Kandaka ( The Nubian Queen).

Photo from Google.

        Reading playing with fire brought to mind the story of Alaa Salah, the 22-year-old, a Sudanese university student who against all the dangers of speaking up, not only took up the courage to participate in the protests against President Omar Al-Bashir but showed her face and led the protest in the best way she knew how to - singing and poetry recitation.  

President Bashir’s regime was believed to have driven the Sudanese economy down, raising the costs of living and putting the lives of his subjects in hardship. The president was also accused of genocide and crimes against humanity and had a warrant of arrest from the Hague based International Criminal Court.

During the protest, women were at the forefront because the regime was believed to have changed their lives for the worst over the decades by restricting their movements, mode of dressing and livelihoods. Alaa Salaah, also named Kanaka because of her courage and leadership, represented generations of Sudanese women’s voices in the revolution both physically and symbolically through her dressing at the protest. She embodies history as her dressing, Hind Makki, a Sudanese educator, comments are similar to the ones women activists wore in the 1940s and ’50s in protests (Jaafari, 2019). 

    Moreover, analyzed from a feminist standpoint theory point of view, women or the marginalized are better placed to question and speak for themselves and about their oppression, because according to the theory,  knowledge is socially constructed and the position that one holds in the society either enables a person to either hold perverse and partial understandings of their environments or have complete and less understandings (Harding, 1987). This explains why as members of the marginalized groups, women’s subordinated position enables them to better understand and question their oppression in comparison to men who are in higher positions, explaining Kandaka and the collective’s passionate involvement in platforms that give them a voice. Furthermore, in line with the theory, the internalization of the women’s experiences as girls, women, Dalits and poor people, shapes the women’s perspectives of life as playing with fire demonstrates. 

Lastly, the marginalized are often ignored due to their subordinated positions. Fortunately, this position privileges them in relation to their environments both at work and in their communities. Thus, they are able to organize activism with ease, and the outcomes are evident in “Playing With Fire” and Kandaka’ story.

References.

Jaafari, S (2019, April). The World. Here's the story behind the iconic image of the Sudanese woman in white. Retrieved from: https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-04-10/heres-story-behind-iconic-image-youtube-woman-white

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXiSxI0Vj3E

 

 

The Challenge of Political Polarization in the Arab World and Women’s Rights

Women in the Arab world are afforded some freedoms, such as, there is a set goal for 30% of the female workers to be part of the labor force by 2030 in Saudi Arabia. In the Gulf, women outnumber men with higher education. In Kuwait four women were appointed positions in the ministry since 2003. Also, in Kuwait eleven women hold cabinet positions in the ministry of health, transportation, and finance. In Saudi Arabia women are also allowed to travel abroad and register for marriages and births on their own as of 2019. Most recently, as of 2018 women have been allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia. Many women have expressed, that they are now able to maintain a degree of individuality and have developed of freedom of choice.

Although, with these freedoms does come some disparities as many women in the Arab world encounter what Beth Baron mentioned in Egypt as a Woman: Nationalism, Gender, and Politics the beliefs of mothering the nation or political mothering where the woman symbolizes the status of the state. In the case of Egypt, the mother represents the woman, and her modernity correlates with the nation’s modernity. In Alainna Liloia’s piece “Women in the Arab Countries Find Themselves Torn between Opportunity and Tradition,” speaks of the same notion of many Gulf countries, which advance women’s rights towards modernity is to present a positive image and keep human rights organizations at bay. “The discovery of oil in the Arab Gulf in the 1930s turned these Islamic monarchies into global players. One result of this globalization was that Western leaders put pressure on the region to ‘modernize’ their laws and customs.” (Alainna Liloia) Modernization enables the Arab region to sustain good alliances with Europe and the United States through political, military and trade relations. In bettering the nation through women’s emancipation does however leave conservatives and Islamists of the Arab World at odds.

