THE granting of political rights to women in Kuwait was an exercise in farcicality, because it was an external imposition. Freedoms have to come from within and not without, and that's the reason why political rights for women have only been a token gesture so far. Khawla Atheeqi was sharing her insights with the Arab Times on the politics of women's issues in Kuwait and how between the binary views of fundamentalism and liberalism, a vast section of moderate voices are trapped in silence.
As a women's rights activist, do you think the political situation in Kuwait is favorable to your cause?
Yes. Now that women have won political rights, I feel things are on the right course. But I am not too complacent because it is a new experiment as far as Kuwait is concerned. For me political right is not the be all and end all, it is only a means to full-fledged women's freedom, which involves social rights.
Women have been thinking that by using political rights we can bargain for better social rights.
However, the fact is that political rights are only in the books, and for us to be able to bargain on equal terms women have to have representation in the Parliament. This has not happened yet. Women still have a long way to go. Such token rights can't bring about any great change in the conditions of women in the country. Rights and privileges have to be more meaningful. For that to happen there should be greater awareness and there should be intervention at the grassroots level by NGOs and social organizations. Women should attain more influential positions in politics. Of course, there are women high on in typically male bastions, but I feel that is not enough. There should be more numbers.
Let's start by having a women MP.
The current Parliament consists of more Islamist MPs. Does that make you a bit wary?
No. I think it is a mistake to paint Islamists as misogynistic. Hidebound ideas about women's rights and their political participation are deeply rooted in our culture and tradition. A small group of fundamentalists holding certain views of how women should conduct themselves can't influence an entire generation. The society is only following a course that has been charted deep in history.
Islamists are working alongside women in many institutions. They don't have a problem there. But men are generally uncomfortable to share power with women on an equal footing. In Kuwait, and in most parts of the world, governance is seen as the preserve of men. Women are generally perceived as being too frail and corny to be in the Parliament. Though farcical, this view is prevalent in the society.
The liberals are disingenuous when it comes to women's issues. They pretend to support us but deep down they are just men who have been molded in a male-dominant society. They are also happy that we are not in the Parliament. Aseel Al Awadi was one of the women candidates who came very close to winning a Parliamentary seat. But this was not because she put forth any constructive programs or had any vision for the country. Women voted for her simply because they wanted a female candidate in the Parliament. This is hollow. Male or female, an MP must have merits to be in the National Assembly. I am hopeful that in future things will change. As far as male members of the Parliament are concerned, irrespective of political leanings, men just support men.
You said liberals are against women's political rights. But isn't it they who have all along been fighting for your rights in the Parliament? As I said, all their stances regarding women have been just token support. They are just trying to fit their mouths around what international liberalists are saying, without actually meaning it. The liberalists here are happy the way things are in the Parliament. They won't own up, but ask them if they will allow their wives or daughters to enter Parliament and then you can see their true colors surfacing. Their women are educated, so why can't they be allowed to contest elections.
How do you think this male-dominant mindset in the society can change?
Yes. It is a mindset that is deeply entrenched in the national psyche. It has to change. There is lot of hard work to do, and we have to be patient. There is nothing time can't change. What should you do to begin the process of change? Education is the basis for change. As most of the prejudices are dressed in the garb of religion, we have to present what real Islam is to the people, and expose the aberrations in politicizing religion. We have to teach people the Islam of peace and equality. But let me make it clear that our options are not just binary. It's not that either you are a liberal or an Islamist. There are other options also. Women have the right to secure employment and earn a living. But a choice of a woman to be a homemaker should be equally respected. Raising children and producing a generation sound in body and mind is a service to the nation. A woman who wants to dedicate herself to the well-being of her family should be allowed to do that.
