I am swamped this morning with a paper about Honor Killings, then class, then work. (Where I will hopefully work on a reflection paper of this weekend's workshop which I will share with you on the blog.) Alas, I wanted to say quickly that I have a lot to share with you!! I had a great weekend in class (WAIT WHAT?), yes we had class this weekend for my Women's Human Rights class. We hosted a panel of 3 Muslim women and 1 Muslim man to discuss "changing gender identities in Islam" and boy was it great! 2 of them were professors of Arabic at the school, 1 community member who has done a great deal of research in Palestine and other countries who is also the daughter of a Jordanian man, and our classmate who is a Saudi native who has lived in the US on and off since 1996 and is finishing her MA in Conflict Resolution here at MIIS. Great discussion! Such an array of opinions and viewpoints on women in Islam. I wish the world could have tuned in! Anyway, I will share my reflection paper that I am required to write when I finish with it tonight.
Now back to my honor killings paper. UGH the things I could share with you on that! Maybe I'll share that paper also when it is done being edited! Have to finish it today to send to the writing center, then I'll polish it off and turn it in (and maybe post?) on Friday! It is such an interesting subject and one that is actually a bit misunderstood I think. Biggest misconception: while honor crimes do happen disproportionately in the Middle East, Islam actually does not condone this behavior and it is no where in the Qur'an that this action against women is at all tolerated. Interesting how PEOPLE can twist Religion. Maybe I should get into theology because what we has humans do to the word of God just kills me sometimes. I think my lovely minister Grandfather would agree. Ya?! :)
Until next time...Much love,
Sasha
PS Positive thoughts please please please! Come Thursday I'll either have a very exciting blog announcing I'll be going on a 2 week research trip to Nepal with a professor....or not...we'll see! Keep your fingers crossed for me, ask God for a favor for me, or just stay positive with me, whichever mode of happiness works for you! I'll be doing all 3, for good measure! ;)
PPS As if you all are not busy with your own lives, please let me know if I ever bring up issues that you may be interested in also, I can send you many readings :) I really want to share everything I am learning with as many people I can!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Must Do Something
Warning: I am still collecting my thoughts and drying my tears of frustration as I write this, so my thoughts may not be completely hashed out, and subject to change.
The complexity of women's human rights is great and far too expansive to completely cover in a blog post. There are books and books written on the subject, so I will not attempt to say anything too profound here in one blog post. That being said the situation of women in Afghanistan is one that is improving since the fall of the Taliban but threatened today. The international community must put more than just words behind. The international community must actively support women in Afghanistan, not just through the arm of the military but by pressuring the government for the inclusion of women at the peace table. It is becoming clear to me that inclusion of women in decision making is my passion. To get to that point, where women are capable of participation you need education. It infuriates me that women all over the world are being kept from gaining an education, kept from participating in their local, regional, national governments, and are rendered almost incapable of making decisions at the international level. We must change this. But how? Through the readings I've done and discussions I've had at MIIS, I'm realizing that empowerment and change must come from within a country, not from imposing foreign views. So what does this mean for me? Or anyone like me? What does it mean for Western women and men who are outraged by the exclusion of women in other countries, and for that matter in their own? I want very deeply to get these Afghan women to the peace table. After watching the PBS Documentary Peace Unveiled (Watch here: )I was moved to tears out of frustration with the Afghani government, the US, and the UN. But I am realizing now it is not my place to go into a country like Afghanistan and "empower" women. That is counter intuitive. Maybe the role for someone like me is influencing my own government and other Western countries to change the way we see and treat women in countries like Afghanistan. Pressure my government to pressure governments like Afghanistan to include its own women.
I have to learn more. I guess that is why I am in graduate school. This documentary is perfectly timed to further invigorate me a about a development project I am doing with a team on Women in Afghanistan. We are proposing a policy plan for an international aid organization CARE. My section of the project is to talk about the role women have in politics and governance. I was extremely interested the topic in when we started but now am even more dedicated to crafting realistic, feasible, and helpful recommendations that incorporates what I learned from this documentary. I have to learn more. Women are dying on their way to the peace table. There has to be a better way at getting them there. This is the most important struggle in my mind. Maybe what I need to work toward is gaining knowledge and a strong research background in women's role in governance and peacebuilding. If I am an expert with field research to back me up I will be better equipped to influence our government to change the way we interact with countries like Afghanistan. One of the most infuriating parts of the documentary is when a group of Afghani women went to the US Embassy in Kabul and spoke with our Ambassador and his wife. They had the audacity of telling them they should be more positive and they should keep the American people in mind. That is not a direct quote, please watch it for yourself but my goodness am I shocked he and his wife had the audacity to say that to them. This is what I feel like I have an opportunity to change and to work with. Our own US officials. What our US Ambassador and his wife said to the women they met with in Afghanistan in 2010 is embarrassing.
