Wajda by Haifa Al Mansour

For this active blog post I went to the Museum of Islamic art to attend the movie wajda, which was directed by Haifa Al Mansour, the first Saudi women to direct a movie. The movie discuses the issue of women’s right in Middle East in general and Saudi Arabia specifically. It portrays the life of wajda, a young girl who always dreamt of riding a bike, but the fact that it is not accepted by her society made it difficult to make her dream come true. It was surprising for me to know that women in Saudi Arabia before two weeks ago they where not allowed to ride a bike! And they only allowed them to rid bikes two weeks ago but with restrictions such as they can only ride bikes in parks and recreational areas, and they have to be accompanied by a male relative!

The movie is an example of neo-feminism because it talks about personal choice, and how wajda is fighting so hard to make her dream come true. This movie though it talks about an issue that is only in Saudi Arabia (bike and cars) but it discusses the issue of women’s right in middle east, yet not a lot of women were interested to come and watch. Before going there I expected to see more Qatari specially women attending such movie! However, there was about 12 Qatari attended this movie. The way she discusses the problem of women driving and girls riding bikes is by show the society’s attitude toward the problem.

When looking at the problem it is not only men to be blamed but also women!
I was wondering why women were not present in this movie! Most women in Middle East don’t appreciate women who fight for their rights! Is it the society that restricts them not to fight for their rights or is it that they are really happy with their lives and what they have? Why they are so reluctant to fight for their rights?

Women in Middle East care a lot about their reputation and their families’ reputation. Thus, they do what’s allowed and appreciated by the society. The pressures they face from the society around them force them to obey and conform. So, it is not usual to see women present in such places. It is not that they are not interested but they do what is expected from them.

After the movie there was a discussion with Haifa Al Mansour, the director, she talked about what inspired her to write it, and the difficulties she faced directing it. One of them was that she could not be on the street when they were shooting out doors, she had to stay in a van and talk to them through the phone. There is no rule that restricted Haifa not to be on the street when they were shooting but the fact that the society will not appreciate it she stayed at the van. from my opinion, women's right in Middle East countries need women's voice, determination.

The Arab Feminism Wave

My parents are dentists (scary, I know). When I asked them once how much they make and they told me, I realized that my mom makes a little bit less money than my dad. When I asked her about the reason as to why they give my dad more money, she said, it’s because your dad is the man of the house and in this culture he is the one who is supposed to take care of the family, so they give him more money for household expenses.

This conversation happened when I was a child, but I still do remember how shocking it was for me because all I thought about then was how unfair it would be for me when I grow up and decide to be the woman of my own house, no man involved. Would they give me more money? Aren’t I the breadwinner too?

Certainly, things in Qatar have changed (not the salary thing though, it’s still intact in the government sectors) but women are still thriving for better chances of equality and fairness. Most of the mothers I know are prime examples for the second shift. The second shift is the jobs that working wives do to run the household after they finish the workday. They all deserve that extra money since they contribute to the household… like a lot!

Anyways, more and more young women are becoming quite the neo-feminists. Neo- Feminism does not have a social agenda; it emphasizes personal fulfillment above all else. Young women focus on their education and jobs, not for the purpose of supporting a family or building one, but for their own personal wants and needs. It’s the concept of “Spending my money on myself.” That’s why you see a lot of girls in Education City and a lot of them with designer shoes.

Shopping is a big thing for girls here. Not for me though, I really hate shopping (I’m more of the amusement parks kind of person). Consumer culture is pretty popular here and the fancy malls we have aren’t helping. All adds for all sorts of products try to target these neoliberal women and tell them, “hey, you work hard, you deserve this” or “You want to be different and brand new, then you gotta do this.”

Like seriously, nobody is benefiting more from feminism than big corporations. Despite the fact that I’m a feminist, I’m a little bit tad suspicious about all those chick flick movies and “be the independent women” kind of messages that circulate in media. Because, is it just me, or the more feminist you are, the more shopping you gotta do and the more sexualized you otta be. No, thank you, sir. This Dove short film really got me thinking about this:

Perhaps we should be careful with those who claim to be supporting us when all they really are doing is milking our money and altering our perception of ourselves.

