Date: Wed, 5 Jun 2013 20:14:34 +0200
The unknown side of the Arab Spring in Yemen
Monday, 3 June 2013
Throughout the Arab Spring, I have often heard the word “change.” Yet,
despite the gentle Arab Spring breeze that blew over the country, you will
see no such change when you visit Yemen. Corruption is everywhere;
everything is still as it was, and probably even worse… However, I shall not
talk hereafter about politics, but rather about the genuine social “change”
I noticed.
During my college studies in Yemen, I transferred from a girls-only
university to a mixed university due to the sterile thinking I was being
exposed to (refer to the previous blog post “How I did not become a
terrorist”). However, the intermingling of female and male students only
means that instead of seeing but one color in the lecture hall – the black
clothing worn by girls – one would see many other colors worn by the young
men in the same hall. However, there was still a permanent barricade between
us, as we talked to one another only on rare occasions and often about an
extremely important issue pertaining to our studies. Indeed, a girl who
talked too much with young men might have her reputation stained and a girl
with a stained reputation would be jeopardizing her chances of getting
married.
The first in her family
I used to have a friend from a very conservative tribe. She was the first
girl in her family to be allowed a college education and in her environment,
studying in a mixed-gender university dimmed her marriage chances. I
remember that my friend’s brother would not talk to his sister while at
university out of fear of having someone think he is her boyfriend rather
than her brother. When he wanted to say he was going home and she should
come with him, he would walk in front of us and dangle the car keys. We’d
hear the distinctive sound and know that my friend should leave with her
brother. This did not bother me at the time and I admit I and my friends
were rather proud that we never spoke with any young men as a sign of “our
good manners.”
Winds of change
I have changed and it seems that some slight change has occurred in Yemen
too, as I noticed during my latest visit there.
I noticed in Yemeni women a certain boldness and strength, the likes of
which I have never seen before and here too, I am not talking about politics
Hind Aleryani
Due to the revolution and to the intermingling of young men and women in the
square, one sees young men and women going out in groups to cafés, protests
and cultural events, talking and laughing with one another. This was
inconceivable only a few years ago, i.e. immediately before the Arab Spring.
When I asked one girl about it, she said: “I don’t think that society in
general has changed; some of us have changed but others still are
criticizing us. However, we have changed and we no longer care about their
opinion like we used to do.”
I also noticed in Yemeni women a certain boldness and strength, the likes of
which I have never seen before and here too, I am not talking about
politics. Rather, I felt this strength on an ordinary occasion when a friend
of mine, who works as a university teacher, invited me to a popular café. I
went into the café with a certain degree of apprehension: We were women and
not many women go to popular cafés and even if they did, there would have to
be a women-only section with blinds to hide them from view. I was expecting
we would head to the women-only section but my friend took me by surprise by
confidently sitting down in the men’s section. I fearfully interjected, “but
this is the men’s section,” and she said: “Don’t worry. My friends and I
have gotten them accustomed to our coming here and sitting in out in the
open air outside. We do not want to be confined behind the blinds.” It was
then that I felt a woman’s strength. I was indescribably happy.
Yes, there is change indeed. Yet I shall not forget to mention here that the
parents of my friend whose brother avoided talking to her at university did
not allow her to work. She is still waiting for the man who would accept to
marry a girl who studied at a mixed-gender university to come and propose.
______________________
Hind Aleryani is a Yemeni activist and working as a journalist at NOW
Lebanon. She can be found on Twitter _at_HindAleryani.
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