Response Paper 1

            Inserting myself into a world where it is socially acceptable to kidnap and gang rape a woman, to kill her for having sex outside of marriage, or to light her afire for her family’s refusal to pay addition dowry was and is not easy for me. Coming from a culture in which I feel violated when a stranger even touches too low on my back, I am astounded as to the cultural gulf lying between these other women and me. I have wrestled with the line between basic right and cultural differences of opinion. While in Rwanda, we had a few workshops during which we attempted, as a multi-cultural group of thirty youth, to define human rights and encountered this same problem. When can a right be separated as one that is above cultural disparities?

            For example, we spent some time discussing whether or not dowries and bride prices were unethical. Do they commoditize women and violate their rights or are they simply a tradition that is not inherently wrong? I am not sure that I am knowledgeable to make such a decision because I still see a really hazy, gray area as the line between these rights and cultural distinctions. This issue is made even more complicated by the fact that these women often do not see some traditions as a violation of their rights. In the case of beating, a high number of women in some cultures agree that it is acceptable to beat one’s wife when she has disobeyed. But just because they believe that does not mean that others would agree that they should continue to be beaten because they find it acceptable. This same principle does not always apply to issues like dowries and bride prices, however.

            I was pleased to discover injustices that I had never heard of before during our first few weeks in class. They forced me to recognize that women are horrendously treated in certain parts of the world, though I was more comfortable with the thought that they were simply casted in a more domestic, subservient role. The problem is much larger than that, ranging to include honor killings, rape as a weapon of war or terror tactic, bride burnings, acid wounds, FGM, and educational gaps. The prevalence of these injustices reveals an underlying cultural attitude which is an even more difficult task to correct. I enjoyed reading about where Islam and misogyny do and do not intersect because it is important to separate the two. While religion might feed into culture, it does not define it. And yet again, we arrive a similar question, how do you decide when a cultural perspective is wrong or simply subjective? When is it ok to “change” a culture? Do we even have the right as outsiders to change it?

            A point that we discussed was how we have to redefine poverty. Being “poor” is a relative term according to culture and it is important not to blatantly tell someone that they are poor according to your standards. The threat of self-fulfilling prophecy is too great. However, I wonder if we did not pick some standard for “poverty,” would we even bother to take action against it, whatever “it” is, like the Millennium Goals? Often, in order to spur an everyday citizen to action, it is necessary to simplify and even oversimplify so that they are clear what needs to be done. If we told them that “poverty” needed to be eradicated around the world but that American poverty is different from, say, Chinese poverty or South African poverty, would they be inclined to do anything at all? Part of me wants to vote for having a standard poverty definition for appropriate times, like this scenario, but then another part of me recognizes that that can be culturally insensitive.

            My research topic will be focused on the women in Nigeria and the cultural gender roles that they hold there and what injustices they have become victims to. Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa, with over 150 million people. This also leads to having many different ethnic groups, at least 250. That said, there is also religious diversity and so I am curious to see how women’s roles change depending on those cultural factors. I am also relatively unfamiliar with the issue of female genital mutilation and that is a common issue in Nigeria. There is also an issue of prostitution and HIV/AIDS. Overall, Nigerian women will be an interesting focal point for the research project.