Challenge #6: Veiling

            Our topic today is not a challenge I personally face as a pretty nonreligious teenager, but it’s one that Muslim women across the world struggle with every day. In my English class, we’ve started to read Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi, which is an incredibly insightful book into the world of post-shah Revolutionary Iran, circa the 80s and 90s. One of the major internal struggles that Nafisi faces in her memoir is should she acquiesce to the new laws requiring her to wear the veil in public and while she teaches, or should she silently protest the oppressive law by refusing to teacher?

            The debate over wearing the veil has recently become a political one, not a religious one, which I find upsetting. With countries like France enacting a full-scale ban on burqa’s and other face-covering veils in public places and others implementing minor bans in airports and citizenship ceremonies, while still other Islamic countries in the Middle East take the flip side and require women to be veiled in public – see Saudi Arabia and Iran – it’s hard to determine how the arguments over the veil should be resolved.

Map of Veiling by country

            I think a crucial step would be to de-politicize the matter, while still allowing the women to have control. Any type of veil that is going to be worn should solely be a personal, religious decision, not one that is clouded by the perspective of a women’s government, family, or husband. While in certain countries where the line between religion in politics is blurred this will be difficult to enforce, the women’s rights and democracy enthusiasts should focus their efforts on their, instead of in Western countries.

            “Now the chador was forever marred by the political significance it had gained. It had become cold and menacing, worn by women like Miss Hatef and Miss Ruhi with defiance,” (p. 192). Nafisi comments this when describing her memories of her grandmother, a devout, religious women who chose to wear a chador (see chart below) when women in Iran were free to wear whatever they wanted under the shah. They key word is ‘chose’ – she had a choice, unlike the present day Muslims.

A educational graphic showing the physically differences in veiling by country

            I understand the principles behind ‘burqa-bans’ – they might hinder integration into a new country, and it could be a potential security threat at airports, etc – however I am far more persuaded by the case a women,  S.A.S, is making in Europe. She is suing the French government for impeding her freedoms of religion, expression, association and prohibition of discrimination and the case is being handled by the European Court of Human Rights. As someone who’s always grown up hearing all the positives of freedom of religion, I’d like to preserve those benefits.

            Western women should be more open to the veil – assimilation is two way street. Both sides should make the effort, and the government should acknowledge some of the statistics working in Islam’s favor, like in England where less than 2% of the population weekly attends church while the number of Muslim converts is growing. We need to work on looking beyond the veil and beyond restrictions to let the religion be how it should be. 

             Cia♀,

            Charlie

Challenge #5: Women in Debate

Debate has been a major part of my life since the beginning of my freshman year. This past weekend was one of my favorite tournaments of the year, the Glenbrooks. As a debater from the Glenbrooks, it was my job with my teammates, to run our half of the tournament. I was one of South’s Student Directors, which, for followers who debate meant that I sat at the main tab table, checked in all the ballots, and answered many, many questions about room assignments and bathrooms, and for followers who don’t debate (which I highly recommend) meant that I was the person everyone came to for help finding debates and resolving minor crisis.

In my view from main tab, I was able to clearly see the lack of female participation in policy debate, from looking at ballots with all-male names to seeing few women walk past me. Debate has long been acknowledged to be male-dominated environment, which has led to cases of rampant sexiam. Some say times are changing – we’ve had women win college nationals, and be the top speaker (best debater overall) both at that tournament and the high school national tournament, but I’d disagree. To take this weekend, for example: this was the first year that 3 female students ran the Glenbrooks, and there were only 5 women in the top 25 speakers at the tournament. Not a single one was in the top ten. And this is one of the largest tournaments of the year!

So, why do so few females participate in debate? The common argument is how women are treated by men. Often times, women get perceived as ‘bitchy’ when they try to act like their male counterparts, or make any attempt at being aggressive. Some think that judges are inherently biased against women, and give then lower speaker points, making it harder to be successful. Others just point to the gender disparity on teams, and recognize that maybe as a high school girl, spending 72 hours per weekend with boys who tend to make racist, sexist, and mean comments to you doesn’t sound like a lot of fun.

