WomenWatch in our World Literature Classroom

Last week I asked my students to complete this mission with me.

We are reading Nawal El Saadawi's 'Woman at Point Zero' in class. Based on a true story, this novella doc**ents the life of a woman who was driven to murdering her pimp. We follow her through all echelons of Egyptian society, from daughter of a poor farmer, to office worker, to high class prostitute...

As a teacher of Literature I am continually striving to promote global empathy and avoid teaching the single story. If you don't know what I am talking about, perhaps you would like to hear Chimamanda Adichie explore this concept beautifully in her TED talk on the topic:

Alchemy's 'Empowering Women' mission perfectly compliments this objective. I found WomenWatch was able to bring real voices from real women into our classroom and engage my students with a range of gender issues. Some of which are themes in 'Woman at Point Zero', some which aren't. I asked my students to read several stories from the UN site, and then reflect on the story that spoke the loudest to them.

I believe that contextualizing learning in this way, keeping it current and keeping it real, is key to effective education.

So, for the evidence of my LEARN6, I would like to hand over to my students, so that you can hear what they have to say about some of the stories they read on the UN RSS feed, WomenWatch:

Tackling Gender-based violence in Rwanda:

"I’m not trying to defend anything anyone of these men have done, I’m just trying to say that maybe the reason things are the way they are is because people don’t know any better. They were just never taught about respecting people equally, or what rape is." (A.M)

"The story is tragic on multiple levels; if a man thought he was being a good husband but ended up being justifiably called abusive by strangers, it can be very emotionally painful. It is tragic for the women as well, because they don’t even realize that they deserve better. They are
resigned to and completely accept a lot of the abusive behavior they get. All this is painful for observers, because they don’t know who to direct their anger to. No one is at fault. Instead, all we must do is to help the society as a wh*** learn and see things for what they are. We must aid them towards positive change and watch as their can live together with more peace and
happiness." (S.C)

"This specific man mentioned in the article is significant to me because he is a pastor. As a religious figure, he is a leader in his community; one who sets an example for someone to
follow. Due to his cultural upbringing in Rwanda, he treated women around him, including his wife, in ways that would be seen in Western nations as cruel or unequal. Before Emmanuel’s enlightenment, he had no idea that what he was doing was wrong." (JH H)

PAKISTAN: On the run from a violent husband

"I might be leaning toward this article is because I am from Pakistan which makes it all the more

relatable in addition to being female. The article is an example of a woman running away from her husband who was to honor killing her...As for tackling this issue, an individual cannot change a ‘low status for women” the mindset of a wh*** society. However women themselves need to be the change they want to see and speak up for themselves especially when the government backs them up." (E.B)

Abandoning Female Genital Cutting/ mutilation in the afar region of Ethiopia

"It was only after reading ‘Woman at Point Zero’ by Nawal El Sawaadi that I heard about the issue of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Upon reading the article, the question by a young African girl, “Mother, is there a place in this world where FGM is not practiced where I could go to?” struck me the most. This mutilation is already a part of their culture, and is an everyday practice....In a way, I almost feel ashamed that it was only after being assigned a book to read during English class that this situation came to light to me and most of my peers. I was horrified at the fact that this is performed to remove pleasure from females during intercourse, due to the justification that females are not allowed this privilege." (K. Y.)

"So, after the reading the article I learned firstly why FGM is done. Then I learned about
women trying to raise awareness about this issue and gain rights in order to stop FGM being done through a campaign. I was inspired to see that communities as well as the UN and governments working together to help abandon this practice, especially in small, rural villages. The campaign was so successful that it was able to intervene 4,000 girls from undergoing FGM. It may seem small at a global scale, but 4,000 girls is still a large amount to consider. These girls are given the opportunity to not undergo the severe effects of FGM
such as pain and trauma and other complications. However, for Firdaus (from 'Woman at Point Zero') she was not given the choice and had to go through FGM without knowing what was happening to her and why." (N.A.)

After the earthquake, protecting Haitian women and girls from Violence

"This article greatly saddens me, not the fact that people are taking action to prevent women and girls from facing violence, but what saddens me is that people would take advantage of such a terrible and coincidental situation, in order to satisfy themselves for their own selfish ends. However, this article also brings me hope, natural disasters, as demonstrated by the violence against women can bring out the worst in people. However, on the other hand, they can also bring out the best in others, as shown, by the concern the international community is showing for these women and the dangers which they face as a result of this earthquake." (M.D.)

THIS is learning.