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Is Sexism inherent in Kurdish Culture?
27.11.2010
By Ruwayda Mustafah Rabar
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November 27, 2010
LONDON,
— British Kurds often turn their backs on their
Kurdish culture by asserting that it is sexist; I
have endeavoured to put all my findings and research
together to answer the question of whether the
Kurdish culture is inherently sexist, or are there
external influences which perpetuate sexism* towards
women. Kurdistan is increasingly changing for
several reasons, namely the government is richer,
women are more educated, and globalisation is
influencing women faster than predicted.
I have tried to be neutral in conducting my
interviews with Kurdish women in Iraq, and those in
Europe.
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I have interviewed women
from different backgrounds and social classes within
Erbil [Iraqi Kurdistan] (where most of my research
was conducted) as well as Holland, Germany, and
England. My findings have been both positive and
negative. My interviewing were casual, and conducted
in a informal setting. It was conversational to
allow room for more thought, I did not want to
suppress the thoughts of women. Younger women were
more bold, and easier to speak to whereas older
women were not as forthcoming, and highly critical
of contemporary Kurdish women. Often referring to
them as promiscuous, without values and morals.
While a large number of women are increasingly
opting for education, with a particular interest in
Medicine. None of them portrayed any selfless or
eager attempts to improve the perceptions of women
within society. They seemed to be concerned with
themselves, their own future and prospect of
success. Out of the 50 women interviewed and
questioned, none of them seemed to portray any real
thought about the future of women in Kurdistan.
I do not believe the Kurdish culture is inherently
sexist, just as I do not believe the British culture
is inherently sexist. I believe people can be
sexist, and their collective attitude towards women
can constitute as discriminatory. There are elements
of discrimination and sexism within the Kurds and
Kurdish culture which needs to be reformed
radically, but in my opinion it does not necessitate
that the culture is inherently sexist. Looking back
at Kurdish women in the past, their strength and
participation both politically, and socially have
been significant enough to suggest that in
principle, the culture has room for both change and
equality of the sexes.
It is disturbing to conclude that a large number of
women in Kurdistan that I interviewed were complicit
with honour Killings, and even suggested that
governmental officials were lenient towards those
who kill female members in the name of “honour”.
This puts women at great risk because how a man's
honour is supposedly “shamed” is subjective, and
therefore women are in great danger. The
overwhelming attitude towards Honour killings was
disturbing. A large number of women that I spoke to
in Kurdistan justified the killing of women in the
name of preserving one's honour. The problem here
was; “Honour killings” no longer constituted as an
act perpetuated by a male-figure but also with the
assistance and approval of women. If a independent
study was conducted about the number of men killed
in the name of honour, we would see how silence and
compliance with this practice directly affects the
lives of many women. Kurdish women have been killed
over using mobile phones, talking to men in
flirtatious or promiscuous ways. However, the
attitude of European Kurds was largely different,
they were opposed to honour killings categorically,
often citing religion to illustrate the immorality
of the act.
Domestic violence – the silent killer of women was
not taken seriously, not by men nor government
agencies. Some of those that I interviewed in
Kurdistan believed some women “had it coming”
because of their behaviour and attitude. Although,
by large women seemed to find domestic violence
unacceptable, some form of justification was given
in certain instances which as disturbing. In
comparing the interviews of European Kurds and Kurds
living in Kurdistan, once again European Kurds were
against domestic violence perpetuated by both men
and women.
My other findings were on a less-radical scale, but
of equal importance. Women were not eager to see
other women in power. They did not support female
politicians, instead they often referred to them as
masculine and “power-hungry”. This indicated that
perhaps some women have a form of jealousy towards
other hard-working female politicians and recognised
scholars. As a result, this would hinder the success
of female influence within society. Women in Europe
did not display any form of contempt for women in
power, but did not indicate any passion, nor
interested when asked about their thoughts about
women in governmental sectors.
My sample of research was extremely small in light
of the population, but unfortunately due to
insufficient funds, and resources available, I could
not conduct more interviews. Due to the small sample
size I can't draw any conclusions or present my
research as qualifying evidence. But I do hope in
the near future that I would conduct a research on
the attitude of women towards equality through
interviews and polls.
I would like to extend my gratitude to Salahuldeen
University in Erbil for allowing me to enter their
classes and observe their teaching techniques, and
the participants in my interviews both in Europe and
Kurdistan.
Ruwayda Mustafah Rabar is a second year Law
student at Kingston University, having written
several articles about gender and Islam, and
travelled eastern countries throughout her youth,
she has an interest for comparative religion,
culture, and effects of globalisation. She blogs on
www.ruwaydamustafah.com
* Sexism, a term coined in the mid-20th century,
is the belief or attitude that one gender or sex is
inferior to, less competent, or less valuable than
the other. It can also refer to hatred of, or
prejudice towards, either sex as a whole (see
misogyny and misandry), or the application of
stereotypes of masculinity in relation to men, or of
femininity in relation to women. It is also called
male and female chauvinism. Sexist is the adjective
form of the noun sexism. Sex discrimination is
discrimination on the basis of sex or gender.
Copyright, respective
author or news agency
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The opinions
expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author
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