Another journal entry that I wrote for class that I figured I'd post too... this one is kind of different...
A few days ago, my friend asked me what the biggest difference of my day-to-day life was in Tunisia. To my surprise I did not reply with an answer regarding toilet paper, food, or any every day routine. Instead I said, “just being a female”. Wow. I stepped back from my answer a little bit…do I really mean that? Is that really an aspect of this foreign culture that I want to expose? Well, it is the truth…even if I was not aware of the extent of its role in my everyday life before, this is the answer and the truth to his question. Yikes.
Over the course of my adventure in Tunisia, I have thought more about being a female than I ever have in my entire life. I have reflected on the strength of the women I am around. I have noticed women have many responsibilities and that they accept them graciously. I have viewed these women not as “victims” or “suppressed”, as many Westerners illustrate in such a patriarchal society, but as strong, admirable and incredible. My perspective is that of an outsider’s. My host mom, her mother, and all the other women I am surrounded by, see their everyday activities and responsibilities as normal. I look at these everyday habits and see their strength behind their lifestyle.
For example, just the fact that my grandmother, after having so many children and grandchildren, can stand up at my cousin’s 21st birthday party and shake her body in ways I have never seen a body shake before, fills me with admiration. I hope that I still posses that free spirit at her age. A few weeks ago Douja Gharbi gave a presentation on businesswomen in Tunisia. Her presentation represented not only her own success, but the success of women in Tunisia overall and the potential for women to achieve even more. Chèma has built an NGO which harnesses this hard-will of women and teaches them the skills to provide for their family and potentially rise beyond their community. Chèma’s insight and the women’s determination are inspiring. I aspire to make a difference like Chèrma’s and posses the strength of will like that of the women to follow through with my goal. The pure number of females enrolled in university is inspiring. I hope that I can harness the opportunities presented to me as graciously and hard-willed as the women of Tunisia.
It is for all of these reasons that I feel a sense of pride being among females in Tunisia. In the United States, I have never felt this connection to women; I have only looked at achievements in relation to individuals. After all, America is a meritocracy, right? All individuals can move forward purely based on their own achievements. However, in Tunisia the achievements among women cannot be ignored and I feel a sense of pride when acknowledging their achievements and witnessing them on an everyday basis. Partially due to this pride, I am constantly reconnecting myself to females, and this reminds me of the fact that I too am a female.
However, when I walk down the street every day I am constantly reminded of the fact that I am female for a completely different reason. Due to these encounters on the street, I must also be reminded of the fact that I am a female every morning when I get dressed. When I walk down the street it is commonplace to receive a look that does not just look me in the eyes to say “hello”. Instead, I receive a survey of my entire body. This look makes me feel like something on display for sale. Because of these looks, I am constantly reminded that I am not simply another individual, but that I am a female. Because I am a female, I am examined.
When I go on runs I wear an oversized shirt and sweatpants. During my runs, I receive calls from males. In the United States I wear short shorts and a tight shirt. During my runs when I pass someone we might nod heads or make eye contact. I do not receive any extra attention in the United States because of the fact that I am a female even though that due to what I wear, my gender is extremely obvious. What I mean to illustrate by this point is that here in Tunisia I am looked at as a female regardless of what I wear. When I wear gender-neutral and partially gender-concealing clothing, the female part of my identity is what is noticed first, and then commented on, and therefore made apparent to me. Yes, I am a female, but I am accustomed to being first regarded as an individual, and then having the fact that I am a female further define that identity. Here in Tunisia, I am a female first.
My connection with females, and the constant reminder that I am a female, have led me to discussions about the differences of gender, and what it means to be a male or female, in Tunisian and American society. In another journal entry I could discuss these theories and realizations. However, in this entry I connect it to a different recognition.
In my last journal entry I created a system of layering within cultural learning. I suppose this entry is amending that system. Although that first layer, becoming comfortable with everyday happenings, may be experienced, there will most likely always be exceptions. Basically, no matter how comfortable one becomes in a foreign culture, some aspects will still be uncomfortable.
A constant topic in anthropology is the creation of the “other”. In his article, “Islamic Anthropology” and the “Anthropology of Islam”, Tapper discusses the “other” and the definition of the “other”. One of the drawbacks of an outsider conducting field work on a culture is that he does not understand. However, an insider “may not have the skills or indeed the inclination to bring to the surface what is taken for granted” (192). The drawback of the insider is the opposite of the outsider, the insider does understand. Now there is a dilemma, who can “justly” study another culture? Who can study Islam without imposing his own beliefs within the work and then explain Islam under its own categories, without the labels of another belief system? How can anthropology be conducted without the imposition of one’s background?
I do not intend to answer this question in this journal entry. But this question reminds me of the fact that I am an outsider here in Tunisia. That I am aware of the fact I am a female in ways I have never experienced before, reminds me of my outsider status. I am a female here and I am a female in the United States. However, when I walk down the street in the United States and when I walk down the streets in Tunisia I receive different reactions. Being a female in the United States means something different than being a female in Tunisia. Furthermore, no matter how comfortable I feel in Tunisia, people’s reactions on the street are still going to remind me of the fact that I am female in a way which is foreign to me. This internal realization is what makes me recognize that I am an outsider in Tunisia. I am outsider and I have a background that has given me certain beliefs. Now, the responsibility that I have with these realizations is that I need to be cautious of imposing my beliefs, my background and positions, on those of Tunisians. Mine is not right, mine is not better, it is just different. And for Tunisians, it is the same.
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