Women In Nationalist Movements
In the recent studies of women’s emancipation from a male dominated society, the emergence of women in nationalist movements was evident. Nationalist movements gave women an outlet to begin their fight for freedom. In contrast to the hopes of women, nationalism wasn’t able to help the growth of feminism. Once women began to join revolutions to help heighten their country’s nationalism, they began to realize that although their work in the movement was recognized as beneficial, it did not allow them to focus on their own rights. In Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Algeria and Palestine women were fighting in nationalist revolutions in hopes that they too would benefit from the huge change. The advancements that nationalism provided failed to acknowledge the changes that women were hoping for. Once women began to fight for their own concerns, the strong backing that the nationalist parties had provided were quickly disintegrated.
Nationalism is the fight one country has to gain independence from another country. In many cases, this struggle happened in countries that practiced colonialism. This is because there was an economic irabalance between the more powerful country and the country where raw materials were being taken from. The subordinate countries in this case began their quest for industrial status. Many of these countries modeled their goals after countries that were successful. Successful in this respect meant that there was a strong national identity. Nationalism also gave the country an opening to define their culture, economics, and status.
Women in many countries thought that the nationalist movement would provide them with the opportunity to advance in the public sphere. In Turkey, Mustapha Kemal recognized the “courage and militancy of Turkish women during the Balkan wars and World War I.” (Kemal article) This time allowed women to obtain new jobs, such as nurses and factory workers. Algeria also had a similar emergence of women into the public sphere. During the Algerian War women who fought in the war were known as moudjahidines. These female fighters were willing to take any risks to advance the nationalism of their state. In one particular example, Farida “gave a gun to a brother who had an action to carry out. He was wounded. [She] carried him through the city to [their] house.” (Bouatta, 27) The courage that these women had showed their excitement and commitment to not only being in the public sphere, but helping their nation.
Women’s roles in revolutions varied drastically. Palestinian women were responsible for raising children with a nationalistic pride. Although this did not require entering the public sphere, men still regarded this job as very important. If women were not breeding children who felt strongly toward the nation, the entire battle would come to an end. The militancy in Algeria was heavily looked upon as heroic. At the end of the first World War, Egyptians demanded independence which allowed women to be apart of the political struggle. One woman in particular went by the name of Huda. “Huda refused to sacrifice women’s liberation for male political purposes.” (Badran, 129) Once women began to be killed by British bullets, Huda began to organize a movement of women from all classes. She was able to organize boycotts and educate women about how to get involved. Although she was not as militant as women in Algeria, she helped women organize the only women’s organization in Egypt, the Wafdist Women’s Central Committee. All of these women helped propel nationalist thinking to feministic thinking as well.
Once women began to enter the public sphere and were represented in the nationalist movement, they were greeted with mixed emotions from men. In Egypt during the early 1900s, more veiled women began to enter the public sphere. “Middle and upper class women began to go out of their homes more often, and men reacted to this greater presence of women in the streets by ignoring, protecting, provoking or propositioning them.” (Baron, 378) Since women began to leave their homes, they were challenging the traditional perceptions of conduct. The veil itself began to change in idea as well. It no longer became a class divider but more of a gender divider. The veil became important only to those in the elite class. (Baron, 371) Egypt also began to look at the veil as a fashion statement. The designs and changes in the veil came from a much more modern Europe. Even the idea of a veil providing protection began to change. In Iran the same things began to happen. During the Ataturk rule, women were required to wear veils and were still considered subordinate. The veils represented a traditionalist belief that women should be covered and hidden from public. More modernists began to fight for the unveiling of women.
Around the mid-1900s, women from both Iran and Egypt began to unveil. Huda fought endlessly to abolish the veil in Egypt and succeeded. Her monumental unveiling represented an end to the harem system and gave women the example of unveiling. Egypt began to see unveiling as a more practical and syrabolic measure. Some felt that veiling “hindered and inhibited [women] at a time when they were gaining independence.” ( Baron, 378) The unveiling represented a unity inside the country, which was able to strengthen the nationalist movement. Although it was acceptable, many old women found it hard to disregard the veil. If they were able to take the veil off abroad, many put it back on when they returned to Egypt. During the Rule of Reza Shah, women in Iran were also given the option to unveil. This developed in a time where women’s societies and journals were shut down, which meant that although they were part of the nationalist movement, they were not allowed to publish their own concerns. The option to unveil soon became a requirement.(Najmamadi, 671) Iran wanted a corporatist state and these were their means of achieving that. Since women wanted to fight for their country, they readily agreed.