Women should not be typecast into any prefigured mould. They should be allowed the right to make their choices. In the din of fighting going on in the name of women, the voices of women are getting drowned. While Islamists want them confined in their homes, the liberals want to pry them out of their homes and throw them into the public domain. But please, between these two extremities there is middle ground. Let's have the different choices first, before we talk about freedom of choice. In the US, recently an activist called for government salaries for housewives, because raising good responsible citizens is a national service. Come to think of it, rearing a family is a much more constructive task than what most people whiling away their time at government offices do. We have to make such moderate voices more heard in Kuwait. Currently the Parliament is just a cacophony of disagreeing voices. Laws are not studied objectively. Bills are supported or opposed based on who proposes them rather than what they contain.
Some liberals say that women in the Kuwaiti society are indoctrinated from an early age about their inferiority to men. Does this hold any water?
This is just vacuous propaganda. Let's not remove Kuwait from the global context. Every society has its own gender biases. No nation or community is free from this. The simple truth, whether anybody likes it or not, is that men and women are not identical in any sense, be it physical or psychological. The differences are there because men and women are social creatures meant to play complimentary roles for the attainment of common social and spiritual objectives.
While I was recently in the US, I heard my friend chiding her daughter saying that she is not a boy to behave in such and such manner. This is an example of gender bias. I don't know if we can even call it bias. Every society, however liberal, expects certain types of behavior from each sex.
And in this society, men are expected to provide for the family. I raised my sons up. Today they are fully grown men. When I want some thing, I depend on them. This is absolutely normal.
Therefore, I think the theory that there is a conspiracy going on against women in Kuwait trying to impose a manufactured perception on them is baseless. However, I feel there is a tendency to limit options for women's redemption into two narrow-minded schools of thought. There has to be political space for a third school of thought. Can't we be without joining Islamists or liberals? There is in fact a large section of the people who adhere to a middle view between these two extremities.
Can you expand a little more on what this middle view is?
This is a peace loving people. They hope for an amicable way of solving issues through dialogue and a conformist approach. Most of them are middle class people and apolitical. Yes, their political involvement is their choice, but this is creating a big silence and the ideal they believe in is getting defeated. Are the numbers of those staking middle ground growing or diminishing?
They are mostly middle class people... but it is a horrifying fact that the middle class in the Kuwaiti society is diminishing. The class order in Kuwait is fashioning itself after most third world countries where the divide between the rich and poor are growing. When rich get richer, the middle class are pushed lower down the economic ladder, adding to the poverty count. A diminishing middle class is sign of a very disturbing imbalance in the society.
What do you think is causing this divide?
There are many reasons. Social injustice is the biggest cause. Corruption and wanton consumerism also add to this phenomenon. In a neo-liberal world order, where profit is the ultimate ideal, human values are eroding, and corruption is permeating every quarter of the society.
You mean to say there are very poor people among Kuwaitis?
Perhaps not very poor according to world standards, but surely there is a growing number of people who are unable to afford even a decent living according to Kuwaiti standards. And in future, if this trend continues, you might be able to find those living in abject poverty.
Kuwaitis have to learn to live within their means. They are so overwhelmed by this sudden burst of consumerism they are unable to cope up with the changing order. Consumerism is consuming them. Active interventions have to be made at both political and social levels to save the society going at breakneck speeds like lemmings toward destruction.
What is the lifestyle of those among Kuwaitis whom you classify as poor?
When I say poor, I am talking about those people who are not having amenities that are considered fundamental in this society, such a house -- they can't be compared to the homeless in the poorer countries of Africa and Asia, but they don't have a home of their own. I know many people who have had to sell off their houses to meet other more imperative needs. As I am involved in charity organizations, I come across many such people. Their reckless lifestyles and lack of planning for future render them in this state.
They depend on charity to conduct their daily lives?
Yes ... there are people who depend on charity.
Among Kuwaitis?
Yes, of course.
The political rights for women in Kuwait came after a long-drawn struggle. How do judge the struggle in hindsight?
I had worked with many women's rights groups ... we fought hard, and now we have it. But I don't want to pat our backs and be smug about it. I know that freedom is not a result of our courageous struggle.
It is an external imposition. It's a US script that is being played out here.
