Advances by Muslim women in Algeria

An interesting article appeared in the Times newspaper about Algerian Muslim women and their advances in society despite their adherence to and practice of their faith. This is what one of the paragraphs says for example-

Women make up 70 percent of Algeria’s lawyers and 60 percent of its judges. Women dominate medicine. Increasingly, women contribute more to household income than men. Sixty percent of university students are women, university researchers say.

the article also goes on to indicate that they drive buses and cabs, pump gas and serve at tables, jobs traditionally associated to males only. According to the article, women nonetheless only make up 20% of the work force. Its interesting to note that the high percentage of women in certain fields is attributed to the migration of males or to the high male drop out rate from school.

What i find particularly interesting and of great significance is that the women, although they have positioned themselves in progressive spheres outside the domestic ambit, they are also said to be more religious than previous generations, despite obviously being more modern- Women cover their heads and drape their bodies with traditional Islamic coverings. They pray. They go to the mosque — and they work, often alongside men, once considered taboo.

the article goes on to say in fact that their traditional form of dress and their religious adherences actually free them from restrictions imposed by men or from moral judgements. Of course, this could be read as a regression by feminists or other thinkers who might see this as submitting to male rules or Islamist threats in order to appear or contribute in society. Maybe so.

Other consequences that emerge from these changing roles of women are for instance, delayed marriages and lower birth rates which obviously impact on the whole society.

These women, modern and visibly professing their faith, are seen to reflect the present and future of Algeria, torn between Islamist threats, years of civil wars and abundant deaths and the need to move forward according to the pace set by globalisation etc. They are the ones who offer a moderate face of their country and of Islam to the world looking on. They are the ones, like their mothers and grandmothers who had opposed the French by sticking to their culture and religion, who would propel the country into a promising future. Mabrouk!

Jorge Drexler

Here are some lines from several songs that i like by Jorge Drexler:

Cada uno da lo que recibe
y luego recibe lo que da,
nada es más simple,
no hay otra norma:
nada se pierde,
todo se transforma. (Todo se transforma)

No hay muerto que no me duela,
no hay un bando ganador,
no hay nada más que dolor
y otra vida que se vuela.
La guerra es muy mala escuela
no importa el disfraz que viste,
perdonen que no me aliste
bajo ninguna bandera,
vale más cualquier quimera
que un trozo de tela triste. (Milonga de un moro judío)

And well, the following song, "Transporte" im forced to quote the entire thing cause it´s just too beutiful to truncate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycs48Y1PYPQ

Desde ahora mismo y aquí
hacia donde quiera que estés
parte de mi alma
parte a tu encuentro.
Sabes que te llevo dentro mío
igual que yo sé que tu me llevas dentro.

Se trata de un leve pulsar
que se abre camino hacia tí
cruzando las estaciones, constelaciones,
los momentos.
Digo que esta vida es llevadera
sólo porque sientes tú
lo que yo siento.

Donde tu estás
yo tengo el Norte,
y no hay nada como tu amor
como medio de transporte.

En este instante,
precisamente,
más canto y más te tengo yo
presente,
más te tengo yo presente.

Collisions

I´m thinking of the movie Crash by Paul Haggis and about human relations in general; all the barriers we erect, consciously or unconsciously to reinforce or mold our own identity for we only identify ourself when we differentiate ourself from the Other. so here´s a movie of tensions of all sorts. I like the opening lines when Don Cheadle is talking to his "mexican" colleague; that there is a sudden need for collisions because people have lost contact with each other; they only see each other through glass barriers, from behind walls etc.. and hence this human need to touch, to feel, to live, be it through anger, violence, hate... Each day, living in multicultural, plural, unequal societies is both a joy and a pain...how can you look at a black man in Spain and not think about "pateras", poverty, despair; how can u look at an "arab" and not think about radicalism, not feel insecure.. in the movie Crash, this is exactly what happens..all the stereotypes collide, brought together by an unknown destiny which unites everybody in their disunity.. we are all victims and victimisers, empowered and powerless, rich and poor, privileged and unprivileged depending through which glass you choose to look...
What´s also striking about the movie as well is how minorities also turn on each other, although they are all in the same boat. and this reminds me of a comment a friend made to me recently..she was forced to sign up for cleaning work after all her job applications were rejected. she noted that it was there where you found the most racism, most injustice, bigotry etc..amongst the employees themselves... But this is no surprise...

