Being a woman Being a man or simply Being
June 28th, 2010
Foto luca de mata®
Today I was at a table. Thoughts crossed each other. Cultures and histories of ancient and different origins. Mutual respect. Women and men of the highest level: intellectual, spiritual, moral, agnostic and political. High reasoning.
I thought I was living the harmony of utopia in pursuit of mutual knowledge.
Do I know? Do we really know humanity in all its complexity? How can we find a space where different ways of thinking can meet, coexist and confront each other? I say that diversity is an asset, but then again, do I really accept that declaration? Many, many, many years ago, Rai entrusted me with the making of a program titled “Being a Woman, Being a Man”. Today, I might accept such a job with one condition: that it would simply be called “being.”
Foto luca de mata®
In one of my trips to Asia I have arrived to a large Buddhist Temple in Hong Kong, where all day long men women children light incense, give offerings, pray and ask incessantly, as in any other Church, Mosque, Synagogue, Temple or in the intimacy of non-religiousness, for a response of peace and of coexistence in mutual love to their anxieties and their expectations…
Honor your father and mother.
June 21st, 2010
Foto luca de mata®
During a trip to Africa the head of an association of women’s rights who welcomes girls victims of forced marriages, said to me:
“I am responsible of the program against this abuse! Abuse against women and against all the commandments, and mainly against the commandment Honor thy father and mother. Under the guise of local traditions marriages are arranged without the consent of the women. In exchange of a basket of cola, a drug that is chewed or a goat. Or just because a tribal chief wants to have a good relationship with another leader he gives a girl as a bride… and so a girl of 12 years is given to a man of 60. Do you understand?! How can this little girl honor her father and mother who sell her, exchange her for a goat, and who give her to an old man. They even go against the commandment you shall not steal… because forcing them into marriage they steal their sexuality. The girls are tied! They tie them because these girls want to escape from the horror into which they are forced … Honor your father and mother who want to enslave you to a stranger … they escape and come here looking for the affection and parental love they were denied. It is very probable that their mothers were also victims of such horrors. Our laws punish these practices … but in reality it’s difficult to enforce them. It is a slavery against which we must all fight, for the emancipation not only of women but also of our nation and of Africa. ”
The freedom of democracy.
June 9th, 2010
On this blog, in which we narrate our inquest “European Muslims” for RaiUno, we have excerpted a phrase by a woman who has responsibility in the Muslim community. This phrase should make you reflect, free of the usual schemes that divide rather than unite. For now we choose to leave it anonymous, it would be wrong to label before properly understanding the mining of these few lines. Each and every one of you should feel free to respond; your arguments might be agreed or disagreed with. This is the freedom of democracy: to challenge each other in order to understand and build peace and harmony: “in its complexity Islam is more a doctrine than a religion, a philosophy of life, for both men and women and has never been incompatible with Western values. The problem does not lie within the religion itself, but in its interpretation, in fanatic speeches that sometimes tend to distort the religious content according to personal ideas. We must work to increase awareness, to promote a tolerant Islam that fits its self to the western lifestyle, this should benefit Muslims and whoever practices a different religion: Christians or Jews.
Woman born in some part of Africa.
March 31st, 2009
From a testimony given me by a young African woman:
(luca de mata 2009 ©)
“Amongst us, in many parts of Africa, even though there are laws that prohibit what I affirm, in the practice woman’s rights are not respected. They sell us as girls and the profits contribute to the family. The majority remain in ignorance. We do not decide anything. The husband to whom they sell us is chosen by the family…the value of the woman differs from one tribe to another. A lot depends on stature. In my case, if someone is tall and well-built, they are worth 50 cattle and if she is small and thin, 10-20. It is not only the husband who pays, but the entire tribe – from the uncles to the brothers. We have no choice in the process because each of them has made a contribution in paying for us. All of them have rights over us. We become slaves…merchandise. They can do whatever they want with us. Slaves.”