These are open secrets and we deceive ourselves into believing that every thing is hunky-dory. Freedom has to come from within, and not without. That's the reason the women's rights are still token in this country. However, the ball has been set rolling willy-nilly, and over time may be we can expect more real changes and freedom might come of age.
But as of now, freedom is chimerical. Like a mass hypnosis we can all together believe it is there, while we will never have it. That's the reason I don't support any women candidate from the current crop of aspiring MPs, because the farcicality of the US-sponsored drama is yet to play itself out. I want a candidate who has a strong agenda and clear cut plans for the country. A woman MP with substance.
Can you tell us something about the dynamics between the various women's rights groups in Kuwait?
There are about four such groups in Kuwait. However, I am more interested about individual activists than groups. I am an activist myself, but I don't hitchhike in any of their bandwagons.
There is a disjuncture in the manner these groups operate, and they unite only on certain issues. While the women's bill was put to vote in the Parliament, they worked together to get MPs into their sphere of influence.
Is there a need for greater unity among them?
Yes, there is a need for greater unity. A lack of unity is one of the reasons why there are no women in the Parliament today.
You said women's political freedom in Kuwait is part of US' vested geopolitical interests. So hasn't the intervention of the US in Kuwait been positive to some extent?
We should know that the US is not driven by any altruistic motives of making the world a paradise of freedom and democracy. It's all in their self interest ... connect the dots of how the US has interfered in the region, and a picture of a beast will emerge: first they empower Saddam Hussein, induce him to attack Kuwait, enter the scene as saviors, drive him out, set up their base here and further their regional ambitions. So let's wait for the smoke screen to lift before getting maudlin and rushing to beatify America.
In fact I told all this at a press conference in the US.
Which newspapers were you talking to?
Several. It was a press conference. New York Times, Washington Post, Herald Tribune, Boston Herald and so on. There were about 15 newspapers.
What was the general reaction to your opinions there?
The reception was good. There is much awareness in the US about the country's pernicious foreign policies. Whatever its foreign policy, America is a free country, and so the people are free to discuss whatever they want.
What differences do you perceive in Kuwait before the granting of women's rights and after the granting women's rights?
Not much. But political freedom was definitely a shot in the arm for women, and they are more confident now. The spirit is upbeat and women are very active to make the most of this freedom. This is a springboard to leap further ahead and gaining more rights.
The men have also got down from their high horses while talking to women. We are able to bargain.
Women fared very poorly in the 2006 elections; 2008 was better. How do you extrapolate the political future of women from these results?
I am positive about our future. 2006 elections took us by storm. We were just not prepared for it. It was more of a victory lap of flaunting our freedom than a contest. Women candidates were inexperienced and were so overtaken by the spirit of flower power that they focused too much on gender issues at the cost of important national issues.
This time, too, the elections were a bit rushed, following the dissolution of the Parliament. And women candidates once again lacked a solid mandate in their manifestoes. They were just three strong candidates... and they were able to leave a mark among the electorate. So we are progressing.
Fifty-two percent of the voters in Kuwait are women. Yet women candidates are losing. Why?
I am happy there are no gender favoritisms influencing voting choices among women. So to that extent it's a good sign. May be women voters didn't find any convincing female candidate.
It could be that the female voters are more matured in their outlook and look beyond gender affinities and into real issues that affect them and their nation. Sometimes, a woman candidate I like may belong to another constituency, and thus might lose my vote, while within my constituency no worthwhile female candidates are running and I am forced to cast my ballot to a man.
What do you think should be the priorities of the current government?
Development. There has to be clear plans for the development of the country. The nation is rotting despite trade surpluses and overflowing coffers, thanks to record levels of oil price. The diminishing middle class, as I said earlier, is symptomatic of deep anomalies in wealth distribution in Kuwait. One of its fallouts is unemployment. The government, along with private sector, has to work out solutions for this problem as it has far reaching social and economic consequences. Businesses should not only focus on amassing profits, but also on giving back to the society.
By Valiya S. Sajjad
© Arab Times 2008
