 In a sense it can seem strange
to have only one day in the year
when we think about women.
As there are so many of us on the
planet why not 365 days? Yet it
seems a good moment to stand still
and ask ourselves what it means to
be part of the female gender in
our time. For over 80 years,
International Women’s Day has
been celebrated, and it has moved
on from being a demonstration
by female textile workers in New
York to what? This year some of
the members of Feminenza in
different countries decided to
celebrate the day in different
ways, with the idea of helping to
strengthen the sisterhood between
women all over the world.
Cyprus
A mark of mutuality
In
Nicosia over 40 Feminenza members and their friends gathered together
to make a
mark of mutuality for what they do together. In
an open forum they spoke of their vision for
2003 and what Feminenza stands for in their
life. The discussion continued in small groups
around the different tables for long after the
actual mark had taken place.
A very significant theme that recurred during
the afternoon was their shared value for the
quality of humanity and the desire to put that
into action in what they are endeavouring to
do, and how by bringing light into your own
heart you can light up the hearts of others.
During the day special fund raising took place
to collect money for an organisation which
helps abused children.
Denmark
Enjoying being a woman
In Copenhagen Feminenza participants organised
a workshop with the title ‘Enjoying Being a
Woman’ in which around 30 women, both
Feminenza members and guests of all ages, got
together to celebrate the fact that they are
women. The specific focus was on the life in us
that we call the ‘Woman,’ as opposed to the life of the ‘Female’ or
the ‘Lady,’ and the specific
skills and pleasures, which belong to that
part in us.
There were seven different workshops, which
participants could attend and during lunch a
rich spirit of togetherness arose with some singing,
which resonated throughout the day as a
great sense of warmth of being joined in unity.
Many of the participants said that they find
themselves quite isolated within the ongoing of
their lives, whether working, staying at home
as a mother, or being a working mother.
They spoke about the fact that taking time to
discuss the proposition of being of the female
gender is very rare. As we all know, there is
more to being a woman than working and/or
raising children, but often we don’t take or
have the time to think about it. So this sharing
and spending time was very important and left
everyone feeling enriched and warmed, yet also
knowing that they could improve their lives,
with such things as building a network with
other women who feel the same way.
As one of the participants said, “It was just
good to be together”.
France
A support to all women of the world
In France the Feminenza members decided to make
a special mark this year. During the week
leading up to International Women’s Day and
on the day itself, they wore a green and ruby
red coloured ribbon as a mark of their endeavour
to promote the emancipation and freedom
of the female gender. It was also worn as a
support to all the women of the world,
wherever they are, who sustain and continue
to struggle against adversity and do the best
they can within their situation.
Top The Netherlands
The strength women can develop
in the face of adversity
The activities began on Thursday 6 March at a
school in Leiden where one of the Feminenza
Ring of Hope founders Lieneke van der Linde
teaches young people in the healthcare profession.
Together with a colleague, she organised a
meeting in which 5 students could recount their
internship experiences about the role of girls
and women in Surinam, South Africa and Spain.
The meeting was held in the context of International
Women’s Day, a day in which the
teachers wanted to put forward the notion that
there should be fundamental values and rights
for human beings, including girls and women. It
is important that as these young people start in
the healthcare profession, they are aware of the
differences in the roles and place that women have in their
own and other cultures. The right
to decide about one’s own life, which has
become so normal for young people in the
West, is not always so available for people
elsewhere in the world.
The students told stories about nurses, who
found a way to improve the lives of their
patients. There was for example a nurse in
South Africa, who managed to improve the
way mentally disabled people live in South
Africa, by drawing the attention of the authorities
to the appalling circumstances they were
living in. Everywhere in the world there are
such women, who try to do something about
the disparity, suppression and misconduct in
the situation they find themselves in, and
during this meeting this fact was given extra
attention and value.
Lieneke concluded the day by describing the
vision, that if we give attention and value to
women and their actions, that this will start to
form up a supporting ‘Ring of Hope’, from
which everyone can draw strength.
Putting
aside one’s personal issue
for a greater need
The next event took place later that evening
where Marion Verweij had been invited to give
a talk about her book, Beacons of Hope, at the
American Book Centre in Amsterdam.
In agreement with the Book Centre, proceeds
from the talk were donated to a project, which
helps girls in Bangladesh receive an education
rather than being forced into prostitution. The
main theme of the talk was the great unity which can exist between
women when they
work together and how that strength and
cohesion are combating some of the problems
of women in the world. The talk highlighted
the stark reality of sexual trafficking and the
importance of international co-operation. The
problem is so widespread that no country or
person alone can stop this great destruction of
human dignity, through such misuse of young
girls and women. The talk led on to the great
importance of education, not only to achieve
financial independence, so a girl can find
another means of income other than selling her
body, but also as a means of self development
and broader thinking for herself.
Towards the end of the lecture we spoke about
the importance of being able to put aside one’s
personal issue if needed for the greater good
of all. One of the participants, a Moslem
woman whose family came to Holland from
the East Indies told a moving story as an example
of this. Three years ago she was part of an
organising committee for a peace march in Amsterdam and
a couple of days before the
march she heard that 13 members of her family
had been killed during fighting in the East
Indies. She told us about how she found what
was needed to rise above her personal grief
and urge for retribution, for a greater purpose
and to see peace in the world.
Top Hooray
it’s a girl
On the evening of Saturday 8th March, Feminenza
participated in a big event, which was
held in the culture centre of Leiden. There were
Somalian women present who talked about
female circumcision and Kurdish women who
played music and invited everyone to join in
with their national dancing. Some women from
the Labour party had taken the overall organisation
of the evening upon themselves and
arranged for a new film to be shown, made by
2 young women, about the second wave of
emancipation (which was in the sixties and
seventies) and where it stands today. After this
a discussion was opened about the film, the
issues at play in the women at the time, to
what degree has what they fought for been
achieved and how people view feminism
today? After the general discussion, Feminenza
conducted a short workshop, which explored the meaning
of a third emancipation wave,
which is currently developing and is increasingly
being talked about by women all over the
world. The
members of the Ring of Hope, had an idea to celebrate the birth
of girl babies, from the
standpoint that there are so many baby girls
being born in the world who are not wanted
because they are not boys. They thought it
would be a great way to say they are actually
welcome, by inviting all the women and men
present that night to join in a celebration of the
birth of an unknown baby girl somewhere in
the world. This was given expression by offering‘
Beschuit met Muisjes’, which is a Dutch tradition
of parents of a new born baby, who offer a
buttered biscuit with coloured aniseed balls to
friends and relations. Together with the biscuits
everyone received a card with the explanation of
this gesture. It was much appreciated and everyone
present joined in during the ceremony!
What could be seen during this
happening, was
that we are finding ourselves at a moment in
time, when there is a search going on for new
ways of thinking about what it means to be a
woman in the 21st century. |