Simulacrum of her image

I was having a conversation with a guy at the university..his comments were very interesting..he was commenting on my attire- i was wearing a hijab, which he called turbante!!, a bright blue indian cotton top and a white pants..he noted that in his country, this combination would be considered rarísima, inconcebible..his tone was arrogant, a little belittling but as i consider him a close acquaintance, i might quickly add that he is a bit "ingenuo" although no doubt smart, and also a bit chauvinistic.. Here was the typical male who prided himself in a sleek physique and expected nothing less from the women he was surrounded by.. Nonetheless his comments disturbed me cause i realised once more that once u break certain norms like covering your head- in addition to having all the added religious labels attached to you- you were classed differently and aroused different, non-sexual labels in the male´s head... of course, im referring to my specific case here and the rest of the attire is as important as the headpiece, for Muslim women generally wear loose clothing..which does not necessarily mean unattractive. But what i mean is when most men look at you, they don´t see YOU, but they just see the hijab in my case and therefore immediately classify you into a certain category in their heads. This reminds me once in Cuba on a student trip. Two of us had our heads covered..and although we were totally different- different colour, physique, features- the guide could not differentiate us.. Of course this could be simply explained by a lack of interest for a woman who doesn´t immediately reveal her "endowed" parts or figure..And then of course you have the other extreme where precisely because you are covered, you arouse the opposite effect in men who choose to look beyond the physical.. All these thoughts immediately came to mind while hainvg this conversation with this friend. He then went on to say that as far as he knew and from his sources, Muslim women were not allowed to wear pants etc.. and then i thought that it didnt matter how i dressed, once i wore the head scarf, i would almost automatically be classed into a "weird", "alert", "stay away from her", "proceed with caution" type...this is both scary and rich in meaning because knowing all this, you are now left to react as you wish...Many ppl have often commented that im not the typical Muslim woman- im loud at times, i can be forthright, im very easygoing, i´d like to think im open and i try to get along with anybody..but it still hurts each time you approach someone and their gaze which they project on you is either one of distrust, dislike, indifference, rejection etc... i can list many more adjectives, none of them positive.. Of course this is not always the case and this has to be mentioned, but lamentably, in many instances, it is... I guess it´s quite natural and "normal" to prejudge someone based on his/her appearance, but the danger lies when they want to project their image on to you and limit to to that.... oh well... just some of my wandering thoughts that i decided to unleash just as they rushed through my head....

Single monogamous albatross, 47, seeks mate of similar characteristics

This brief article on the failure of the alcatross bird to find a mate far away from his native land immediately caught my eye. the heading read- "Forty years searching for a mate". Images of Eva Hache, the late nite "news comedian" immediately came to mind; I imagined her "pulling at the bird´s feathers"; wondering if he were perhaps polygamous, if it would have been easier to find a mate... or poking fun at exactly why the bird was rejected by the "alcatraces" with whom he has had not an ounce of success! Or perhaps wondering of his future chances seeing that he is fast approaching "retirement age". According to the article in El País, the bird´s life span is about 70 years. this one, it seems is already 47! Maybe its time he changes his strategies and adopt bolder tactics in attracting these proud, hard-to-get alcatraces!! Here are some lines i pulled out from the article which caught my eye and which i have already mentioned in my comment:

Albert es un albatros enfermo de amor que lleva cuarenta años sin encontrar pareja porque vive a miles de kilómetros de su hábitat natural... Los albatros son monógamos y no cambian nunca de pareja... En la zona donde ha acabado este ejemplar, no hay aves de su especie... Albert estaba tratando de intimar con alcatraces, otra especie de ave marina... Las pasadas cuatro décadas se ha empeñado en un esfuerzo inútil por conquistar alcatraces en otras islas remotas del archipiélago escocés.

Let´s get back to joking a la Eva Hache.. we might suggest that the alcatraces are perhaps racist or xenophobic and have therefore refused to mate with these outsiders who will sully their blood and change their features... im sure the alcatraces would recieve alot of support from some extreme-right bird species!! Maybe it´s because this albatross has refused to integrate into his new home and that´s why he´s such a paria, condemned to solitude and extinction!! Like Sarkozy, if he can´t love his new home, then he should just pack up and go back to the Falklands where he could mate with Brits if he so please...
Bueno, bueno, bueno.... this is the reality of Poor Albert, 47, single and looking for a mate. i can´t even suggest he try an add in the classifieds cause im sure no one will notice it amongst the thousand provocative, tantalising promises of pleasure and perversion.. besides, im sure with his monogamy, this option might just sound scandalous!!!!

