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JOINING WOMEN IN THE STRUGGLE FOR THE LIBERATION OF
MEN Dr. Tesfa G. Gebremedhin West Virginia University March 8 is International Women’s Day. We all have an obligation to
observe this day in memory of our daughters, sisters and mothers who have
fallen for independence, equality and social justice. It is evident that Eritrean
women made an extraordinary contribution to the struggle for independence;
they threw away their veils and skirts to carry guns and fight the national
colonial enemy. After independence, contemporary Eritrean women replaced
their aprons with overalls, their wooden spoons with wrenches and pick axes,
and their kitchens with offices to work in typically male-dominated
occupations. Eritrean women through their NUEW played a powerful role in redressing
social injustice and gender inequality, and ensuring gender-sensitive attitudes
and perspectives in our society. Despite the joyful celebration and
jubilation of the national independence and the fundamental change of the
legal framework for equality, the traditional stereotypical attitudes of men against
women still prevail in most Eritrean households. Though God/Allah has given
women so much power, human nature has unwisely given them so little! I heard a story from Joel Osteen,
a famous pastor of the new generation, about a little dog that had been kept
on a twenty-foot leash tied to a tree for many years. His home was built near
to the tree. The owner came out to feed him and played with him occasionally.
But the dog remained on the leash all the time. Whenever he saw other dogs
playing in the field, he would run right out to the end of his leash. He knew
exactly how far he could go. He wanted to chase the other dogs and go play
with them, but he knew he had limited mobility. If he went too far, the leash
jerked him back into place. One day, the owner felt sorry for the dog, so he
decided to let him off that leash. Instead of removing both the leash and
collar, however, the owner simply unfastened the leash from the dog’s collar.
The collar remained around the dog’s neck, but it was not buckled to the
leash anymore. The owner thought sure the dog would take off running, happy
and free. Another dog came along, and sure enough, his dog got up and took
off running as expected. But much to the owner’s surprise, when his dog got
to where the leash would have ended, he stopped right where he always did. A
few minutes later, a naughty cat came strutting by. This cat had tormented
the dog for many years. But that cat knew where to walk – just a couple of
feet outside the reach of the leash. Again the dog took off running and
stopped right where he normally did when he had the leash. The dog was free.
All he had to do was go one step farther than he was used to do and he could
have walked right out of it. But he did not do it. Since his owner left the collar
around his neck, the dog felt that the collar was still buckled to the leash. The story reflects how women
live in intimate relations with their male oppressors. Obviously, the war for
independence has loosed the evil chains of dominance over women forged by men.
But, our wicked stereotypes, bad attitudes and discriminatory practices against
women are still featured in our individual household. Women are not completely
free because men are not yet liberated enough to understand the gender issue.
Gender difference between men and women still makes a difference in many
households. Our women are still working 14 to 16 hours per day to take care of
the household. Unlike men, women must make unusual efforts to succeed and get
accepted. Tradition in our society still creates an artificial separation
between men and women. Cultural stereotypes against women are lock-stitched
into the social fabric and character of Eritrean men. Most of us, that is,
the male population, go through life comfortably, without being conscious of
the many ways in which we are automatically privileged by the legacy of our
male-dominated cultural norms and social practices. Definitely, this privilege
makes us unwitting beneficiaries of exploitative and repressive male roles.
How so many males seldom think about gender inequality and injustice when so
few women pass every single day without being reminded of or affected by this
social evil? It is that men, in general, seem to employ their reason to
justify their superior attitudes rather than to root them out. There is
nothing inherently wrong with being unaware of gender issues. But when
character is attached to gender, and when ability is measured by gender, when
privilege is tied to gender, and when whole galaxies of factors that spell
the difference between success and failure in our society are dependent upon
gender, it becomes a deadly, dreadful, denigrating factor that creates two
separate and unequal worlds for men and women. The male population that has
oppressed the female population can not understand or appreciate the deep
groans and passionate yearnings of women that have been oppressed throughout
their life. The constant indignities, and of outright discrimination and
humiliation in all their ugly forms that women face through life cannot be
understood by men who have not lived through it and who have deliberately staged
and cherished male domination. Certainly, the liberation of
women is the liberation of men. Whatever affects women directly affects men
directly or indirectly because men and women are created equal. No woman is
required to accept traditional stereotypes and negative attitudes as natural
heritage. No woman is expected to live in a household by tolerating the evil
discriminatory practices of men against women. In practice, gender awareness
in both men and women is an essential first step in creating a framework for
understanding equality and justice. Upholding the fundamental rights for
women is not an act of benevolence by the male population. We all have the
moral obligation to advocate for equality and justice. Under any inhumane
circumstances, we (men) can not allow women to be dehumanized and underrated.
These evil and wicked practices create psychological and emotional problems both
to our spouses and children. There is a shared moral responsibility of men to
change their traditional stereotypical attitudes towards their female
counterparts. The responsibility of all women is then to get strongly involved
in changing the machinery of human relations and in securing their
fundamental and unalienable rights for gender equality and justice. The cultural stereotypes of men against women cannot be easily extracted with tweezers or clippers from the brains of the male population. To change the perspectives of men, the whole pattern of life in the society must be altered. The only thing we can do to change the society is to change our individual perspectives. Change of attitude should start at every household. The tolerance, challenge and understanding of the gender issue must come from each and every one of us, arising out of our everyday conduct and perspective, until decency and sincerity reach a flood tide to influence our own households and communities with gender equality and justice. The struggle for the liberation of men from their hostile stereotypical attitudes is everyday life for millions of women. We need to join the millions of women in the struggle to ensure equality and justice in our society. Next to God/Allah, we are indebted to women, first for giving us life itself, and then for making life worth having and enjoying. Happy International Women’s Day!!! |
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