Gender Bender (September, 1995)
If someone hasn’t already said it, let me: We live in a confused age. Last month we were informed – and we in turn informed others – that Tibetan women are definitely barred from attending the UN women’s conference in Peking, both the official governmental one and parallel NGO forum. Now, only days before the conference is to start, we were told that a whole lot of them from all over the world are going to descend on the Chinese capital for the big event.
The only thing certain about the 80 or so determined Tibetan women holding passports of various nationalities is that they haven’t yet got their visas. As I write this, the start of the NGO forum is only a week away, on 28 August. And I am willing to bet anything that the Chinese will never allow them in – unless, of course, they disguise themselves as something other than Tibetan. For, you see, the Chinese do not object to Tibetan women specifically but to Tibetans. If they let Tibetans – few or many, women or men – into an international gathering hosted by themselves, wouldn’t it be tantamount to their accepting Tibet as being an independent state?
But this article is not about the Peking conference. I’m just using it as an excuse to say something which so far I have not been able to muster enough courage to spell out. I could never understand why the small but organization-ridden and bureaucracy-infested Tibetan society needs a separate organization for women. Now, before Tibetan women of various shapes and sizes decide to descend on me – instead of on Peking – with an assortment of kitchen tools, let me explain myself further. I have full respect for women, some of whom – believe it or not – are my friends. When I say I see no need for a Tibetan women’s organization, I am not implying that they are inferior in intellect or other respects to what is believed to be their worse halves. The interests of Tibetan women are represented as much as of any other sections of the society by the Tibetan government and other organizations. It is not as if cases of atrocities against women in Tibet were unknown before their sisters in exile decided to band together. In fact, it was non-women-specific groups, notably Tibet supporters in the west which brought to international light cases of Tibetan women undergoing rape, torture, forced sterilization and coercive abortions in the hands of the Chinese.
Tibetan women were hardly inactive before the organization came into existence. They were always visible in the forefront of demonstrations and other political activities. They held and still hold elected positions in other organizations. It is true that there was a women’s organization in Lhasa that held demonstrations against the Chinese in 1959. However, those were different circumstances. At that time most of the resistance took the form of physical violence and when events reached a climax there was a definite need to show that it was not just the Tibetan men who wanted to get rid of the Chinese. Today, in exile, as I pointed out, there is no such need. It has always been apparent to all that Tibetan men as well as women opposed the Chinese rule of their country. The Tibetn cause is the cause of all Tibetans, not exclusively of Tibetan men or of Tibetan women.
There were women’s organization in almost all countries of the world. But their purpose is to fight perceived discrimination against women by their own menfolk, not alien invaders. I’m sure any foreigner unfamiliar with our story will automatically assume when hearing about something called Tibetan Women’s Association that Tibetan women must be down trodden lot in their own society, most probably kept chained, indoors, barred from political and all other activities except cooking and producing children. This being far from the case, an organization like TWA actually gives a wrong image of the Tibetan society. There, I’ve said it now, knowing fully well that this action has brought my already dwindling chances of ever getting married to a conclusive nil.
If someone hasn’t already said it, let me: We live in a confused age. Last month we were informed – and we in turn informed others – that Tibetan women are definitely barred from attending the UN women’s conference in Peking, both the official governmental one and parallel NGO forum. Now, only days before the conference is to start, we were told that a whole lot of them from all over the world are going to descend on the Chinese capital for the big event.
The only thing certain about the 80 or so determined Tibetan women holding passports of various nationalities is that they haven’t yet got their visas. As I write this, the start of the NGO forum is only a week away, on 28 August. And I am willing to bet anything that the Chinese will never allow them in – unless, of course, they disguise themselves as something other than Tibetan. For, you see, the Chinese do not object to Tibetan women specifically but to Tibetans. If they let Tibetans – few or many, women or men – into an international gathering hosted by themselves, wouldn’t it be tantamount to their accepting Tibet as being an independent state?
But this article is not about the Peking conference. I’m just using it as an excuse to say something which so far I have not been able to muster enough courage to spell out. I could never understand why the small but organization-ridden and bureaucracy-infested Tibetan society needs a separate organization for women. Now, before Tibetan women of various shapes and sizes decide to descend on me – instead of on Peking – with an assortment of kitchen tools, let me explain myself further. I have full respect for women, some of whom – believe it or not – are my friends. When I say I see no need for a Tibetan women’s organization, I am not implying that they are inferior in intellect or other respects to what is believed to be their worse halves. The interests of Tibetan women are represented as much as of any other sections of the society by the Tibetan government and other organizations. It is not as if cases of atrocities against women in Tibet were unknown before their sisters in exile decided to band together. In fact, it was non-women-specific groups, notably Tibet supporters in the west which brought to international light cases of Tibetan women undergoing rape, torture, forced sterilization and coercive abortions in the hands of the Chinese.
Tibetan women were hardly inactive before the organization came into existence. They were always visible in the forefront of demonstrations and other political activities. They held and still hold elected positions in other organizations. It is true that there was a women’s organization in Lhasa that held demonstrations against the Chinese in 1959. However, those were different circumstances. At that time most of the resistance took the form of physical violence and when events reached a climax there was a definite need to show that it was not just the Tibetan men who wanted to get rid of the Chinese. Today, in exile, as I pointed out, there is no such need. It has always been apparent to all that Tibetan men as well as women opposed the Chinese rule of their country. The Tibetn cause is the cause of all Tibetans, not exclusively of Tibetan men or of Tibetan women.
There were women’s organization in almost all countries of the world. But their purpose is to fight perceived discrimination against women by their own menfolk, not alien invaders. I’m sure any foreigner unfamiliar with our story will automatically assume when hearing about something called Tibetan Women’s Association that Tibetan women must be down trodden lot in their own society, most probably kept chained, indoors, barred from political and all other activities except cooking and producing children. This being far from the case, an organization like TWA actually gives a wrong image of the Tibetan society. There, I’ve said it now, knowing fully well that this action has brought my already dwindling chances of ever getting married to a conclusive nil.
Labels: editorla, gender bender, linggesar, tibetan review, tsering wangyal
posted by editorla at
2:25 AM
