Friday, October 9, 2009

Rakhshan Bani-Etemad: We are half of the population

This documentary was prepared before the election. It shows coalition of women, from DIFFERENT factions, coming together to press the candidates, ALL of them, to voice out their concerns through the campaign podiums of election campaign

This is all in Persian, but you may enjoy watching the wide range of women participants in political, social, and legal spheres of Iran.

I will keep an eye for a subtitled version of this, subtitle it myself (if i get in touch with the director) or at least provide a summary for you.

The significance of this video, besides demonstrating the VITAL and powerful force of women in Iranian politics, is that the only candidate absent from this documentary is Mr Ahmadinejad!
The significance of this vide is also in the REALISTIC and pragmatic view women have about their demands, and how well aware they are of the fact that the infrastructure of reform shall be built on their foundations.

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ارسال کنید ساختار اين مستند براساس طرح سؤالات فعالين حقوق زن از طيف متنوعي با ديدگاه‌هاي مختلف درباره مطالبات زنان و در انتها نقطه نظر كانديداه

7 comments:

Pedestrian said...

I've seen this before. I thought it was fascinating especially since it doesn't focus on one particular group or class.

You know what was even greater?
That Ahmadi didn't even bother to show up!

Anonymous said...

Do you have the english subtitle version? I saw this a coiple of months.

Naj said...

Anonymous; yes this has been out for a while now--and no I do not have a subtitled version, but i will put one up as soon as i find it.
i just though even for non-persian speakers it will be interesting to see rows and ranks of Iranian women who are toughing out the political landscape and claiming its leadership too!

This video puts to rest the myth of disempowered oriental female!

Yes the director is a woman too!

No, I am NOT a feminist! No - Way.

kellie said...

I'm curious as to why you insist you're not a feminist? What do you find troublesome about the word? Is there a word or a phrase you prefer?

Naj said...

:) Kellie, good question.

I think I am just sensitive to any kind of "ist".

Because I am a woman, I write from my female POV. And I constantly fear that I may be perceived as someone who is dedicated to something called "women rights".

I have my own version of women's rights, which doesn't consider women weak and oppressed creatures in desperate need for salvation.

I think women would have the right to just be mothers; to stay home if they prefer and to never go to work and be paid for staying-home mothers; I think women right should focus on getting "inequality" for women; not equality. Women should be considered superior ;)

When I think of feminists, I envision these women, hair sticking from their arm pits, shaven heads, militant, man-hating, and raged with victimhood.

Whereas that may be true, whereas many women may have suffered discrimination, violence, and etc; and their cause deserves attention and action; I do not feel capable of genuine care for their cause. I come from a family of matriarchs--women who have not had comfortable lives, women who have swam against the currents of the society, women who against all odds have become and been outstanding.

So, I am a womanist, not feminist ;)

kellie said...

Thanks for that, Naj. I agree 'isms' can be troublesome, subject to hijack and caricature, though I suspect a number self-identifying feminists might agree with all you say!

Naj said...

Kelli,

When I was little, before the revolution, my mother was one of the earliest members of "Women Rights" Organization. I remember driving her with my father to where she had to give a speech. And I remember that was always a subject of my father's jokes that he was too afraid of his feminist wife :)

My family in Iran is very much involved in setting up programs that "empower" women. But you see, in Iran, women are "using" their femininity to drive a number of other social and political issues home , issues that will also benefit men--for example death penalty. They are focusing on abolishing death penalty for women to set the stage for turning up the heat for death penalty for all.

If they can twist the system to circumvent the "biblical/qoranic" stone-carved "inequality" of men and women, then they have killed a huge monster! So, when I say I am not a feminist, what I am saying is that the examples I give of women are indices of the kind of social/political mood of the country--not only women.