While all those points are valid, I’d like to add another one: how women treat women. The few women who survive dealing with the men in debate tend to be competitive, ruthless and judgmental. I’ll be the first to admit that, in my attempt to make myself feel better about my chances of winning, I've judge female opponents. I’m rarely judging them on what I know about them as a debater – it’s usually about how high her heels are, how short her skirt is, or who I know she’s friends with/has dated. In reality, none of those things matter. Yet, it’s what debate girls tend to focus on. We’re probably quicker than the boys to call another girl bitchy because she was mean to us in cross-examination, even when we know that we do the same thing when we answer questions.

As women in debate, we walk a fine line. But we should work to cooperate more, because we all love the activity, and we'd like to see more women/girls in it. We should prevent ourselves from being a barrier to that inclusion. More on this topic to come later….

If you're interested in helping prevent sexism in debate, please sign this pledge. 

Ciao♀,
Charlie

Semifinals: 1 female debater, 3 men 0 female judges, 3 men.
Congrats to Kat Sears (far right) for winning this round (and the tournament!)

Challenge #4: The Media

            

Even the promo poster needs a man

            My high school had its first, glorious 3-day weekend since Labor Day this weekend. I celebrated with my favorite introvert activity: Netflix. I watched The West Wing this summer, much to the enjoyment of a few of my classmates (see their blogs here and here), and now I’m watching Scandal, a more recent political thriller. The show is the only show on television to place an African-American woman in the leading role, the fabulous Kerry Washington.

            Washington’s casting and consecutive success in the role of Olivia Pope, Washington DC’s communication ‘fixer,’ and secret mistress of President Fitzgerald Grant, has led to both criticism and praise. Like mentioned above, she’s the only African-American star on TV and is the first African American female star on TV since Teresa Graves in 1974.

            1974?!?

            America went 38 years without an African-American woman heading up her own TV show in primetime. In the words of Seth and Amy, Really!?! When you take into account all the long-running TV shows, but also the many that tank after a season or two, that’s a lot of TV and that speaks volumes about race and gender within our country. It’s something female actresses shouldn’t stand for.  

            That fact alone ensured that Washington created a buzz when the show started, and Scandal has continued to make waves with the topics that it covers: from mocking the constant political drama of Washington (see the multiple sex scandals Pope has to deal with, ranging from a Governor’s cheating wife to allegations of two Supreme Court Justice nominees and even President Grant himself, three times) to predicting a PRISM-like scandal with a government program called ‘Thorngate.’ From dealing with problems like these, it’s received acclaim, but there’s also been some heavy criticism.

            Most of the criticism, unsurprisingly, centers on Pope’s relationship with the President. There’s the race side, which led to an awkward Season 2 Sally Hemings reference, and also the gender card. Pope, for the majority of the show, is cool, calm and collected and acts the part of one of the most powerful women in Washington. However, when it comes to ‘Fitz,’ she’s a mess – always making bad decisions and getting herself and her friends into trouble.

            Why?  Why do smart women on TV always have a male Achilles’ heel? It’s been seen repeatedly, whenever there are strong female roles on TV. There’s even a test, re: the Bechdaltest, to prove just how male-centric women on TV are made to be. You’d be surprised by how many famous shows and movies fail. I hate to throw around the word patriarchy, but this is exactly what even seemingly-feminist shows like Scandal are propagating. I understand the star-crossed, meant-to-be-but-can’t lovers’ plotline, but does Pope really have to make so many mistakes to extend the plotline?

            What I loved about The West Wing was that it was political and didn’t let relationship get in the way of that beauty. CJ Cregg, the show’s leading lady, flirted with a reporter for all seven seasons, but the relationship didn’t blossom until the very end when writers were tying up all lose ends. It allowed Cregg to do her job, the same job as Pope had – White House Communications Director – and come into her own as a successful woman. If Pope had been able to do the same, I can only wonder where the character would be now.

