Nationalism and Women’s Liberation in the Middle East

Middle Eastern women experience nationalist conflict differently than their male counterparts due to their being women. Furthermore, women’s issues are often pushed aside during conflict due to ideas that nationalist liberation must be achieved first in order for women’s liberation to be achieved. However, nationalist struggles and movements should occur in tandem with, and to further enhance, feminist issues, due to women’s different experiences during nationalist conflicts. I argue for the emphasis on Middle Eastern women’s liberation during nationalist conflict and against the notion that women’s rights must be pushed aside in order for nationalist liberation to occur first. In doing this, I will first discuss how women experience violence during war and conflict differently to men in order to illustrate how the two oppressions - women’s and nationalist’s - are linked. Then, I will discuss how women have been active in promoting their own liberation as a result of nationalist and political change, as well as how effective these independent movements have been in progressing women’s liberation in the Middle East. Lastly, I will explore how nationalist and women’s liberation movements can and should work cooperatively, rather than separately, to further enhance the goals of each movement due to the ways in which politics and gender shape and interact with one another (Moruzzi, 3).

It is important to first understand how women experience systemic violence and discrimination during times and places of conflict that is specific to them as women. While both men and women will experience inherent dangers due to nationalist conflict, just by virtue of residing in a place of conflict, women are subject to particular and increased violations of their rights. The reproductive capabilities of women are often emphasized during nationalist conflicts; as death tolls increase, the importance of birth rates increase. This is particularly the case in situations of genocide and ethnic cleansing, such as the case of Palestinian women, where reproduction can act, or is seen to act, as a tool of resistance to oppressive powers (Charrad, 422). As a result, women are typically pushed to attend to their ‘natural duties’ of motherhood and reproduction in order to repopulate the area and thus is one of the first ways in which they experience control over their bodies during nationalist conflict (Giles & Hyndman, 33). 

There are also more explicit and calculated forms of violence that people suffer during war and conflict. While both men and women experience abused, torture, and death in these events, there are once again gendered differences in these experiences. This is typically due to physical differences between sexes, as well as cultural understandings and ideas regarding men versus women’s bodies. Physical sex differences all too often result in increased rates of rape and sexual forms of torture, degradation, and mutilation inflicted upon women. This is further emphasized due to cultural ideas regarding ‘conquered territory’ during war (Giles & Hyndman, 36) where, once again, women and the female body become a site of discourse and conflict during nationalist issues (Charrad, 422). The rape and sexual torture of women in conflict is also used as a form of cultural indignation of men, coming from the idea/goal of wounding men’s masculinity by means of proving how they are unable to protect their women from occupying/opposing forces (Giles & Hyndman, 36). Evidently, women in situations of nationalist conflict experience so in different ways than their male counterparts. Be it through loss of control over their own bodies for the sake of the nation or through explicit sexual violence and torture at the hands of the opposing and/or occupying forces, women are subject to particular harm, thereby illustrating how women’s oppression is inextricably linked with nationalist oppression. 

Despite their increased risks and victimization during nationalist conflict, women’s movements in the Middle East have still been active for many years, often occurring alongside broader political and nationalist movements for independence and change. In places such as Turkey and Iran, women’s political movements emerged following the loss of autocratic government regimes. These movements resulted in increased women’s participation in political demonstrations, more women writing in/for the press, and saw that women’s issues were more widely and openly debated, with women often contributing to these debates (Graham-Brown, 23-24). In Egypt, the Egyptian Feminist Union was formed upon the realization that male politicians were not willing to advocate for women’s rights and demands. This feminist group was able to advocate for women’s rights and succeeded in improving women’s access to education, women’s health awareness, and legal changes regarding age restrictions within marriage. Bint al-Nil (Daughters of the Nile) was another Egyptian group which advocated for the enfranchisement of women and succeeded in earning Egyptian women the right to vote and to stand for election. Similarly to the women’s movements in Iran and Turkey, feminist movements in Egypt also resulted in women’s issues being brought into the public eye and public debate, and further challenged ideas of Middle Eastern women as passive victims (Graham-Brown, 25). The General Union of Palestinian Women organized in the 1970s in refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon to help displaced women find work and different social support, especially to those who did not have a male breadwinner in the family (Graham-Brown, 29). Further Palestinian uprising movements mobilized many women in various different places to resist against violence from occupational forces. These women were not spared by these forces and were often subject to imprisonment and harassment (Graham-Brown, 30), which as discussed previously, places women at additional risk and vulnerabilities than that of their male counterparts.

