensively on this, but that does not mean that women in democratic nations do not have to struggle as well, and it also does not mean that there are no positives in our culture.
The way women’s situation is sometimes discussed today is reminiscent of colonial rhetoric about “saving” women from oppression and the need to “educate” these women (with the superiority it implies).
While in the past it was based on religious superiority, today it’s from a secular perspective but with similar undertones.
In many international conferences, photographs of Muslim women are often the icon for oppression and the focus is on religious interpretations and cultural traditions only, failing at taking a look into the history of oppressive regimes that have long neglected gender equality.
Too often, conferences only highlight cultural and religious reasons for women’s oppression and forget to also indulge in discussion on history and political developments. As Professor Lila Abu-Lughod wrote:
“the question is why knowing about the “culture” of the region, and particularly its religious beliefs and treatment of women, was more urgent than exploring the history of the development of repressive regimes in the region.”
This unfortunately turns the discussion into a polarized East v. West, rather than a worldwide struggle for women. I am not someone who believes in the dichotomy between “East” and “West” because I believe in the human spirit, in the fact that we all share common beliefs, goals and aspirations clothed in different cultural traditions, but the essence remains the same.
I do not like when things are reduced to such measures, and I find it to be counterproductive as many people respond with reactionary views simply to hide their wounded pride.
When conducting such events, organizers should pay attention to the tone of the discussion and it is imperative for women leaders around the world to emphasize Solidarity – as many international groups already do – through partnerships and exchange of ideas, of stories of struggles and lessons learned from all over the globe.
Note 1: No women representation? https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2011/08/23/no-women-representation-the-arab-league-represents-half-the-arabs-who-is-hoda-sultan-sha3rawi/
Note 2: https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/women-can-shatter-your-autistic-sexual-perception-of-love/
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photo taken from (http://www.ruthinstitute.org/uploaded_images/women-of-the-world-unite!-742297.jpg)Note:Check womanfromyemen.blogspost.com |
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