            Even amidst my criticism, I’d highly recommend my readers to watch Scandal, on ABC Thursday nights. Pope, for all her flaws, is still an incredible character and Washington does her justice.

          Cia♀,

          Charlie 

Challenge #3: Violence and Harrassment

Violence against women is something that is unfortunatel common worldwide. We’ve heard about in the media a lot lately, with the controversy Daisy Coleman in Maryville, Missouri, where a freshman in high school was raped by an upperclassman football start.  In America, there are laws to protect women in court (or, at least in theory as the Coleman case disproves). However, this isn’t the case in other countries. We hear in the news regularly about places with child marriage, common domestic abuse and the continual raping of women in conflict areas. Perhaps the best-remembered instance occurred in 2011, when Lara Logan, a CBS Foreign Affairs correspondent, was in Cairo reporting on the uprisings against then-President Mubarak and was brutally gang-raped then left for dead.

Since then, coverage of Egypt’s rampant sexual assaults has been minimal – until this July, when another journalist was gang raped, this time from the Netherlands. She, like Logan, had to be flown out of the country for days of medical treatment because her wounds and internal damage were so severe. The mob violence that allowed her attack is a constant presence in Egypt’s major cities, and the ‘revolutionaries’ aren’t just attacking foreigners; Egyptian women are also prime targets. The trend of attacking journalists is viewed as just a way to get the message of ‘women don’t belong in politics and don’t have a right to a voice’ easily publicized worldwide. For the women who live in Egypt, that message is given through assault daily.  According to CNN, there were 63 reports of assault within a single two day period in Cairo this July, and that’s probably a low estimate.

Why is this happening and what can be done about it? Egyptian women have been lower-class for decades due to the Islamic law employed by both Mubarak and successor Mohamed Morsi and are often subjected to cruel treatment, like genital mutilation, lack of access to education, and restrictions on movement. Women who are subject to sexual violence are branded as prostitutes if they seek medical attention, and sexual harassment is nearly constant and has only never brought up in government, except to declare it a non-issue that can’t be prevented. This all culminates in the obvious results of a Pew research study: more men disprove of gender equality in Egypt than support it, and these statistics and stories are only exacerbated during the riots and revolutions.

As for what can be done about it, that remains to be seen. How many horror stories about the physical brutality of rape can we hear, before we become desensitized? Education, both of the outside world about Egypt’s dire situation and of Egyptian women, is essential. To prevent the attacks, which often can be extremely violent and involve all sorts of weaponry, would be to let those who support excluding women from the government win.  Human Right Watch, an organization that put together an informative video about the topic, describes the culture as an epidemic, and encouraged the government to take action, but without a stable system their calls will fall on deaf ears.

I am lucky enough to have never lived in the constant fear that Egyptian women do, and lucky to live in a society where women are mostly supported. However, there are still too many instances of abuse like Coleman’s that go unprosecuted because of discrimination and fear. We as a country should work against these cases and refuse to let these perpetrators walk free. 

Cia♀,

Charlie

For more information about women in Egypt, please watch this video:

Challenge #2: Education

Friday was a humbling day. It was the last day of my school's homecoming week which meant it was filled with our school colors: blue and gold. But for fifty minutes, I forgot all about South spirit, and remembered just how lucky I am not only to attend such an incredible high school but also how lucky I am to attend school at all.

My history teacher chose to show us a video that had gone viral the night before. It was a clip of Malala Yousafzai leaving comedian John Stewart speechless. Malala is a sixteen year old girl who, at fourteen, was shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan for attending school and advocating for a girl’s right to education. Her stunning quote was in response to how she would react if the Taliban came after her.

I will tell him how important education is and that 'I even want education for your children as well.' And I will tell him, 'That's what I want to tell you, now do what you want.'

