Feb 26---are women human

We spoke to Mrs. Jafri about her book!

Are women human?

http://www.timeoutdubai.com/dubai/features/review.php?id=2480#continued

Mother Courage

A collection of nine stories, each with a female protagonist, Durre-Shahwar Jafri’s Are Women Human? draws its unique diversity from life in the UAE. She talks to Mark Smith about migration, motherhood, and how tea is a feminist issue.

That’s a very provocative title…

Yes it is – and deliberately so. Some people have been outraged, but once they read the stories they realise that the book offers a very good answer to that question.

And what’s your conclusion?

Well, some readers have suggested that the answer is ‘no’: that women are not human. They are super human.

Several of the characters in your stories are migrants…

As am I. I moved to the UAE from Pakistan 30 years ago. The UAE is a wonderful resource for an author because, when you write, you need to be absolutely sure about the cultures you are representing, the nuances, the way people talk to each other and interact. And there are so many cultures here in the UAE. For example, my story ‘The Dawn’ is about a girl from the central Afghan city of Bamiyan, an area decimated by the Taliban. I was lucky enough to meet with people from the region here in the UAE; they provided me with a wealth of contacts and resources.

Why women in particular?

Although I have limited my canvas to South Asia on this occasion, it’s true that women have faced discrimination all over the world, and I wanted to explore the ways in which they can break the shackles. Most often it is an adherence to tribal and feudal mentality which holds women back. Education is key to setting them free, but quite often there are factions opposing the education of women. I am vice president of a community school, so I am often privy to women’s stories: their joys, their heartaches. I find it very inspiring.

Which of the women in your stories do you admire most?

I admire them all, because they are all standing up to life in whatever way they can. Of course it depends to an extent on the amount of freedom that a person has. For example, there is this village woman in my book: within her limited sphere, she may not be able to achieve what a woman from the city can, but she does whatever she is able to do. And that really amounts to dreaming of an education for her children. She puts her daughter in a village school that has recently opened, and she is happy to be able to give her daughter a life she herself has not been able to live.

Surely feminism is about personal success, about being in charge of one’s own destiny?

This is a common misconception. I believe that, if you really want to have coexistence on this earth, no one person can be completely the master or mistress of their own destiny. There have to be compromises, there has to be give and take. Without that compromise, no home, no family, no society can exist. ‘Me’ and ‘mine’ – these are things which break society. They do not make it.

You are a mother. Do you treat your son and your daughter differently?

Not at all. There’s one incident in particular which sticks in my mind. Once I was paid a visit by a friend of mine– a very educated friend, I should add – and so I asked my son Hussein to make some tea. The friend said, ‘Why are you asking him to make tea – he is a man. We’ll do it ourselves’. I told her that Hussein makes very good tea and, since he was not studying at the time, there was no reason for him not to. It amazes me that we make these rules which have no grounding in reality and then we allow them to modulate everything around us.

Benazir Bhutto was regarded by many as a feminist. How significant is her death in terms of women’s issues in Pakistan?

Benazir Bhutto did not restrict herself solely to women’s issues. Lately, how-ever, since she had been away from the country for about a decade, she did not have any direct involvement in the women’s issues of my country.

Your stories all end on a note of optimism. Are you optimistic about the future of Pakistan at this time?

The note of optimism is not limited only to Pakistani women. However, yes, I am optimistic about the future of my country. I believe that like many other nations, Pakistan faces some grave problems at the moment, but I am sure with the struggle and sacrifice of the people of my country we shall sail through this period of turmoil.

By Mark Smith, Sunday February 17 2008