I think I have a new goal, we'll see how this evolves. I have amazing professors to guide me while I am here at MIIS. I am incredibly passionate that women should be brought to the peace table. Countries need to uphold United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 which stipulates that women should be included in all post conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding efforts. So far, as evident in Afghanistan and plenty of other countries, this isn't happening. Women must be educated equal to men, given opportunities equal to men, so that they can participate in decision-making at a policy level. Particularly in my opinion in post conflict decision making. Women must be a part of the reconstruction process. I want to be apart of getting women to that table. I want to help women get there. I want to help change our own national view on women's role in decision-making here in the US which is flawed, in my opinion.
Secretary Clinton should be applauded for her efforts in this issue. She needs help. I want to follow in her footsteps, hers and other strong, capable women who are fighting to increase women's representation at peace tables around the world. If only our own country would have elected her to the highest decision-making office in our own country. Only 19% of the US Congress is women. We are flawed. The situation of the women in Afghanistan infuriates me and fuels my passion for this issue; but we too have problems.
These are just my thoughts....
Goodnight world.
The complexity of women's human rights is great and far too expansive to completely cover in a blog post. There are books and books written on the subject, so I will not attempt to say anything too profound here in one blog post. That being said the situation of women in Afghanistan is one that is improving since the fall of the Taliban but threatened today. The international community must put more than just words behind. The international community must actively support women in Afghanistan, not just through the arm of the military but by pressuring the government for the inclusion of women at the peace table. It is becoming clear to me that inclusion of women in decision making is my passion. To get to that point, where women are capable of participation you need education. It infuriates me that women all over the world are being kept from gaining an education, kept from participating in their local, regional, national governments, and are rendered almost incapable of making decisions at the international level. We must change this. But how? Through the readings I've done and discussions I've had at MIIS, I'm realizing that empowerment and change must come from within a country, not from imposing foreign views. So what does this mean for me? Or anyone like me? What does it mean for Western women and men who are outraged by the exclusion of women in other countries, and for that matter in their own? I want very deeply to get these Afghan women to the peace table. After watching the PBS Documentary Peace Unveiled (Watch here: )I was moved to tears out of frustration with the Afghani government, the US, and the UN. But I am realizing now it is not my place to go into a country like Afghanistan and "empower" women. That is counter intuitive. Maybe the role for someone like me is influencing my own government and other Western countries to change the way we see and treat women in countries like Afghanistan. Pressure my government to pressure governments like Afghanistan to include its own women.
I have to learn more. I guess that is why I am in graduate school. This documentary is perfectly timed to further invigorate me a about a development project I am doing with a team on Women in Afghanistan. We are proposing a policy plan for an international aid organization CARE. My section of the project is to talk about the role women have in politics and governance. I was extremely interested the topic in when we started but now am even more dedicated to crafting realistic, feasible, and helpful recommendations that incorporates what I learned from this documentary. I have to learn more. Women are dying on their way to the peace table. There has to be a better way at getting them there. This is the most important struggle in my mind. Maybe what I need to work toward is gaining knowledge and a strong research background in women's role in governance and peacebuilding. If I am an expert with field research to back me up I will be better equipped to influence our government to change the way we interact with countries like Afghanistan. One of the most infuriating parts of the documentary is when a group of Afghani women went to the US Embassy in Kabul and spoke with our Ambassador and his wife. They had the audacity of telling them they should be more positive and they should keep the American people in mind. That is not a direct quote, please watch it for yourself but my goodness am I shocked he and his wife had the audacity to say that to them. This is what I feel like I have an opportunity to change and to work with. Our own US officials. What our US Ambassador and his wife said to the women they met with in Afghanistan in 2010 is embarrassing.
I think I have a new goal, we'll see how this evolves. I have amazing professors to guide me while I am here at MIIS. I am incredibly passionate that women should be brought to the peace table. Countries need to uphold United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 which stipulates that women should be included in all post conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding efforts. So far, as evident in Afghanistan and plenty of other countries, this isn't happening. Women must be educated equal to men, given opportunities equal to men, so that they can participate in decision-making at a policy level. Particularly in my opinion in post conflict decision making. Women must be a part of the reconstruction process. I want to be apart of getting women to that table. I want to help women get there. I want to help change our own national view on women's role in decision-making here in the US which is flawed, in my opinion.