            From that statement, it’s obvious why she’s a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. While unfortunately, she didn’t win this year, on Friday she was still the face of the UN’s International Day of the Girl. This year, fitting with Malala, the theme of the day was girls and education. I’ve heard statistics like how 20% of school-age girls aren’t attending school, and heard the stories of girls who travel miles upon miles to get to school every day, but they’re unimaginable where I live.  But after seeing Malala and putting a face to a problem, I’m beginning to realize the real importance of education and I’m beginning to see my own childhood in a new light.

           

            I’ll admit, I’m a complainer when it comes to school. I get stressed out when tests and projects pile up, and I wish sometimes I didn’t have to deal with it at all. But now I think to myself – what about those millions of girls worldwide without this chance? How would they feel when I, a girl almost done with my secondary education and with collegiate studies at my fingertips, take my opportunity for granted? I’m sure many girls who have had to drop out of school after only completing eighth grade to work on farms or in factories would line up to write my papers.

So what can I do? For one, I plan to finish senior year and maximize my education here. I’ll do what I can to whine less about homework, I’ll gently remind my peers of what life could be like, I will continue fundraising to keep kids in school, and I'll think of Malala.

Cia♀,
Charlie

photo courtesy of http://tschitchat.blogspot.com

Challenge #1: Identity

What's in a name? that which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet

        -William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Is the above true? A questionable hypothesis: a rose exemplifies everything feminine. It's pink and red, it's soft to the touch, but it's also thorny enough to take caution. 

I've decided to test Shakespeare's idea out. As a girl, known to all as 'Rosie' for the first thirteen years of my life, I experienced an identity crisis upon entering the big, bad world of high school. As a 'tomboy' throughout my early education, the name of Rosie didn't quite fit. Alas, neither did my true birth name of Charlotte. It was still a little too pretty, too classic for a rough-around-the-edges teenage girl. I settled upon a variation of Charlotte: Charlie. 

In this decision, I set myself up for a lot of confusion, namely people thinking I'm less feminine. I've dealt with the masculine nicknames - Charles, Chaz, and more - all designed to make me feel inferior for daring to make 'girly' a name parents everywhere give their baby boys, all dressed in blue.

It might not help that I've chosen to spend most of my high school experience focused on questionably the most patriarchal academic activity known to education: policy debate. I'm one of few girls on my team - the rest of been driven out by debate's difficult and it's rampant sexism. An issue to be examined for a later date, but one that's affected me greatly.

So what does this narrative get me? Another rant about feminism to contribute to the blogosphere? I'd argue a two things that will set me apart.

First, age. I was born at the end of the millennium, in an era where sexism has supposedly decreased. For the first time, as a high school senior, I will have to out-compete more girls than boys to achieve that coveted college acceptance letter. Supposedly, I've lived in the best age for women yet which gives me a different perspective from older peers. I can examine feminism and women's issue from a modern perspective, because it's all I've ever known. It also ensures that I'm more critical of the status quo - because I want more for myself.

  

Second, ambition. I've achieved leadership within my school and community.  When I look at career paths, I see myself climbing the ranks of a traditional male-dominated field: foreign policy. Will this be possible? What challenges will I face - and will they be related to my ovaries? 

I'm young, I'm idealistic, and I have hope for my future and the future of women struggling everywhere. Until I can make a difference, I'll be posting here about women who are. 

Expect analysis of the most powerful woman in the world, the mother of Germany, Angela Merkel. From an American perspective - when will we get our first female president? Will Hillary Clinton run? And why do people judge her by her colorful pantsuits? 

I'll also discuss the barriers women face worldwide. While the last century has made a lot of progress, there are still daily global stories of domestic abuse, of child marriage, of women lacking education. How can these stories be changed? On a personal level - can debate be changed? Can a girl named Charlie ever be taken seriously? I'm a debater - I love to question things, and provide answers. Stay tuned as I chronicle my challenges, and attempt to solve them. 

Cia♀,

Charlie