Who are FEMEN anyway?

The phenomenon of protesting naked took over the media in the past year. Women who consider themselves free go out in the streets topless to introduce their issues and to bring attention to them. These women are not asking for women right as much as they are asking for their “own” rights. This Neo-Feminist movement started by a group that was founded in 2008 called FEMEN. Their first topless protest was against sex tourists. The FEMEN group started appearing on the media as something wrong, but it inspired other women to defend their own rights. My example here is Alia Al-Mahdi who is an Egyptian girl, and she was the first Egyptian girl to do a topless protest.
Since Egypt is now ruled by Mohamed Morsi - an ex-member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood - , it is not surprising that there are people who are against the Islamic System. While Al-Mahdi was in Europe, Al-Mahdi and her friends went to the Egyptian embassy in Sweden topless holding signs that says “NO to Sharia Constitution”. This a message of a FEMEN Arab about “her” rights for not wearing hijab, and getting her own freedom. Al-Mahdi caused a huge argument among the Arab countries, especially Egypt, with the proposals of some Egyptians to not consider Al-Mahdi an Egyptian after what she did. This new FEMEN move by Arab women are called the "topless jihad".
In Islam, the women rights are equaled with men, but to an extent. For some of the conservative countries such as Saudia Arabia, Women are not allowed to drive or work a decent job. Two days ago, the first Saudi women attorney/activist was registered. This woman did not go out and did a topless protest. From my perspective, it is not freedom if you just take off your clothes. Women who take off their clothes are indicated as prostitutes no matter what their needs/wants were. There is always a way to convey your message to the community.
In my opinion, in the sociology, the three waves of feminism were nothing but a start for what we are seeing these days; women using nudity to ask for their rights. Women should have the rights to work as long as it does not conflict with any religious context (no matter what was their religion). Also it is not the women rights to use nudity and disturb people to get what they want.

Fashion & feminism

Every chick flick movie is entitled to at least one montage sequence that shows the protagonist going through a “makeover” that usually consists of extensive shopping and beauty treatments. Everyone goes shopping, whether male of female but it’s known universally that women shop for fun, and sometimes, they consider shopping a stress reliever.

So what is it that makes women enjoy shopping? Is it the pleasure of buying clothes that will change how we look? Or is it the pleasure of just spending money? If you ask me, for a long time ago, shopping has turned from a process of attaining essential needs to a process that reinforces what Hilary Rander calls in her book, autonomous individualism. In her book Neo-Feminist Cinema, Rander attributes the autonomous individual to the woman who apprehends her pleasure for herself and whose health can be measured by the body’s capacity to experience itself as pleasurable. So shopping is now a way of proving one’s independence.

So, Do the female representations in media effect our own perception of power and being a feminist? Well, being surrounded, or suffocated, by the media that advocates for consumerism played a role in turning most women into neo-feminists. According to Rander, Neo-feminism means, “control over one’s body/face/self, accomplished through the right acquisitions can maximize one’s value at both work and home.” Although we might not be aware of it, we shop for the pleasure of having the power to choose what we want and how we look.

Although being a shopaholic in some way contradicts with one of many things that feminism stands for, that is liberating women from being sexualized in media, it seems that Neo-feminism has changed this view. Neo-feminism encourages consumerism and individualism, while on the other hand; feminism had always advocated for female solidarity and independence. So it is still possible to be a feminist and a shopaholic? 