These are only a few examples of women’s activist groups across the Middle East illustrating how women have been active during nationalist conflicts both for their own liberation as well as that of the nation’s. However, many of these movements and organizations operated independently of the nation state and the government and subsequently faced certain barriers to their own demands for liberation. In the cases of Iran and Turkey, these women’s movements were co-opted by nationalist governments that emerged after World War I. These governments used these movements and the women within them as symbols of modernity, while simultaneously not permitting any autonomous actions on the part of these women and thus marginalizing their initiatives and movement. While some changes were made, such as improving women’s access to education, women were also subject to legal limitations on their bodies such as bans on wearing the veil/headscarf, thus reducing their organizations to token issues for the benefit of the nation, rather than for women more broadly (Graham-Brown, 25). 

Another major limitation in these cases of co-opted movements in Iran and Turkey, as well as the feminist movements in Egypt, was the small group of women who were affected by and had access to these changes. Much of these movements’ activism only really impacted women of higher class, who had access to major cities, legal reform, and educational and employment opportunities. However, the majority of women in these places were of lower class, were poorer, and did not have access to the places and opportunities where change was being made, and thus it did not affect nor help the majority of women, only the limited, higher class populations. In the case of the Daughters of the Nile in Egypt, despite their successes in improving women’s rights, legal status, and opportunities within legal matters, women overall who were no in parliament did not entirely benefit from their work. Typically, higher class women were those that made it into government and tended to view themselves as belonging to their government party, rather than to women and women’s liberation as a whole. Consequently, women in parliament have tended to pursue and advocate for issues specific to their own political party, rather than to all women outside of the government (Graham-Brown, 26-27), thus illustrating how women’s liberation is often pushed aside for the benefit of national liberation first. 

More broadly, Middle Eastern women across various countries have been viewed as important solely for national revolution, rather than their own liberation. In cases where women have become activists in nationalist movements, their elevated, cultural symbolic status does not remain after the conflict has ended and they are often forced to conform back to traditional gender roles that were present prior to their activism (Al-Ali & Latif, 454). Even in newer women’s committees, such as those in occupied Palestine, despite their achievements in women’s activism, their movements are often still influenced and tend to be dictated by the priorities of political leadership, rather than by the goals and best interests for the women involved (Graham-Brown, 29). Furthermore, the political violence women experienced in their nationalist activism and involvement did not always result in more independence for them after the conflict had ended. Rather, it resulted in more restrictions being placed on them and men taking on a more protective attitude over the women. Although the inclusion of women in political movements and activism can and have brought about important changes in regards to views surrounding women’s political involvement, as well as their own rights and activism, it can and has also occurred at the expense of women’s own liberation and independence following these nationalist movements (Graham-Brown, 30).

Women’s movements which operate independently of nationalist movements face limitations in that they are often co-opted by nationalist regimes to use women as symbols to advocate and push for their own ideals, while disregarding the needs, experiences, and demands of the women within those movements. Furthermore, the sole inclusion of women in government or in nationalist activism does not inherently address or solve the issue of women’s oppression, as parliamentary inclusion and activism does not address the majority of women within a specific context. Rather, it once again uses the few women involved to advocate for their own issues and concerns, ignoring the concerns specific to the majority of women, particularly those outside of the opportunity for government involvement. Women who are active within nationalist activism are also ignored once a conflict has ended and activism is no longer needed, as these women are often forced back into conformist gender roles that were present prior to their activist experiences. Evidently, feminist activism and nationalist activism cannot effectively work independently of one another, as this too often results in women’s liberation being pushed to the back burner for the benefit of nationalist liberation. Instead, just as the two issues and movements impact and are impacted by one another, they should work concurrently to address both nationalist and feminist oppression in order to both succeed, rather than for women’s issues to be put aside.