These struggles for women were the progress markers for a country’s development. The more emancipation women had, the more advanced their country was. “The underdevelopment of a country is a product of numerous factors, the most important of which is the inferior position of women.” (22) Mustapha Kemal argued that “a civilisation where one sex is supreme can be condemned, there and then, as crippled…The failures in our past are due to the fact that we remained passive to the fate of women.” (Kemalist rev. 36) The problems that Turkey faced were a result of not addressing the women’s concerns. He also stressed the idea that women needed to raise children who would appreciate the nationalistic pride of the country. Once the women’s problems were addressed, the country could once again move forward. In Egypt, Huda confronts the Egyptian government by arguing that the country’s progress is indexed by women’s progress. “They claim that our participation in the nationalist movement was merely a ploy to dupe civilized nations into believing in the advancements of Egypt and it’s ability to govern itself.” (Badran, 122) By this quotation it is easy to see that Egypt was forced to show advancements in women’s rights for other countries to see the progress. If women were not receiving freedom, the country was looked upon as underdeveloped and uncivilized.
In a movement where so much is at stake, the women of these countries put themselves in a vulnerable position. With every country it was easy to see that women stepped up into the public sphere whenever possible. For some that only meant raising children who had nationalistic pride, but it meant that they were helping their nation. When the men went to war it was the women who took over the home front and kept everything on task. When the men came home, it was evident that the women went back to their normal duties. The consequences that women faced during the construction of a nation were immense. Whether it was planting borabs or hiding men, women from all of the nations we studied had nationalistic pride.
Unfortunately, when women began to branch away from battles that were centered just on the country, they were met with many obstacles. Women like Huda, Jamilah and others were able to form groups and movements that not only supported nationalism but feminism as well. Once women began to get recognized and supported, so did the country. Kemal once put it, “We have to believe that everything in the world is the result, directly or indirectly, of the work of women.” (Delamotte, 238)
In the recent studies of women’s emancipation from a male dominated society, the emergence of women in nationalist movements was evident. Nationalist movements gave women an outlet to begin their fight for freedom. In contrast to the hopes of women, nationalism wasn’t able to help the growth of feminism. Once women began to join revolutions to help heighten their country’s nationalism, they began to realize that although their work in the movement was recognized as beneficial, it did not allow them to focus on their own rights. In Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Algeria and Palestine women were fighting in nationalist revolutions in hopes that they too would benefit from the huge change. The advancements that nationalism provided failed to acknowledge the changes that women were hoping for. Once women began to fight for their own concerns, the strong backing that the nationalist parties had provided were quickly disintegrated.
Nationalism is the fight one country has to gain independence from another country. In many cases, this struggle happened in countries that practiced colonialism. This is because there was an economic irabalance between the more powerful country and the country where raw materials were being taken from. The subordinate countries in this case began their quest for industrial status. Many of these countries modeled their goals after countries that were successful. Successful in this respect meant that there was a strong national identity. Nationalism also gave the country an opening to define their culture, economics, and status.
Women in many countries thought that the nationalist movement would provide them with the opportunity to advance in the public sphere. In Turkey, Mustapha Kemal recognized the “courage and militancy of Turkish women during the Balkan wars and World War I.” (Kemal article) This time allowed women to obtain new jobs, such as nurses and factory workers. Algeria also had a similar emergence of women into the public sphere. During the Algerian War women who fought in the war were known as moudjahidines. These female fighters were willing to take any risks to advance the nationalism of their state. In one particular example, Farida “gave a gun to a brother who had an action to carry out. He was wounded. [She] carried him through the city to [their] house.” (Bouatta, 27) The courage that these women had showed their excitement and commitment to not only being in the public sphere, but helping their nation.
