thinking about
I see looks of suprise on men's faces when I say "I am yelled at in the street" or "I am afraid to go to the convenience store" or "I don't appreciate it when you hold the door for me." while these things are relatively minor in my life, they need to be said. I think it's very, very important to tell about the fear, inequity, and abuse in our daily lives; the knowledge of these things has to be a constant presence in order to fight against them. When I hear these things from others, I feel scared and sad, but I also feel more serious about the things I believe in.
I was reading around p. 102 (starts on p. 97) of this MIT Journal of Middle Eastern Studies Gender Nation and Belonging: Arab and Arab American Feminist Perspectives (direct pdf link). order of magnitude difference.
also, some quotes from the article I was reading, "Reflections on Sex, Silence, and Feminism," by Nathalie Handal. quotes of quotes!
quote from Evelyne Accad:
Unless a sexual revolution is incorporated into political revolution, there will be no real transformation of social relations... By sexual revolution, I mean a revolution that starts at the personal level, with a transformation of attitudes toward one’s mate, family, sexuality, society, and specifically a transformation of the traditional relations of domination and subordination that permeate interpersonal relationships, particularly those of sexual and familial intimacy.
from Evelyne Accad, "Body Image and Breast Cancer" in Al Raida, XX.99 (Fall 2002/2003), p.12
quote from Suha Sabbagh:
Western feminism, of course, is grounded in Western thought, ideology, and values. Arab women’s struggle is equally grounded in the religious, cultural, and political norms of the Arab world. According to some Arab women, it is a difficult if not impossible task to write about Islamic feminism in a climate that assumes the universal supremacy of Western feminism. They believe that Western feminism is rejected by Muslim women because it calls for a form of cultural conversion at a time when the West is seen by them to be a dominating force.
from Suha Sabbagh, Arab Women: Between Defiance and Restraint. (New York: Interlink, 1996),p. xxiv-xxv
and from Handal herself:
Women globally face sexual, physical, and mental oppression, masochism, discrimination, and inequality. We want to include our battles with other American and Western feminists, create important alliances and dialogue as equals. Dominant cultures tend to impose their views and values on other societies who do not have the same moral and social norms. We want to make clear that aligning ourselves does not mean erasing our cultural and social specificity and/or differences. We want to be constructive, not spend our time defending our religion and culture instead of fighting against the real offenders: power and patriarchy.
Nathalie Handal, "Reflections on Sex, Silence, and Feminism" in Gender Nation and Belonging, Arab and Arab American Feminist Perspectives, http://web.mit.edu/cis/www/mitejmes/, p. 104
