Celebrated all
over the world on March 8 is International Women’s Day. Here in Macedonia, this holiday is known
simply as 8-ми Март, or the 8th of March.
Similar to Mother’s Day in the US, this holiday celebrates the toil and
progress of Macedonia’s women, mostly for the wives, mothers, and middle-aged
or older women in society.
In a way, this
holiday reflects a bit of the commercialism similar to that of Mother’s
Day. Children and husbands purchase
gifts (usually plants or flowers) for the important women in their lives. Additionally, women usually congregate at a
local restaurant or kafana with a day of drinking and eating, in other words
celebrating without a care.
This year, I was
back in Lozovo visiting my old host family, celebrating the birthday of my
former host mother. However, before I
left for the weekend I purchased for my current host mother a flowered plant
that I thought suited her well. She
seemed to have really enjoyed it, and I hope that my gift reflects how grateful
I am to have her as a part of my life.
 |
| My host mother and my present for her for 8-ми Март |
Simultaneously,
Peace Corps and First Lady Michelle Obama launched a new campaign to improve
the education of women across the globe through the efforts of Peace Corps
volunteers. This new program, called
“Let Girls Learn,” seeks to bridge the education gap of women across the globe. While the program focuses on only a handful
of countries in which PCVs serve (Albania, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia,
Georgia, Ghana, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Togo, and Uganda), the overall
goal is to remedy the issue that “62 million girls across the globe are not in
school, and in some countries, fewer than 10% of the teenage girl population do
not finish secondary school.” You can
hear more about the program from Michelle Obama through the Youtube link below:
The launch of
this program may prompt a question for many people regarding Macedonia- what is
it like to be a woman in this country?
Obviously, this is a deep question that I have not been able to scratch
below the surface, for many reasons besides that I am a young male serving
here. However, according to my
experience in Prilep and most Macedonian cities, feminist values and gender
equality are not too bad in Macedonia.
There are many factors that contribute to and detract from women’s progress
within this country.
As many can
guess, Communism (or at least the Socialism under Tito) probably helped support
women’s role within society. Simone de Beauvoir quotes Marx in her book The Second Sex, “The direct, natural,
and necessary relation of person to person is the relation of man to woman.” A
communist herself, I do not doubt that de Beauvoir agreed with the quote
“Workers of the world unite!”, or in other words, that there is no difference
between women and men proletariat. As
she quotes in The Second Sex, “Men and women must, among
other things and beyond their natural differentiatons, unequivocally affirm
their brotherhood.” Thus, communism probably
provided for Yugoslavia a rethinking (yet likely far short of a tabla rasa) for
gender equality, among other things, which likely helped support the female
role within society.
However, centuries
of societal forces are not erased from a few decades of communistic rule. Customs and gender roles survive from the
times of Turkish rule. Macedonian women
are usually expected to cook, clean, prepare coffee, and care for the home,
even if they hold a full-time job. Also,
when women marry, they often move into the home of their husband, living above,
below, or next to the husband’s father and mother.
Yet women in
Macedonia attend university at a similar rate as men, and many hold high
positions within businesses or society (the Minister for Interior in Macedonia
is a woman). In a way, Macedonia is very
“European” in the sense that people do not doubt the abilities of a leader
depending on whether that person is a man or a woman.
On the other
hand, life as a woman is very different in Albanian communities. I have not been able to experience culture in
an Albanian household first hand, but based on accounts from other PCVs, life
is a bit more limiting for women. While
(muslim) Albanian women can drive, travel without a male relative, or are not
required to wear the hijab in Macedonia, there are some restrictions at
home. Typically, they are not allowed to
be home alone in the house with a male guest who is not a relative. Also, when Albanian women marry, they also
move into the home of their husband’s parents, but as a “nuse”, they are
expected to bend to the will and command of her mother-in-law.
All over the
world, the progress for gender equality requires patience. I believe that society is progressing, albeit
at a pace that is not fast enough. For
me, feminism is an important ideal that is worth fighting for. I have many friends and family that prove
what women can accomplish on their own.
More personally, although I had always searched for a male role model to
take me under his wings professionally, I never had the opportunity to have
such a mentor. However, there are many
women who had professionally supported me during my time in college and after
graduation. I would be nothing without
their guidance and support. In my
opinion, the PCVs in my group who are making the most impact here are women
(even though our group is pretty evenly split along genders). Finally, our PC Director for Macedonia is
amazing, reasonable, and beyond professional, and she currently embodies for me
the ideal persona when it comes to working in international diplomacy.
Some people argue
against having a “Day of Women” because women should be celebrated
everyday. I disagree with that. Like de Beauvoir, I dream of a day when
society “affirms their brotherhood”, and debilitating gender roles are wiped
away. Then there would be no need to
celebrate men or women, because all would be equal within society. However, until then, we may as well have a
day that reminds the world of how far it has come for feminist values, and for
how much farther it must go to reach equality.
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