Secretary Clinton should be applauded for her efforts in this issue. She needs help. I want to follow in her footsteps, hers and other strong, capable women who are fighting to increase women's representation at peace tables around the world. If only our own country would have elected her to the highest decision-making office in our own country. Only 19% of the US Congress is women. We are flawed. The situation of the women in Afghanistan infuriates me and fuels my passion for this issue; but we too have problems.
These are just my thoughts....
Goodnight world.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Militaristic Empowerment: The Deceiving Equality of Women Soldiers in Libya
It is deceiving to say war empowers women, yet there are those who argue it does and they can be compelling. You see, in war women can seize opportunities to break away from their traditional roles as homemakers. This allows them to provide, monetarily, for their families unlike before the war due to the absence of their husbands, fathers, uncles, or brothers. Additionally, they can join the military and thereby dually fight the enemy and the system that subordinates them to men. However despite these instances I disagree that women’s participation in the military is empowering. Critical Feminists would agree and further argue that military institutions are inherently engendered, promoting masculinity and heterosexism.(i) The idea that women’s involvement in the military will “feminize” the institution is dangerously deceiving because in reality (thus far) military institutions merely militarize and subjugate women further, not truly empower them.(ii) While war can provide women with opportunities outside the home, the roles women take up are typically only in times of war and aren’t sustained in post-conflict society without a supportive social revolution. We have seen examples of deceiving empowerment in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Lebanon where women took up arms in hopes that they would gain equality by fighting alongside men; however after the conflict they were relegated back to their original roles without significant contributions to post-conflict reconstruction.(iii)
Currently in Libya women are flocking to the military to be trained as soldiers in order to participate as equals to men in rebuilding and protecting their country.(iv) Women’s participation in Libya’s armed forces is not a new phenomenon; during Gaddafi’s regime he was famous for having women as bodyguards and elsewhere in his personal army. Past involvement of women was not motivated by gender equality and Gaddafi had little commitment to improving women’s lives.(v) Today, women are eager to join the forces for a new reason: equality, but I worry this will not achieve their true goals in the long run. If the experiences of Nepalese, Sri Lankan, and Lebanese women tell us anything, it is that taking up arms will not provide women with lasting equality they seek without participation in other spheres outside of the military. Real commitment to gender equality in Libya during this transition phase requires more than just an increase in women soldiers. Instead of the military, Libyan women need a place at the negotiating table, not just a token seat; they need a voice that people listen to. Women’s equality takes a long time to achieve and I would argue that there are very few, if any, places in the world that have truly achieved this goal. However, to those who are trying there must be more options for empowerment than military participation. While women’s active role in militaries may be a stepping-stone for some, I fear that too much emphasis on equality by way of the military is not only unsustainable for women but also troublesome for society because it only increases the militarization of society.
i. D’Amico, F. (1998) “Feminist Perspectives on Women Warriors.” In L.A. Lorentzen and J.Turpin (Eds.), The Women and War Reader. New York: New York University Press. pg. 120 & 122
ii. Ibid
iii. Shehadeh, L.R. (1999) “Women in the Lebanese Militias.” In L.R. Shehadeh (Ed.), Women and War in Lebanon. Tampa: University Press of Florida. And, Alison, M.H. (2009). “Women’s Experiences in the LTTE in Sri Lanka: Gender relations and feminist nationalism.” Women and Political Violence: Female Combatants in ethno-national Conflict. New York: Routledge. And, Thapa, R. (2007). “On the Edge: The Impact of Insurgency on Nepali Women.” In A.D. Shrestha & R. Thapa (Eds.), The Impact of Armed Conflicts on Women in South Asia. Colombo: Regional Centre for Strategic Studies.
iv. Al-Shaheibi, R. “Libyan Women Train for Military.” Time World Online. September 27, 2011. Retrieved from: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2095154,00.html
v. Ibid
Monday, October 10, 2011
Dropped off the face of the earth
Well, the last few weeks have been a nightmare. And this weekend will be the same. Hense, the lack of blogging. I need to start utilizing this space as like a live journal and reflect at the end of each day on what I am learning because my head is getting full of random thoughts! I guess I'll catch you up to speed on life here in Monterey:
Since my last blog I got the paper back that I posted on the blog and I did pretty well. I am working on editing it to be about a specific incident/war where women's stories were not taken into account in post conflict reconstruction so that it is more of a specific argument/opinion. When I finish, my professor said she'll re read it, and if it is better than this draft she is going to publish it on her non profit organization's website Wandering Thoughts!!! I'll get the link and post it if that happens! This Women in War class that I work my tail off in is almost done! Next week is our group presentations! YIKES Hense why this weekend is going to be CRAZY!