Essence of a woman

She was 40 plus, plump with a stern face, distrustful, mostly silent at the beginning. she would soon be our third flatmate. Her story is a strange one. She had just gotten married, she told us, to an Egyptian, living illegally in holland. She had met him one afternoon through her brother. she saw him, they spoke for a little while and then that very same evening, she said yes to his proposal. Far from a love at first sight story. At her age, she told us, who really seeks love? so they got married, a regular civil wedding. That night, she lost her virginity, amidst fear, pain and violence, she said. she went into details which were surprising- how she couldn´t relax, how he penetrated her every night, how it was even painful to pee, how someone had told her it would have been easier and less painful if they had done it on the floor.. she lamented, it seemed, not knowing these details beforehand. she had said that her mother insisted she get a "certificate of virginity" to show to her husband before marriage. she told me how it was common practice where she came from, and that some men even requested it, after all, women were not to be trusted nowadays. After her "honeymoon" week was over, she had to resume her life in Spain, leaving her husband behind and promising to apply for his residence as soon as she got a house contract. but this was all months ago. she had seen him a couple of times in between, travelling to holland on weekends or during "puentes" to be with him.

So how much did she know of her husband? not much, it seemed. she had no idea if he had been married before, if he had children, how much money he earned etc.. she would often repeat that he was a clever man and that was who God wanted her to be with...

She was a precocious 17 year old; milky white skin, youthful beauty, huge "houri" eyes- she would draw a lot of attention, she told me proudly and even offered ample details about old men coming to meet her at school, offering to take her for rides and buy her whatever she wanted, or the many suitors who would use her naive younger brothers to get closer to her.. but things changed when the "exorcist" who came to remove the "jinns" or evil spirits from her sister laid eyes on her. He was fat and ugly, she said, and not to mention old. She would bring him coffee and sweets and sit around with the rest of the family, chatting about trivial things, not aware of the effect she was arounsing in the "exorcist". He didn´t waste time in asking for her hand in marriage, much to her shock and disgust. She refused of course. But he persisted. He would wait for her after school just to say hello and enquire about the progress of her ailing sister, or he would discreetly follow her to the market or wherever she went, mixing himself in the crowds, but never taking his eye off this new gem. she had had enough and decided to let him know it. But he had other plans and was determined to have this one for himself. News had spead of a certain relationship between them which eventually reached her father who confronted her, much to her dismay and surprise. After some time and much persistence, one day out of rage vis-a-vis flying accusations, she consented to marrying him. but alas, that was not her destiny, for after a few months, his treacherous character revealed itself...

She really didn´t want to get married, she said. What she wanted was to finish her studies and find a job where she could apply what she learnt. She was a first year university student majoring in law. He asked for her hand in marriage. she hesitated but after speaking to him, she consented. he was religious, educated and very supportive of her goals and dreams. He promised to help her study, he said, and agreed to "allow" her to work after- but only in a primary school, not with young men who could be tempted by her- or not in hospitals, for example, where she could see men undress and have to operate on them for example. she reassured him and things were arranged. they signed the papers and their marriage became official although she continued to love with her parents until after the wedding ceremony which they agreed would be some months away.

so one weekend he calls her and tells her he´s coming over. She tells him he´s free to come, but ojo! she wont be able to spend much time with him cause she had exams and alot of work. This seemed to throw him off and that´s when, according to her, he made a 180 degree turn. He told her that now that they were married, he didn´t necessarily have to maintain his promise, that the truth was he didn´t see why she had to study and why she wanted to work.. that in the end, it didnt do her any good. She was taken aback, of course and firmly maintained her stance and her desire to continue her studies. She insisted, she said, as she had done from the very beginning, that her studies were also her passion and that she would refuse to give them up. This was the beginning of the end and after not speaking for two years, she initiated a divorce...

his life seemed to revolve around his financial squeeze. It penetrated his stories, his conversations, his untold anguish. she wanted to help him but didnt want to wound his pride. she would give him gifts to make him happy and this ennobled her in his eyes. she immediately saw the difference and was both pleased and annoyed at the same time. He thought he was in love. he confessed that she was that haunting presence in his stories, the one that both tormented and fascinated him. she diverted his insistence, albeit with subtlety and discretion. she was also haunted by her past, her own insecurities and her compulsive need to buy friendship or attach monetary value to relationships. She was as much a product of inferiority as he was. maybe that was the common bond that drew them so close to each other.

