The OxfordEnglish Dictionary defines a 'feminist' as 'an advocate or supporter of therights and equality of women'. It also worth mentioning that the term"feminist" was among the most searched terms in Merriam Websterdictionary's word of the year for 2017. This highlights the world's growinginterest in the movement for women's rights. The term feminism was first usedin the 19th century after it was invented by the French philosopher CharlesFourier in 1837 when writing about the indelible link between women's statusand social progress.
Since then, themovement for equality between men and women has been able to pave its way toseveral countries and regions including the Middle East, which has seen manynames among key figures leading equality campaigns and has had a clear impacton the feminist movement. Yet, these movements have been accused throughouthistory to upset religious groups and conspiring to stabilize society,especially by Islamist groups.
However, feministmovements in the Middle East have been working hard and continue to be seen asa threat to the traditional distribution of roles between men and women and athreat to identity and traditions. It is well known that the early beginningsof the feminist movements in the Gulf region were influenced by the prevailingcultural movement in Egypt and Syria, as well as the writings of thinkers whoaddressed women's issues such as Qasim Amin and pioneers of the Arab feministmovement such as Huda Shaarawi.
The first signs ofthe Kuwaiti women's movement can be traced back to the 1940s, where girls'education began to spread despite the difficulties due to conservative forcesopposing girls' education. The long struggle of Kuwaiti women was a success,and women were granted the right to participate in the Kuwaiti parliament. Anumber of women were able to win elections of the National Assembly, butunfortunately for only one term. This is why we need to work harder for theempowerment and awareness of women to have more than one or two women in theparliament.
Many peoplebelieve that the existence of a feminist movement in Kuwait is less importantbecause Kuwaiti women have all their rights as they claim, and this idea wasentrenched after women gained their political rights. But, the fact thatprogress is in the interest of Kuwaiti women today is due to individual movesby some women who faced injustice in cases such as the housing law, whichdistinguishes between the rights of men and women. I think there are stilloutstanding issues that need a lot of efforts, including domestic violence,whose victims are mostly women, and the rights of Kuwaiti woman who are marriedto non-Kuwaitis.
I believe thatthe struggle of women around the world has made a big difference in the worldtoday, by launching several campaigns and movements, the most important ofwhich is the feminist movement that worked for the rights of women with the aimof gender equality at many levels, including political, economic and social.Many women today suffer discrimination in many parts of the world, the resultof many intellectual, social, economic and legal accumulations that haveproduced many feminist movements to demand an end to injustice from women.
I believe thatwhat women in Kuwait and all of our Arab countries need are NGOs to be closerto the problems that women suffer from, regardless of all ethnic, religious andclass boundaries, pressuring decision-making centers to achieve equality andraising community awareness. I believe that that feminism is a long road thatrequires patience and intensive efforts to raise awareness of women andcooperation with all institutions and civil society organizations.
By Muna Al-Fuzai
muna@kuwaittimes.net