Many of these feminist activist groups were reformist, meaning their aim was in reforming the nation to state to add women into an already existing system, not to overthrow it and change the system to be inclusive and beneficial to women. As a result, these groups, which tended to be composed of and/or address only upper class women, did not address the issues of the majority of (lower class) women, as well as worked to make alliance with Western feminist organizations in order to gain international, ‘legitimate’ support (Fay, 2). While their aims may have been well intentioned, they faced criticism from Middle Eastern women for being too influenced by Western ideas of the East and for continuing to frame Middle Eastern women through a lens of orientalism, thus furthering Western dominance over the Middle East. Another aspect which limited these independent women’s groups was the influence of nationalist narratives that tended to reinforce ideas of traditional womanhood as being tied with the culture and the land (Jacoby, 513-514). These ideas can and have been co-opted by women’s activists in order to protect themselves in the face of danger through the use of patriarchal bargain; women can use their status as woman, mother, and symbolic ties to the land to remind those (particularly men) who inflict violence upon them of their personhood and role in the culture as a means of protecting themselves from imminent violence, by reinforcing these traditional gender roles (Moruzzi, 8). While this may be beneficial in protecting oneself from violence, especially that experienced within nationalist conflict, it still has limitations as it does not allow for the autonomy and independence for the woman after the fact (Moruzzi, 8).

Some scholars and activists then push for a pursuit of “radical democracy, justice, and egalitarianism” (Al-Ali & Latif, 463) in order to successfully achieve nationalist and feminist liberation, rather than solely a reform of the current system.  It is inefficient to view the women’s liberation movements as independent from nationalist issues as they are very often occurring in response to the patriarchal norms and oppressions that are inherently present, and which are often reinforced, within nationalist movements (Al-Ali & Latif, 455). To focus solely on patriarchal oppression within a space/context where nationalist conflict is present, ignores other aspects which influence women’s experiences of oppression, most notably class and ethnicity, within the nation state. This is particularly true in cases where select women have been allowed into parliament, yet whose work does not advocate for the majority of women who are from those lower classes, as has been previously discussed. Nationalist conflict, which is often tied to colonialism, is tied to patriarchal influence and factors, meaning it is often caused by and continues to reinforce patriarchal norms within the context in which conflict is occurring (Jacoby, 515). Therefore, feminist nationalist liberation must work in tandem in order to address each of their issues, as both are affected and reinforce the other’s oppression. Nationalist movements can and should nurture feminist movements by pursuing dual goals which advocate for both the respect and independence of the nation, as well as for equality and prosperity for those within the nation (Al-Ali & Latif, 454). In Northern Syria, the establishment of specifically women’s councils and the sharing of leadership positions between men and women have been crucial in their attempts at achieving a radically democratic and egalitarian society (Al-Ali, 465). In Iraq, the Iraqi Communist Party has recognized the struggle for women’s rights as being a part of a wider anti-colonial struggle, and has acted accordingly in incorporating women’s empowerment and activism into their own political party and goals (Fay, 4). By recognizing the inherent link between nationalist and feminist oppression, there opens up the opportunities and necessity in linking the two movements together in order to effectively advocate for liberation for each. 

Politics and gender shape and interact with one another, and therefore should not be addressed separately. However, this is often the case in regards to nationalist versus women’s issues, where nationalist liberation is typically regarded as necessary in order for women’s liberation to occur after the fact. This method results in women’s liberation being pushed aside in order for nationalist liberation to occur first. This is problematic, as women experience nationalist conflicts differently than their male counterparts, particularly in regards to control over their bodies for revolutionary purposes and gender specific, often sexual, violence and torture. Many women’s activist groups and movements have been formed in the Middle East, often in response to nationalist issues. However, these movements have often operated independently to nationalist activism and thus can be co-opted by nationalists to pursue their own goals, using women as a token of their own modernity while simultaneously disregarding their specific experiences and demands. Therefore, feminist activism and nationalist activism in the Middle East can and should work concurrently in order to effectively impact patriarchal systems of oppression that are present in both movements and successfully work towards both feminist and nationalist liberation.