Many religious scholars contest that modernization threatens women’s modesty and leaves them with a lack of security in their strive for agency. This age old political polarization of Islamists versus modernists, which is present in much of the East, trickles down to women’s issues and as a result many women experience backlash, which effects the very little freedoms they have secured. This is evident as some Gulf countries revert back to women’s roles of domesticity. The practice of domesticity follows proscribed Islamic roles for women to raise the children and take care of the family instead of being preoccupied with working outside the home. Consequently, patriarchal gender norms are further solidified through a more traditional interpretation of Islamic law, which further subordinates women. Concluding, that women’s agency becomes the casualty in the political polarization felt across Arab nations as women become symbols of modernity, while they are still responsible to uphold their proscribed Islamic roles. A dichotomy is present where religion becomes a tool to restrict women’s freedoms. I believe Alainna Liloia states it best in her piece. “As political and religious leaders in the Gulf push their national agendas, women must find their own ways to balance newfound freedoms with existing social and religious pressures.” Women must become masters at walking a fine line between the state, religious scholars, and their newfound freedoms.

References:

Alainna Liloia, “Women in the Arab Countries Find Themselves Torn between Opportunity and Tradition,”https://theconversation.com/women-in-arab-countries-find-themselves-torn-between-opportunity-and-tradition-130460

Lulwa Shalhoub, “Saudi Arabia: My experience as a female driver, one year on” is a Jeddah-based freelance journalist who previously worked for the BBC's Arabic Service in London.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48661233

Baron, Beth. Egypt as a Woman: Nationalism, Gender, and Politics. Berkeley University of California Press, 2005.

the golden age of the polyphonic imperative

     I can only assume that everyone else was as impressed with Playing with Fire as I was. As with the Bilgi chapter from several weeks back, “Entering Women’s World Through Men’s Eyes,” we’re provided with concrete, direct research that emphasizes the lived-body experiences of the people involved. What makes the book distinct, however, is its method.
    Page after page describes the autobiographers’ continuous meetings, deeply personal encounters at which there are always tears. There is so much of these women in the book—and so much that can’t be contained—that I feel guilty closing the covers. Everything they describe is ongoing in a way that doesn’t mesh so well with the finality of a book. They did, after all, have to release the 2nd edition in English to include new information.
    The polyphonic approach reminds me of the work of Svetlana Alexievich. Alexievich won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2015 based on a series of books in which she’s barely written a single word: the entire contents come from interviews that she’s woven together on a unifying theme such as Soviet women fighting in World War II, the dissolution of the U.S.S.R., and the experience of suicide for those still living (for a sample, click here). Between the gender-related themes in Alexievich’s work and in Playing with Fire, should we consider the polyphonic approach to writing and research as the gold standard for ethical engagement?
    It’s tempting to think so. The chance to work deeply with a community for their own empowerment—who wouldn’t want to work this way! Shouldn’t we all? Being a poor/time-poor graduate student, however, I worry about that seeming imperative. Nagar makes clear the intense amount of time, energy, and money that went into producing Playing with Fire. At the time she seems to have had the security of a position at the University of Minnesota. How possible is it for those in more precarious positions to do this same sort of work?
    To quote from a recent article on scholarly production during COVID-19: “I find this conversation regarding expanding the goal of academic research into the community and partnering with practitioners to be exciting, and a bit concerning. I truly believe this is how our work will get recognized by the general public, and then they will not treat us as scholars stuck in esoteric thought exercises. This is precisely the type of work many funding agencies want to see, and from my own experience, it has been my most meaningful work. My concern is for junior scholars whose promotions rely on publishing in specific academic journals and conducting research making scholarly contributions. We can’t be naïve and act like doing engaged scholarship takes the same amount of time as traditional academic work, and many academic organizations explicitly do not count engaged scholarship toward tenure and pro- motion.”
    I’m mostly on the side of excitement—who wouldn’t be after reading Playing with Fire? But I have to admit, there’s some concern there too. Yes, this is a better way, and yes, I want to be part of it! It seems even more important given my own normative identity. Maybe the truth is that there’s always going to be concern about time, resources, and doing it all right. Maybe the important thing is to start just by trying.

 

Playing with Fire - a poem by Fatou Janneh

 Fatou wrote this poem based on our reading Playing with Fire. She can't access the blog so I'm posting it for her!