premeditated eulogy for Fidel Castro

When Castro does die, how will the world remember him? Surely with much ambivalence, except if you are GWB and cronies. Well this is how i will remember his legacy at least- all good and bad things must come to an end:
Ojalá Cuba pueda mantener vivas sus dos mejores fuentes de energía: la solidaridad, porque Cuba es el país más solidario del mundo, y la dignidad, que Fidel Castro ha encarnado, hasta ahora, contra viento y marea. Yo he manifestado públicamente, en más de una ocasión, mis divergencias con la revolución cubana, porque entiendo que ha hecho lo que pudo y no lo que quiso, pero no puedo comulgar con la negación del derecho a la divergencia y del derecho a la libre circulación de las personas y de las ideas. Pero en fin, así es la vida. Sigo creyendo, y creeré mientras viva, que la verdadera militancia se ejerce desde la libertad de conciencia y no desde el deber de obediencia. (entrevista con el humorista (entre otras cosas claro) Eduardo Galeano)

conversación en torno a la inmigración magrebí en España

Carlos and I were discussing a presentation I have to do soon. I had broached him with several doubts on some of the concepts I wanted to apply or use. the whole topic centres around immigration in Spain, particularly from the Magreb region. Here are some extracts that might be interesting to the unknown in ether space-
N- estoy elaborabdo la imagen del emigrante recien llegado como un nacido, lo que algunos ven como cierta regresión porque tiene que volver a aprender a hablar, adaptarse, aprender las costumbres etc. Esto puede ser una vision hegemónica sin duda para representar al emigrante como un niño, atrasado, necesitado de la "proteccion" del "colonizador" etc. Estaba leyendo parte de la teoría de Lacan sobre la fase del espejo- que la imagen que el niño ve en el espejo- esta imagen completa e íntegra a la cual nunca llegará a ser pero aspira a serla de todos modos- y pensé que podría vincular la idea con la primera sobre la llegada del emigrante como "niño" y cómo confronta esta imagen "ideal" del autóctono que intenta remedar pero solo le esperan frustación y ansiedad porque es imposible. No sé cómo se vería este vínculo.. tu, como te parece? disparatado? Leído dentro de la construccion y representacion del discurso "colonial" para mejor someter al marginado y minoritario, distinto y amenazador?

C- Qué relación ves entre el colonizado y el inmigrante? ¿En qué punto crees que haya superposición de las figuras y en cuáles no?...
Volviendo a lo de la figura del niño, eso me recuerda que cuando estudié el populismo en América Latina había algo que se llamaba "igualitarismo vertical" (somo iguales, pero yo soy más igual que tú)... Está claro que el fenómeno que estudias no es ni populismo, ni podría calificarse de igualitarismo, pero sí me parece que hay un gesto con similitudes: es el gesto de la caridad, del proteccionismo, de la tarea civilizadora; se hace uso de una pedagogia supuestamente liberadora, integrada a una compleja máquina de producción cultural. Se trata de una mirada que coloca al Otro en un rango de subalternidad..

N- pues es mi interpretacion tambien de lo de la regresion del inmigrante. lo de usar Lacan, no sé.. cuando lo leía, me pareció parecido a la idea del inmigrante como niño..claro que es una actitud paternalista.. aunque veo la parte tambien del mimetismo alli que vale desdibujar..el inmigrante que aspira a imitar al mas poderoso.. o sea, tiene muchas interpretaciones, Si, yo tambien veo el link con el igualitarismo vertical.. es que no se considera al inmigrante como un verdadero igual- siempre será el otro, el menospreciado etc..sobre todo si tiene rasgos muy diferenciadores, como el color de su piel o su lengua, como el arabe... en la narrativa marroquí que estudio, esta imagen no aparece tan llamativa--el inmigrante es asustado..vive en un mundo de ensoñación..pero nunca es descrito como volviendo a una regresión- A ver si saldrá en la discusión... al final, no usé la teoria de Bhabha..pk me parecía un poco forzada porque segun entendí, el describe sus conceptos a partir del colonizador...quiero decir que aun en el mimetismo que describe, es el mimetismo como estrategia del "estado" o poder para distinguir entre el buen asimilador y el "malo"..
claro que entre el colonizado y el inmigrante--hay muchos matices y tambien diferencias..a mi me interesa personalmente la parte mas sicológica..creo que el colonizado se encuentra obviamente mas restringido en todos los sentidos.. es mas interesante para mi el caso del inmigrante, que encima en muchos casos lleva el bagaje de haber sido colonizado..pero hay espacio para matizacion porque se desplaza al sitio del colonizador, lo que se puede considerar en si un acto de resistencia, y es alli, donde se comienza una verdadera dialectica-- sin duda al principio le asalta su inferioridad y etc..pero como dice Bhabha, aun en el mimetismo hay resistencia porque la copia siempre es distinta del original y ademas..al ver en el otro alguna semejanza, el mas fuerte se ve amenazado y perturbado.. el inmigrante se mueve en este terreno desdibujado segun creo...lo que a mi personalmente me fascina.