Women’s roles in revolutions varied drastically. Palestinian women were responsible for raising children with a nationalistic pride. Although this did not require entering the public sphere, men still regarded this job as very important. If women were not breeding children who felt strongly toward the nation, the entire battle would come to an end. The militancy in Algeria was heavily looked upon as heroic. At the end of the first World War, Egyptians demanded independence which allowed women to be apart of the political struggle. One woman in particular went by the name of Huda. “Huda refused to sacrifice women’s liberation for male political purposes.” (Badran, 129) Once women began to be killed by British bullets, Huda began to organize a movement of women from all classes. She was able to organize boycotts and educate women about how to get involved. Although she was not as militant as women in Algeria, she helped women organize the only women’s organization in Egypt, the Wafdist Women’s Central Committee. All of these women helped propel nationalist thinking to feministic thinking as well.
Once women began to enter the public sphere and were represented in the nationalist movement, they were greeted with mixed emotions from men. In Egypt during the early 1900s, more veiled women began to enter the public sphere. “Middle and upper class women began to go out of their homes more often, and men reacted to this greater presence of women in the streets by ignoring, protecting, provoking or propositioning them.” (Baron, 378) Since women began to leave their homes, they were challenging the traditional perceptions of conduct. The veil itself began to change in idea as well. It no longer became a class divider but more of a gender divider. The veil became important only to those in the elite class. (Baron, 371) Egypt also began to look at the veil as a fashion statement. The designs and changes in the veil came from a much more modern Europe. Even the idea of a veil providing protection began to change. In Iran the same things began to happen. During the Ataturk rule, women were required to wear veils and were still considered subordinate. The veils represented a traditionalist belief that women should be covered and hidden from public. More modernists began to fight for the unveiling of women.
Around the mid-1900s, women from both Iran and Egypt began to unveil. Huda fought endlessly to abolish the veil in Egypt and succeeded. Her monumental unveiling represented an end to the harem system and gave women the example of unveiling. Egypt began to see unveiling as a more practical and syrabolic measure. Some felt that veiling “hindered and inhibited [women] at a time when they were gaining independence.” ( Baron, 378) The unveiling represented a unity inside the country, which was able to strengthen the nationalist movement. Although it was acceptable, many old women found it hard to disregard the veil. If they were able to take the veil off abroad, many put it back on when they returned to Egypt. During the Rule of Reza Shah, women in Iran were also given the option to unveil. This developed in a time where women’s societies and journals were shut down, which meant that although they were part of the nationalist movement, they were not allowed to publish their own concerns. The option to unveil soon became a requirement.(Najmamadi, 671) Iran wanted a corporatist state and these were their means of achieving that. Since women wanted to fight for their country, they readily agreed.
These struggles for women were the progress markers for a country’s development. The more emancipation women had, the more advanced their country was. “The underdevelopment of a country is a product of numerous factors, the most important of which is the inferior position of women.” (22) Mustapha Kemal argued that “a civilisation where one sex is supreme can be condemned, there and then, as crippled…The failures in our past are due to the fact that we remained passive to the fate of women.” (Kemalist rev. 36) The problems that Turkey faced were a result of not addressing the women’s concerns. He also stressed the idea that women needed to raise children who would appreciate the nationalistic pride of the country. Once the women’s problems were addressed, the country could once again move forward. In Egypt, Huda confronts the Egyptian government by arguing that the country’s progress is indexed by women’s progress. “They claim that our participation in the nationalist movement was merely a ploy to dupe civilized nations into believing in the advancements of Egypt and it’s ability to govern itself.” (Badran, 122) By this quotation it is easy to see that Egypt was forced to show advancements in women’s rights for other countries to see the progress. If women were not receiving freedom, the country was looked upon as underdeveloped and uncivilized.
In a movement where so much is at stake, the women of these countries put themselves in a vulnerable position. With every country it was easy to see that women stepped up into the public sphere whenever possible. For some that only meant raising children who had nationalistic pride, but it meant that they were helping their nation. When the men went to war it was the women who took over the home front and kept everything on task. When the men came home, it was evident that the women went back to their normal duties. The consequences that women faced during the construction of a nation were immense. Whether it was planting borabs or hiding men, women from all of the nations we studied had nationalistic pride.
Unfortunately, when women began to branch away from battles that were centered just on the country, they were met with many obstacles. Women like Huda, Jamilah and others were able to form groups and movements that not only supported nationalism but feminism as well. Once women began to get recognized and supported, so did the country. Kemal once put it, “We have to believe that everything in the world is the result, directly or indirectly, of the work of women.” (Delamotte, 238)