Opinion

Women and the continuous struggle to reclaim what is theirs

By Hady Hewidy ’17

February 20, 2015

The term feminism is somewhat new to me; I grew up in a small town in northern Egypt where the concept did not really exist. Even when I moved to Cairo, at the age of 10, the term only represented a negative phenomenon that I detest: a group of organizations composed of social elites who have long lost their touch with the reality of women in their country. However, when I moved to the United States to study at Hamilton, I slowly realized that I am a feminist—a feminist who had never perceived himself as one.

My beliefs concerning women’s rights are strongly shaped by my own experience. I was raised among three women: a mother and two sisters. Almost every accomplishment I have achieved in my life is a consequence of their effort in some way or the other. From my first step to my potential Bachelor of Arts degree, their contribution never ceases to be significant. The mere idea of viewing them as lesser than myself is despicable. My narrative is not even unique. I bet the majority of us—both men and women—owe our successes to  women. Yet, despite their unmatched silent contribution to human societies, we still live in an age in which women live as second-class citizens, to varying degrees here and elsewhere.

One of the major challenges that the advancement of women’s causes faces is how those causes are perceived. Achieving an egalitarian society is a matter of urgency rather than convenience. We must realize that we have long imprisoned some of humanity’s biggest potentials. By creating sexist societies, we have long suppressed millions of potential leaders, thinkers, scientists, workers and active citizens. A society that continues to disadvantage half of its population on the sole basis of their sex is equivalent in damage to burning the knowledge of the Library of Alexandria every single day. We must continue the struggle for women’s rights not because it is nice goal, but because it is necessary.

I must also acknowledge the existence of radical feminism. However, I think that these radical feminists are not the ones who demand too much, but are the ones who ignore the larger pictures and allow themselves to be consumed in sophist or unnecessary debates. Radical feminists are the ones who adhere to unconstructive criticism and allow the noise to distract them from their real cause and objective. They are the ones who fight the wrong fights.

Along with their supporters, women will continue the struggle to reclaim what is theirs. Perhaps the progress is slow and tedious, but it is also inevitable. We must focus on empowering rather than adhering to unconstructive criticism. Let us fight for a world in which girls have unconditional access to schooling, where female genital mutilation is as nonexistent as Roman Circuses, where women receive equal pay for their equal work and where we unlock the immense potential of every woman on earth.

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