Not this past weekend, but the weekend prior, I was in NYC for the weekend which was wonderful! I saw Daniel Radcliffe (Star of Harry Potter) leave his broadway show and get in his car! HIGHLIGHT! haha I tried to convince him to come back to WA and marry Sonia, but he didn't hear me! Bummer. I went to NYC for Fall Staff training for National Model United Nations in the spring. I am the Director of the United Nations Children's Fund which is exciting. My two topics directly relate to the classes I have been taking which has been fun to write on. I got to get back in touch with many friends I haven't seen in awhile so it was a great weekend. Because of the weekend off of school though I was quite busy last week. Worth it though.
I feel so studious these days because all I do is read. I don't think I have ever been so focused! Sometimes I wonder if I am learning anything, because so much of what I read is heavy, and I feel like it takes a while to process, but I am sure I have learned something! ;) I have definitely become more aware of life around the world and views that are different, and similar to mine. One surprising element to being in graduate school is the self reflecting component that takes place. Where do you want to work? What do you want to do? What are your goals? Where do you want to be in 10 years? What adjectives describe you? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Its insane! Who knew part of studying global problems would be through studying yourself, your baises, your abilities, all sorts of stuff!
SO very exciting update in Kael's career is coming up this weekend! Kael has been invited by his head chef to cook with him at the LA Food and Wine Festival this weekend in LA!!! This is HUGE! Everyone in the cooking world will be there! He is going to be directly assisting his chef cooking with top chefs and food critics!! AMAZING! Think lots of positive thoughts for him that he is on his A game! here is the website if you want to take a look at how cool it is: http://www.lafw.com/ if you go to the Talent page and scroll down, his Chef's name is Levi Mezick. A lot of these chefs have been on the Food Network and other tv networks, own amazing restaurants around the country.
Anyway, I should get back to studying! I'll let you know how Kael and Levi do this weekend! Also I will be updating soon on whether or not I will be going to NEPAL in January!!!! Hopefully I'll know soon! And I'll explain details later (I am trying not to jinx it! hehe)
Much love,
Sash
Since my last blog I got the paper back that I posted on the blog and I did pretty well. I am working on editing it to be about a specific incident/war where women's stories were not taken into account in post conflict reconstruction so that it is more of a specific argument/opinion. When I finish, my professor said she'll re read it, and if it is better than this draft she is going to publish it on her non profit organization's website Wandering Thoughts!!! I'll get the link and post it if that happens! This Women in War class that I work my tail off in is almost done! Next week is our group presentations! YIKES Hense why this weekend is going to be CRAZY!
Not this past weekend, but the weekend prior, I was in NYC for the weekend which was wonderful! I saw Daniel Radcliffe (Star of Harry Potter) leave his broadway show and get in his car! HIGHLIGHT! haha I tried to convince him to come back to WA and marry Sonia, but he didn't hear me! Bummer. I went to NYC for Fall Staff training for National Model United Nations in the spring. I am the Director of the United Nations Children's Fund which is exciting. My two topics directly relate to the classes I have been taking which has been fun to write on. I got to get back in touch with many friends I haven't seen in awhile so it was a great weekend. Because of the weekend off of school though I was quite busy last week. Worth it though.
I feel so studious these days because all I do is read. I don't think I have ever been so focused! Sometimes I wonder if I am learning anything, because so much of what I read is heavy, and I feel like it takes a while to process, but I am sure I have learned something! ;) I have definitely become more aware of life around the world and views that are different, and similar to mine. One surprising element to being in graduate school is the self reflecting component that takes place. Where do you want to work? What do you want to do? What are your goals? Where do you want to be in 10 years? What adjectives describe you? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Its insane! Who knew part of studying global problems would be through studying yourself, your baises, your abilities, all sorts of stuff!
SO very exciting update in Kael's career is coming up this weekend! Kael has been invited by his head chef to cook with him at the LA Food and Wine Festival this weekend in LA!!! This is HUGE! Everyone in the cooking world will be there! He is going to be directly assisting his chef cooking with top chefs and food critics!! AMAZING! Think lots of positive thoughts for him that he is on his A game! here is the website if you want to take a look at how cool it is: http://www.lafw.com/ if you go to the Talent page and scroll down, his Chef's name is Levi Mezick. A lot of these chefs have been on the Food Network and other tv networks, own amazing restaurants around the country.
Anyway, I should get back to studying! I'll let you know how Kael and Levi do this weekend! Also I will be updating soon on whether or not I will be going to NEPAL in January!!!! Hopefully I'll know soon! And I'll explain details later (I am trying not to jinx it! hehe)
Much love,
Sash
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