The liberation of women is above all based on their capacity to think their own problems through and to link them to the total progress of the society and the world in which they live, to their capacity to develop a political and cultural consciousness. ~Nawal El Saadawi
6 comments:
woman's thought should be heard more often.
I can only see this happening, if we women take the steps and effort to arm ourselves with knowledge whichever route possible. With appropriate knowledge we can be movers and shakers. We can be the agents of change.
I have mingled with a broad spectrum of women. The ones lacking knowledge speak without volumes, as they just, if I could be abrasive here, simply shoot their mouth just to be heard. The ones with knowledge, prepares their points thoughtfully, and yes, sometimes get heard.
What a striking face, Nawal has! A handsome face as one would describe her. You too, Getzapped, have yourself a splendid weekend. :-)
hey get zapped...very true....infact more practical way to solve problems......amen...:D
polona- I like how you phrased it thoughts, not only feelings. So true.
ruby- I agree, as long as the knowledge has some heart with it, or else we start sounding like the patriarchal rule.
susan- She does. In fact, I had the good fortune to meet her face to face, when she came to the house I was living in, for an Arabic feminist meeting that my housemate was leading. I was the token "white girl". Talk about an interesting group of woman!
cosmic- practical is useful!
A valuable quote, and very timely to see it today for me. Why? I've found myself thinking a lot on the whole issue of liberation since hearing an extremely incisive observation from a woman travel writer last night in a TV discussion.
If the quote were a jumping-off point, we could have a beautiful discussion, but there's no time. Nonetheless, I honestly believe that what Nawal said could really be applied to masses of men in many parts of the world - 'developed', 'developing', other. Yes, the boys make the most noise and practically all the trouble & violence. Yes, they usually hold the power & the keys, Yes, women's 'citizenship'in many places is actually a sham. But then so is an awful lot of what is described as democracy. Soooo, in conclusion, my view is that the liberation of women on the quoted premise is STILL only part of the problem. The rest is Little Man, as described by Wilhelm Reich. He is motivated by hatreds, including and above all, self-hatred. Little Man needs tackling, empowerment also to think through his problems for himself and stop the greed, envy of 'elites' & ricos, aggression - all the things that are so easily stirred up & enflamed BECAUSE he doesn't think. Without this, then WHAT progress? The development of WHAT political & cultural consciousness? In chasing material dreams of 'better', an awful lot can be lost & rapidly. We seeing monstrous change taking place around the world, because people are not liberated. The poor have so little choice to defend themselves once they are sold the illusion that money is going to take them where they 'think' they want to be. Yes, I'm a guy. But I don't write this particularly as a guy. With Nawal's background, she knows that it is far more complex than just the liberation of women as she eloquently advocates it. Peace, real equality & real liberation to all!
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