In a break from my usual long-winded rambles, I want to draw everyone's attention to an online campaign called "The Uprising of Women in the Arab World." (In Arabic: انتفاضة المرأة في العالم العربي) Although the Facebook page was started last October, it was on October 1 of this year that the women behind it -- Lebanese, I believe? maybe some others, too -- launched a new campaign that has made enough noise to capture the interest of both the Arabic and foreign press. The Facebook-based campaign asks contributors to submit a photo of themselves holding a sign that reads "I am with the uprising of women in the Arab world because...", with a personal reason given afterward. Within 2 weeks, almost 600 photos had been posted and over 40,000 supporters had "liked" the group.
Here is the link to the group. Many of the signs have been translated into English (or written in English originally). It's worth checking out.
While perhaps some of the things written are truisms, some are extraordinarily sad, others infuriating, and others give me hope and reassurance that there are many really tough women here who are not willing to take the crap that is dumped on them by misogynistic laws, society, and even other women.
A couple of the best, in my opinion:
A Yemeni man who wrote, "I am with the uprising of women in the Arab world because on my sister's grave it said only 'somebody's wife.'"
An Algerian woman who wrote, "I am with the uprising of women in the Arab world because I refuse to let shameless men touch their crotch in public while I should be ashamed and hide my beautiful face and body, even in private."
AYemeni woman who wrote, "My name is Shaymaa Al-Ahdal (and I am) with the uprising of women in the Arab world because my brother is ashamed of saying my name and my mother's name."
Another Yemeni woman who wrote, "I am with the uprising of women in the Arab world because society teaches us not to get harassed instead of teaching men not to harass us."
A Lebanese woman wrote, "I am with the uprising of women in the Arab world so that there is no more minute of silence every time a girl is born."
And many more.
As a Western woman joining a group (and, more importantly, a cause) like this, it can sometimes be easy to get hampered by the orientalist shame that filters in somewhere over the course of being a Westerner studying the Middle East -- as much as one tries to avoid that kind of thing. What I mean is that there is a by now well-known criticism of "white men (and women) saving brown women from brown men." That is, that Westerners coming in and condemning Middle Eastern men for their treatment of Middle Eastern women hurts the women's cause more than it helps it. I only agree with this to a certain point. It's true that some of the talk of abuse of women's rights here that goes on in the West is patronizing, and really does cast the women as helpless victims. However, I think there is a place for thoughtful engagement of Westerners (and everyone else) in this fight: it's not right just to turn a blind eye in the name of cultural relativism. What I really like about this online campaign is that it is regionally driven but does not discourage participation from the outside, and certainly no one can cast the women who appear in it as pathetic victims. It's hard to say how a campaign like this might move from the online sphere to the terrestrial world, but it's an inspiring indicator that a lot of women are really fed up. Hopefully men (and women! who are responsible for most of the female genital mutilation and a lot of the preferring sons to daughters business out there) start getting the message.
Here is the link to the group. Many of the signs have been translated into English (or written in English originally). It's worth checking out.
While perhaps some of the things written are truisms, some are extraordinarily sad, others infuriating, and others give me hope and reassurance that there are many really tough women here who are not willing to take the crap that is dumped on them by misogynistic laws, society, and even other women.
A couple of the best, in my opinion:
A Yemeni man who wrote, "I am with the uprising of women in the Arab world because on my sister's grave it said only 'somebody's wife.'"
An Algerian woman who wrote, "I am with the uprising of women in the Arab world because I refuse to let shameless men touch their crotch in public while I should be ashamed and hide my beautiful face and body, even in private."
AYemeni woman who wrote, "My name is Shaymaa Al-Ahdal (and I am) with the uprising of women in the Arab world because my brother is ashamed of saying my name and my mother's name."
Another Yemeni woman who wrote, "I am with the uprising of women in the Arab world because society teaches us not to get harassed instead of teaching men not to harass us."
A Lebanese woman wrote, "I am with the uprising of women in the Arab world so that there is no more minute of silence every time a girl is born."
And many more.
As a Western woman joining a group (and, more importantly, a cause) like this, it can sometimes be easy to get hampered by the orientalist shame that filters in somewhere over the course of being a Westerner studying the Middle East -- as much as one tries to avoid that kind of thing. What I mean is that there is a by now well-known criticism of "white men (and women) saving brown women from brown men." That is, that Westerners coming in and condemning Middle Eastern men for their treatment of Middle Eastern women hurts the women's cause more than it helps it. I only agree with this to a certain point. It's true that some of the talk of abuse of women's rights here that goes on in the West is patronizing, and really does cast the women as helpless victims. However, I think there is a place for thoughtful engagement of Westerners (and everyone else) in this fight: it's not right just to turn a blind eye in the name of cultural relativism. What I really like about this online campaign is that it is regionally driven but does not discourage participation from the outside, and certainly no one can cast the women who appear in it as pathetic victims. It's hard to say how a campaign like this might move from the online sphere to the terrestrial world, but it's an inspiring indicator that a lot of women are really fed up. Hopefully men (and women! who are responsible for most of the female genital mutilation and a lot of the preferring sons to daughters business out there) start getting the message.
This is awesome. Some of those signs are so moving. In a weird way this reminds me of what I tell my kids: the successful movements for change in this world have all been driven by those most affected by the injustice (women's suffrage and the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S., for example). It's about time that women get fed up with the harassment they experience on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteLoved this post, Chlo! Miss you lots.