Some of my dear friends (namely the alien and yasmine) took my previous post to mean that the fight for women rights is a pure female thing and insisted that men can also play a role in this movement, that of supporters. I thus found it necessary to clarify my position on this issue, which I hope would also act to define the shape of the female movement I had in mind while writing "A Woman with a Dream".
The formation of a human rights movement can never turn into an exclusive club for the oppressed victims to yell and scream. This will be a comic and pathetic act. Only the hopelessly powerless and mentally paralyzed will resort to such a thing. I myself do not like this approach, which unfortunatelyt some of those who call themselves feminists have adopted (whether in their writings or their lectures). That's why you will find me here always trying to inspire and motivate rather than curse and lament. I try as much as possible not to be personal, to make it clear that I'm addressing my whole sex, while not forgetting to pass on a message to men as well. We can't commit the same mistake (that men did) of disregarding half the world's population, when discussing our issues. So, we have to involve them, even if they don't want to get involved. But how?
Well, the way I see it, men will hurl to our help once we have a solid movement, but never before that. Those who sympathize with our cause now are still very few, and most of them don't practice what they preach at home. We do need the support of others. Yet, those others are our oppressors, we should never forget that. We must work on changing their inferior view of women, first, to be able to get their support after that.
Although I agree that there are women who stand against women when it comes to female liberation, I also know that they don't do it out of the same motives of men. They are too dominated by male authority and beliefs. So, we can't put both victims and oppressors in one basket and say we should all make the change together. I believe this is so misleading. What I suggest is a movement intiated by women that works on multiple levels:
1. Raising awareness among females and empowering them for change.
2. Forcing society to change its negative image and oppressive rules against women.
3. Challenging the partriarchal status quo by providing a human alternative based on equality and mutual respect.
4. Working on the political level retrieve women rights in the legal system (changing laws) and in ascending to high positions in their countries.
Each level involves many details for action which I won't be able to discuss here; maybe another post. Once we lay down the foundation to this movement, men will offer their help to be able to find a place in this new order. Because those who will insist to stand against such a growing movement will naturally become in danger of marginalization and isolation. Just like what happened with the emancipation of slaves. There were those who were not convinced by the concept and stood totally against it, until they found themselves alone in a changing world, so they were forced to change.
I'm not saying that male support in general doesn't come out of good intentions. I'm just saying that in order to gain serious support from them, we have to act serious about our cause first. We have to find our own voices before we ask others to join us. That is if we want actual change, and we're not after listening to beautiful slogans of which nothing comes true. I myself am tired of all the good talk around. I want to see action. And for an action to take place, victims must stand up on their feet and say NO MORE. That's the bottom line.
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