Within hours of my posting a blog on Top 12 Reasons Why the Billboard Campaign, “Sois Belle et Vote,” Is Offensive to Women, I had already received more comments, phone calls, and messages than any time I’d ever done anything feminist before. This is undoubtedly because it was the first time I made feminist remarks against Lebanon’s politics in a targeted manner besides “all Lebanese politics sucks.”
The post spread more widely than I initially thought it would and attracted both the supportive and the angry. If you browse through the comments on the post, you will see some very pointless, angry, ad hominem arguments, which I really don’t know how to (or if I should) respond to. It got me thinking.
It is mind-blowing how we got the same attacks that feminists across the globe have been getting for years: that’s we’re “angry,” that we’re “ugly,” that we need to get laid, that we’re missing the point, that we should just shut up, and that we’re taking sides. Ad hominem par excellence. At one point, after too many disgruntled phone calls from my friends (who are mostly FPM supporters), I began to question whether or not the Feminist Collective should have spoken up at all. I wondered if I actually was pushing it too far or making a big deal out of it. I saw Deems working from the kitchen when I went in to make some coffee (I don’t know why, but she seems to like working on the kitchen table) and asked her: Are we right, Deems? Or are they right?
Concise and matter-of-fact as always, she replied: Of course we’re right, Nadz.
Of course we’re right. I have always criticized women’s and “peace” organizations for not speaking up about happenings specifically and for presenting themselves too guardedly, fearing that anyone might stop liking them. They hide behind the “apolitical” stand and the obviously humanitarian slogans in order to keep friendly ties with everybody. But friendly ties never get us anywhere. They maintain the power dynamic and fear factor as it is. We are scared of politicians and men of power. We don’t want to piss them off. We want to ask them kindly for our rights.
I knew in my head that no power is ever given up easily. It is taken by (preferably peaceful) force. I have always known that, but to experience it is a totally different ballgame. To put one’s opinions out there as radically against something that enjoys much popularity is more tough than I had imagined. But in the midst of my personal discomforted thinking, two things came out as crystal clear:
- We must always put our opinions out there, even at the risk of being misunderstood, ridiculed, and called names. We must speak up even at the risk of making enemies. It is having enemies that shows us if we are being taken seriously.
- A lot of women had a gut-instinct that something was wrong with the ad campaign, but didn’t know how to put their discomfort into words. They are feminists, whether they know it or not. And putting our feminism out there makes them feel supported enough to speak up as well. We may be few, but we will grow in numbers, and the more we grow, the stronger we become as a Collective.
And so I believe, with a much deeper understanding now, that we, as feminists, must stand up for the voice of the minority – no matter how tiny it may seem right now. And right now, to me, it seems really really tiny. I leave you with a quote from Audre Lorde:
I have come to believe over and over again, that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood…. My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you…. and while we wait in silence for that final luxury of fearlessness, the weight of that silence will choke us. The fact that we are here and that I speak these words is an attempt to break that silence and bridge some of those differences between us, for it is not difference which immobilizes us, but silence. And there are so many silences to be broken.
- The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action, Sister Outsider
[...] Original post by nmoawad [...]
I love it! Its exactly what Iv been thinking! I paused for a moment as well to rethink what we did, and I wondered whether we made a big deal out of nothing… And I blame myself for that! By rethinking we make them win… However this is what makes us who we are… we question everything even our beliefs that we stand so firmly for, and when we realize what your blog post amazingly express, we grow stronger and more sure about what we’re doing!
If they question their thoughts for a second , maybe they will come around.. and until then , we will not shut up!
WORD! We can’t be silent anymore. We’ve been silenced and marginalized for so long that khalas. ENOUGH. It’s time to speak up and keep speaking up. Something’s seriously wrong with this country. And no one sees it or maybe they do, but they just let it go, or don’t know what to do about it. Enough passiveness. It’s time for action. Don’t stop speaking your mind. Don’t stop acting on your beliefs and convictions. And know that YOU gave ME a voice.
Great post. Great insights.
Yeah, we are not here for those who are already represented, who do not see anything wrong with the way things are. These people are doing fine (or so they think). We are here (I hope) for those whose opinions are stifled. Or made fun of. And those whose lives are not seen as important as the rest of the more privileged lot. Enno why is a post about a billboard getting more angry reactions the fact that one migrant worker dies per week?!
Never stop writing. I have a good feeling about this blog. What can I say, it’s your Midas touch
Oh, and I like to work in the kitchen because I’m reclaiming that room of the house that has historically imprisoned women inside it. That’s where I love to write and read all my radical stuff.
Great post, Nadz. Great insights.
Yeah we always have to remember that we are not here for the ones who think there is nothing wrong with the world, for those who have the privilege to not see where the wrong is. The FC is about us saying we don’t care about making everyone happy, we’re here because there are some issues no one’s talkin’ about, and some women that no one is payin’ attention to.
Don’t ever stop writing. I have a good feeling about this blog.
Oh, and I like to work in the kitchen because I’m reclaiming that space that has historically imprisoned women. So now I’ve made the kitchen my little feminist headquarters.
“[it is the] intellectual’s role to speak the truth, as plainly, directly, and as honestly as possible. No intellectual is supposed to worry about whether what is said embarrasses, pleases, or displeases people in power. Speaking the truth to power means additionally that the intellectual’s constituency is neither a government nor a corporate or a career interest: only the truth, unadorned”
– Edward Said