I’m Fadia Braktia, I’m a Fulbright scholar
from Algeria and I’m a teacher assistant in Arabic language in UCF. I have a master’s
degree in translation Arabic, French and English. Both my parents are feminists, so I have been
raised in a family that believes in equality between man and woman. But, when I
went out to the society I faced concepts and ideas that are contradictory to
mine, concepts that worship man, and put him in a leading position and woman in
a position of a passive follower. As I rejected those Ideas, and refused to say
yes to men and just obey them, I was considered as an unfaithful rebellion.
In 2010, for my master’s degree thesis I
translated three chapters from a book entitled “Feminism in Islam: social
secular and religious convergences” by Margot Badran. The book is a selection of the writer’s
essays and articles about feminism in the Arab and Islamic world. Reading and
translating the book made me more comfortable with myself, and made me
understand that it is ok to say “no, I cannot accept that”. It was the guiding book telling me that I’m in
the right way, and I’m just following the path of all those women struggling
and fighting for their rights.
The society and religion have the biggest influence
on everyone’s understating to man and women behavior. Feminism in the Arab
world is different from feminism in United States. We are still fighting The myths
that run in the society about women’s weakness and in a need of protection from
men (so if I protect you, I have the right to control you), women being too emotional
and can’t rule (which declude women from the political sphere), and women being
over-sexualized creatures and they cause chaos in the society, so to keep the
order we have to control them, circumcise them, hide them and put the family
honor on their bodies and chastity.
I think that activism in the Arab
world is in a contestant challenge with the religion and society. The Moroccan
writer and activist Fatima Mernissi, in her book “the Political Harem”, challenged
the religious scholars in women’s issues using Hadith (the Prophet’s sayings) to
abolish all the believes that god asked women to obey men. The Egyptian writer Radwa
Ashur (married to a Palestinian) fought to give her son the Egyptian
nationality, because in civil status law only men have the right to give the nationality.
In the same context the, feminist, writer and activist Nawal El Saadawi fought
for women’s right to give their family names to the children they have out of
marriage (illegal children as they call them). She also fought against female circumcision
and rejected the idea of women responsible for the family honor, and of course
they accused her to advocate corruption of morals and against the religion.
As part of my experience at the United States,
I want to know more about women’s history, fights and gains, see where they succeeded
and where they failed and learn from their experience, in a hope that one day, I can make a change and help Arab women to get
their freedom.
I’m Fadia Braktia, I’m a feminist and proud
of it!
