In our wonderful weekend contemplations about womanhood, one of the women pointed out how women in the western world support each other less, resulting in a very insular existence for some, despite gender equality for the most part. By breaking free out of traditional gender roles and emancipate women to break through glass ceilings, ultimately entering the male world, we in the western industrialized world enjoy a tremendous wealth of opportunities. How do we support other women as they are weighing their options? Do we judge their choices and what is true emancipation in a cultural context?
Emancipation always includes an element of revolution and rebellion against set laws and expectations. There is no one exclusive definition of it, but rather nuances of freedom and rights that find their own place in a culture. I wanted to shed some light on women's liberation from deeply rooted social and cultural norms. Obviously that is the most challenging form of emancipation because it opens up the discussion of universality of humanity versus cultural relativity. I do agree with Professor Karen Musalo, who was the lead attorney's for Fauziya Kasinga, a teenager from Togo, West Africa, who was granted political asylym in the United States in 1996 based on the basis of gender related persecution of women (source: http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v8n3/rightsandcultures.html). This case was a precedence since it granted political asylum in the United States to protect Kasinga from tribal marriage rituals in her home country of Togo.
Today, another young woman, Malala Yousafzai, made history for receiving the 2014 Nobel Peace Price (along with Kailash Satyarthi documenting and fighting child labor; http://nobelpeaceprize.org/) for speaking up about girl's education. Blogging about these issues is what caught the Taliban's attention on Malala's outspokenness and their determination to silence her. We know now, that Malala's voice is louder than ever. Her past has shaped her future and inspires girls around the world.
Breaking through tribal rules, religious beliefs, gender-based laws and corporate glass ceilings is what brings women around the world together under one goal: to be treated equally. Leaving our insular existence behind as we come to the crossroads of life, women need other women to cheer them on, to validate their choices and build supportive communities. Female nature is to nurture and to protect, to allow the seed to grow and the flower to blossom where planted. It is not what we stand up for or what choices we make, it is about being heard as an equal. Only then can universal humanity override cultural relativity. No more mommy wars, no more child brides, no more woman's trafficking, no more shariah law punishments, no more preference of unborn boys over unborn girls.
As I look at the women in my life, I am continuously astonished and humbled by their strength and courage: the mother, who left her home country with her son under asylym to escape sniper attacks in Sarajevo; the woman that battles physical pain every day because there is no cure; the woman that goes back to school in her 40s to learn English, the woman that decides to leave an abusive relationship with her two young daughters; the woman that starts her own business; the woman who loves another woman; the woman that allows her daughters to take off their veil and let their long hair fall over their shoulder; the mother who is making her house a home; the woman who wrote poems that were never published; the woman who is a trailblazer in a male dominated profession; the woman whose partner is deployed; the woman that sat in bomb shelters for hours; the woman that listens and understands; the woman who gives unconditionable love each and every day.
There is no right or wrong, but resilience to accept the choices we have made and give meaning to our lives. If we are able to acknowledge that in each other, we have truly reached liberation of women and for women.