Playing with Fire

 

Playing with fire

Frights hearts like August-thunder

As days pass by

Starts shine dark

Eyes bleed

Mouths fume with complaints

Problems drumbeats

Collective lives in dilemma?

 

People power

With voice and trust

Abused and belittled

By custodians of culture?

Culture and religion?

‘Monarchs and tyrants’?

 

Imams and priests praying for salvation

When deeds and words

Are yet to be coupled

Just gambling for external life

 

But what’s the role of government in this?

States and regions

Districts and village heads

Structure of power overshadow

Light of bright future

Is this will of God?

O female curse?

Oh noo!

 

Politics of purity, religion, casteism and class

Branded by masculinity and patriarch

Intoxicated by violence

Nurturing gambling and alcoholism

While matrimonies turn to hell

Graves yearning for new homes

For the restless minds

 

Collective lives in dilemma?

For your silence

Will not protect you!

Oh woman!

Bearer of pain and suffering

For you are not on your tod

For up and coming

No bete-noire

The sound of xylophone calls upon you

For joyous moment

Your power within power

That nurtures humanity

Must save you now

Break the chain and weep no more!

The unpopular song is now embraced

Giving the beginning to a new beginning

MATRIARCHY...with Rebecca Lolosoli

 

I want to tell a story of a matriarchal village in Kenya called the Umoja Village, consisting of Samburu women from the Samburu tribe in Northern Kenya. Samburu women have been living under a harsh macho system for centuries. The Samburu girls have been forced into Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and into marriages with people old enough to be their fathers or grandfathers. Their traditions have suppressed them and subjected them into being subordinates. In 1990, a woman named Rebecca Lolosoli founded the Umoja Village, where no men are allowed. How she formed a matriarchal society amidst a highly patriarchal system during that period represented the courage of a woman that bottled in so much suffering and brutality from a system that viewed her as secondary. It all began with her advocating for the rights of women being raped by British soldiers training near her home. Due to her voicing out her concerns, enraged local men beat her up until she was hospitalized. Shockingly, her husband did not protest her beating, prompting her to leave the marriage. Along with other women who were survivors of gender-based violence, she formed the Umoja Village. They faced a lot of opposition from the Samburu men and they even threatened to destroy the village. However, they remained steadfast. They depend on their independently owned enterprises for their sustenance. With their savings, they built schools, acknowledging the importance of education. We could all guess the responses of women towards the existence of Umoja Village- most were angry that their wives fled them, most were angry that it is a village being led by a women, as according to the Samburu culture, women are not able to lead themselves.  

(Rebecca Lolosoli’s picture)

The Umoja Village has also led to the formation of other villages, that allowed men into them, only if they rejected the Samburu tradition of subordinating women. Generally, roles change and women are the leaders, but basically they perform equal roles with men. The most important concept gathered from the story of Umoja and some of the villages formed hitherto is that women built a system that protected their rights and valued their independence. This particular system does not focus on the oppression of men, but rather is willing to work and live with men only if they denounce the dire Samburu traditions like FGM, polygamy and treating women like property. What started as a safe haven for women facing gender-based violence from their communities is now an establishment that is worldwide renowned and appreciated. Furthermore, the villages are tourist sites and depend mostly on tourism for economic development. Men who are allowed in such localities often find that they have ‘fewer’ problems with one wife as opposed to having several wives, and they appreciate and acknowledge the importance of women being in-charge. Well, some are forced to observe the ‘new rules’ as they live under the matriarchal system, while others honestly prefer the eradication of some oppressive cultural norms.

This factual story of Samburu women is a classic example of an effectual WID approach to development. This begs the question; does incorporating men (as in GAD) really solve the issue of toxic patriarchal systems? Or it just seems as a ‘…conservative backlash against feminism’ (McIlwaine & Datta, 2003)? And in this case, does modernization theory also play a key role in trying to make the lives of Samburu women better? And what really matters? The capitalist nature of development or development that holistically betters the lives of a woman- in terms if respect, dignity, and other societal values.   

 

 

References

McIlwaine, C., & Datta, K. (2003). From feminising to engendering development. Gender, Place and Culture, 10(4), 369-382.