WRT : http://www.mukto-mona.com/Articles/nadiya/woman_alone.htm
Nadiya,
First, I would like to express my sincere thanks to you for your
excellent piece. Frankly, I was so astounded that did not know what
to say about the piece initially! I cannot agree more what you have
written about Taslima and her writing. I still can remember my
similar feelings when I first read her `Nirbachito Kalam'. I still
consider this as a masterpiece, even though I read a lot of
feminists classics later such as Wollstonecraft, Mill, Simone de
Beauvoir, Shelia Rowbotham, "socialist/marxist femnism", "liberal
feminism" "radical feminism" or feminism in the west or more
recently - Betty Friedman, Gloria Steinem and others. I am also
familiar with various Black feminist movements organized by various
groups such as OWWAD, Brixton Black Women's center, South Hall black
sisters, Manchester Black Women's community and others. Still, I
believe, Talsima and her "Nirbachito Colum" had a huge impact in our
society, no doubt.
Keeping aside the issue of torture on women, or equal rights etc,
Taslima, may be first time in Bengali literature argued that sexual
pleasure includes the whole personalities of both partners, emotions
as well as physical feelings. Talslima wrote couple of good
poems...."amake pagol kore nopungshok beghore ghumay...." which
caused a lot of ire male chauvinist "husbands", I know. It takes a
huge task to challenge the typical "predominant" view of sex for
centuries have been based around penetration and the male organism.
She also questioned for the first time in Bengali literature against
the `living reality' of how women's bodies has became a taboo, even
in the mindset of feminists. I I once wrote a piece on Taslima and
feminist movement in Bangladesh which can be viewed here:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Articles/avijit/nari_jounota_shongskriti.pdf
The feminism in third world country has to fight over many
outstanding issues including religious fundamentalism besides the
existing problem of patriarchy. In India for example, women had to
fight against Satidaha once and are still fighting against dowry.
The Tribal women in Maharastra had to organize against drunken
husbands and domestic violence. Bihar and Gujrat women, housewives,
students and officeworkers were in the forefront of campaigns
against corruption and price raises. Some of the other facts were
depicted by Mehul in her response. In Pakistan, Iran and Arab world
has to fight against Sharia and Islamic law that would make women's
testimony in a court worth only a half that of man's, and the
discrimination in property rights etc.
It can be argued that women in the west live better life compared to
east, however I see ferocious attacks on feminism so often here too.
For example, 1986 a Harvard-Yale survey group (now thoroughly
discredited) tried to "prove" that all college-educated women over
29 stood less than 20% chance of getting married. The US media as
expected went "wild" over the story. Other "experts" chipped in
claiming that women working full time were becoming infertile,
lonely and unhappy, suffering heart-diseases, hair loss and what
not! The message remains clear - equality, feminism and independence
make women miserable! In other words, woman's place is in the home,
meek, mild and baking cookies. Gutter press also attacks on
Lesbians - especially lesbian mothers, despite the fact that
children are 94% less abused in all-female households. I have seen a
lot of good educated children raised by lesbian parents. However,
Male chauvinists cannot accept the concept of "lesbian Moms"
morally, neither many of them cannot accept that abortion is women's
fundamental right :). We know how Mary Wollstonecraft `s call
thru `Vindication of the rights of women' had rung down the
centuries. Her demands for an end of double standards of male and
female behavior, for women's right to independent work, education,
civil and political rights still form the basis of feminism today.
Needless to say, west have come a long way since Mary Wollstonecraft
first picked her pen. The same could be stated for Talslima
for "Bengali community", may be not now but 100 years later, and
the best still will lie ahead!
I again congratulate you for your courageous write-up. I hope you
will write more frequently in MM. Last week while visiting Barnes
and Nobel in Atlanta and curiously looking their `philosophy'
section, I found your "Why I Remain an Atheist" was cited in "The
Quotable Atheist" (2007) by Jack Huberman. It was indeed a great joy
for me to see your ongoing achievements.
Avijit
------------------------------------
*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm
*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf
*****************************************
MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.
*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm
*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm
*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/
*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm
*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm
*****************************************
Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm
****************************************************
VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/
****************************************************
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:mukto-mona-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:mukto-mona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
mukto-mona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/