Neo-Feminism at Luxos Fashion Show

On March 26, 2013, I went to a fashion show titled “Luxos Fashion Show” at the St. Regis Hotel in Qatar. The event was organized by Design Creationz, which is a company that helps new designers in the Middle East to showcase their fashion lines. Three Brazilian/American women (Cricely Demenjon, Michelle Demenjon, Polie Campitelli) happen to be the co-founders of the company, Design Creationz. These three women have come together to create a social change that will give Qatari women as well as women in the Arab region the opportunity to attend a spectacular fashion show, brought to them from different Middle Eastern designers. There were fashion designers from Qatar, Bahrain, Morocco, and Lebanon. We learned in this week’s class the term “neo-feminism.” The author of the book “Neo-Feminist Cinema, Hilary Rander,” defines “neo-feminism” by personal choice, sexuality, fashion, and consumption. The models at the fashion show for example made the choice of being models to help the designers promote their fashion lines. Rander also says that the word ‘neo-feminism’ is used “To refer to the tendency in feminine culture to evoke choice and the development of individual agency as the defining tenets of feminine identity–best realized through an engagement with consumer culture in which the woman is encouraged to achieve self-fulfilment by purchasing, adoring or surrounding herself with the good that this culture can offer,” (Rander, 6). Another point to talk about is the fact that some women have an excessive need to shop, and they always want to be up with the latest fashion trends. It’s considered a neo-feminist thing because it’s associated with consumer culture as well. The fashion show will add a positive impact to women’s fashion in the Middle East. The fashion designers had the chance to showcase their work, and the attendees were introduced to the latest fashion trends (Abaya and dresses). The models looked very chic and elegant. The models’ gestures were very feminine. “Women are expected to perform a femininity that exudes beauty, caring, nurturance, neediness, and compassion, complete with every range of possible emotion,” (Cinematic Sociology, 132). Below are some short videos of Luxos Fashion Show that I’d like to share with you.

Luxos Fashion Show 1 from Muneera Al-Buainain on Vimeo.

Luxos Fashion Show 2 from Muneera Al-Buainain on Vimeo.

Luxos Fashion Show 3 from Muneera Al-Buainain on Vimeo.

In case you’re wondering what Luxos means, it means luxury in Portuguese.

Feminism phobia

It seems that most of my generation is torn between what feminism is and what people perceive it to be. “There is a very warped view of feminism because the movement has been hijacked by radical activists who soak up all the media attention. They damage feminism the same way that the Westboro Baptist Church hurts Christianity, or Islamic extremists damage the reputation of Islam. Understand that, though there are lots of horrid, hateful women that call themselves soldiers of feminism, the core of the movement is not what they say it is, and will never be” said one of my male friends while expressing his opinion about feminism.

Feminism has been portrayed in movies through the representation of powerful, smart women who are capable of defeating “evil” male figures. This representation made me assume for a long time that feminism truly stands for strong, independent women. The female characters in these movies could be described by two definitions: The Bond girl or the Single girl. According to Hilary Radner in her book Neo-Feminist Cinema, “The Bond Girl represents a change in the women’s position…the single girl, unlike the Bond girl, was not by nature exceptional. Rather, she was an ordinary girl who strove successfully to become exceptional.” Although problematic to some extent, those representations of women in movies reflect a side of feminism that does not seem to form a big problem considering that it is breaking gender stereotypes. So what is the problem with feminism?

In my opinion the problem stimulated from the fact that feminism now encourages the notion of gaining power through appearance and consumption. This is what Radner defined in her book as neo-feminism. According to Radner, “Neo-feminism refers to the tendency in feminine culture to evoke choice and the development of individual agency as the defining tenets of feminine identity.” An example of such form of feminism is presented in movies such as Sex and the City 2. The representation of women in such movies emphasize the importance of their appearance and the power they have through making the right decision in purchasing products (mostly fashion brands). If feminism was only concerned with empowering women and achieving equality, then why is popular culture using feminist movements to advocate for passivity through product consumption?

What we're left with are two forms of feminism: The tomboyish representation of women that is defined as the Bond girl or Single girl, and the autonomous female that has control over her appearance and is defined by the neo-feminism movement. The question is, does either of them represent what feminism really stands for?