Faces of Femi­nism I: Meeting in the Desert

During the project in Israel and Pales­tine, our repor­ters had the chance to meet with many diffe­rent women. Hanna Hörn­lein talked for example with an ultra-orthodox, Jewish woman and a German parti­ci­pant and about their roles in society, their inter­ac­tions with men, and how they are able to express indi­vi­dua­lity. Which influences shape their iden­tity? How do we, as visi­tors, start reflec­ting on our own roles in this process?

Femi­nism. A word that seems to be over­used in the global north. I often have the impres­sion that western femi­nists like myself are stuck in theo­re­tical debates where we seem to forget our concrete aims. Although there are a lot of femi­nist move­ments fighting for change in diffe­rent areas, the prac­tice itself isn’t always imple­mented. But what happens when our narrow mindset crosses other hori­zons, other cultures, other count­ries? When we find ourselves in some situa­tions, where other values between women and men, reli­gion and society, define daily life? What about situa­tions which we’ve labeled or judged before knowing the circum­s­tances, subcon­sciously putting ourselves in some sort of higher posi­tion?

First meeting: Suheila abu Rkeek – the defi­ni­tion of femi­nism

Suheila abu Rkeek is a middle aged Bedouin woman living in a small town called Tel Sheva in Israel, fighting for her own basic rights and those of her daugh­ters; proper educa­tion, self-expres­sion and an inde­pen­dent life, instead of getting married at a very young age and staying at home. For more than ten years she has been leading her own revo­lu­tion: running a cate­ring busi­ness, crea­ting aware­ness, and telling her personal story to visi­tors – all unbe­knownst to her husband. Encou­ra­ging other women to stand up for them­selves forms also a major part of her work.

Refer­ring to the ques­tion whether she would describe herself as a femi­nist, she stays quiet for a while. She didn’t under­stand the meaning of the word. Although she lives the so-called femi­nist fight every day, she’s not fami­liar with the termi­no­logy. ​„Maybe in my society, I am“, she says, ​„but not a famous one.“ Suheila considers herself a normal woman, only wanting the best for her daugh­ters, even if that means contra­dic­ting the social rules created by men. She made it possible for her daughter to go to high school and to start studying medi­cine at the univer­sity – all against the will of her husband.

Inspired by her parents who always served as a refuge when her husband was oppres­sing her, she learned to be a fighter. But how are women able to express them­selves in a patri­ar­chal society? ​„It depends on the character of each woman, whether she has the strength to fight for herself and her rights, which does not really work if you are scared“, explains Suheila. She talked about other women who stand up for them­selves in other manners, like going shop­ping in the next mall or even over­seas, although their men are clearly against it. Those daily strug­gles would be considered a norma­lity by people living in a western society.

„I reached my goal to create a freer life for my daugh­ters, to work inde­pendently, to not depend in my daily life on my husband. Now I can do ever­y­thing I want“ – a free expres­sion of herself towards the aspects of working, buil­ding a busi­ness, driving a car, and sending her daugh­ters to univer­sity or high school. But it’s enough now. She made the way for her younger daugh­ters, her eldest one can stand up for herself now. It’s been two years now since Suheila started helping and giving advice to other women – working even in muni­cipal coun­cils, social services, and through a WhatsApp group to promote the busi­nesses of other women. And do men also form a part of this social media group? ​„No, it’s just women. Men can take care of them­selves“, she said smiling.

I noticed that our deep wish to label certain circum­s­tances or people goes hand-in-hand with not paying atten­tion to the self-percep­tion of others. How do they see them­selves? Being a femi­nist is a very diver­si­fied matter which can present itself in many ways of fighting and iden­ti­fying yourself. I learned seeing so many women fighting and living: it’s not about the term, but the actions.