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| Safiye Qarebagi |
The structures of society are masculine, violent, and rigid. We women have not only always been barred from entering these structures but, more importantly, we have never been taught how to confront and enter them. We have not learned how to act when faced with structures that push us back with violence and leave us disheartened.
For this reason, in our past experiences, we have either refrained from entering such arenas out of despair or, having entered, we have retreated in frustration. Moreover, many women lack an understanding of what a better situation might look like. In other words, for some women, gender inequality carries no meaning, and no conditions other than those of the present moment are imaginable or acceptable.
A “problem” arises only when there is a gap between “what is” and “what ought to be.” Regardless of the fact that different interpretations of “what ought to be” may lead to different solutions, without an image of a better condition there will be neither a “women’s problem” nor a feminism to pursue it.
Women without an image of something better not only make no effort to dismantle the existing structures and relations, but they also view such efforts as inappropriate and unjustifiable. They accept the current conditions and perceive any attempt at change as a threat to their own safety, and thus react against it.
This same reaction is also seen among another group of women who perceive the idea of better conditions as being in conflict with their own interests, norms, and beliefs. Perhaps this is one of the weaknesses of feminist movements in Iran: that they have been unable to portray better conditions in ways that resonate with women’s lived realities—a vision that could truly represent “something better.”
But there is also a group that does believe in the women’s issue, yet considers it unnecessary under current circumstances. This group of concerned individuals insists that once democracy is established, women too will gain their rights, and therefore any effort other than striving for democracy is unwarranted. What they overlook, however, is that democracy is not an absolute reality with a fixed, unchanging definition. Rather, democracy takes shape in the very process of striving toward it. It is in the path toward democracy that it is practiced, challenged, and its different dimensions revealed.
None of the principles of human rights take precedence over the others. Democracy-seeking without addressing and speaking about its different aspects is nothing more than a slogan! Anyone who today, under the banner of democracy, considers women’s issues unnecessary will, once in a position of power, remain untrustworthy and unpredictable on this very issue.