Gender Inequalities and the Effects of Feminine Artworks on Public Spaces: A Dialogue

Feminist street art aims to transform patriarchal spaces into places of gendered resistance by asserting a feminist presence in the city. Considering this, as well as women’s social life, their struggle against lingering forces of patriarchy, and relating features of inequality (domestic violence), there was a feminist installation artwork by the young Kurdish artist Tara Abdulla that shook the city of Sulaimani in Iraqi Kurdistan on 26 October 2020. She had prepared a 4,800‐meter‐long washing line covered with the clothes of 99,678 Kurdish women who were survivors of sexual and gender‐based violence. They installed it along the busiest street of the city (Salim Street). She used this piece of feminine to express her reaction to the Kurdish society regarding, the abuse that goes on silently, behind closed doors. She also aimed towards normalizing women’s bodies. After the installation, she received many controversial reactions. As her artwork was a pioneering project in line with feminist issues in Kurdistan which preoccupied the city for quite a while, the aim of this article is to investigate the diverse effects of her work on the current dialogue regarding gender inequality in the Kurdish society. To do this, we used the research method of content analysis on big data (Facebook comments) to investigate the public reactions of a larger number of locals. The Feminine effectively exposed some of the deep‐rooted cultural, religious, and social barriers in addressing gender inequalities and silent sexual violence issues in the modern Kurdish patriarchal society.

Double Trouble: Analyzing the Impact of Statelessness on the Status of Kurdish Women

The struggle of Kurdish women at large has been, as many media outlets suggested, an extraordinary and unique example of women’s status in the Middle East. In contrast to the widespread, surface-level narrative of Kurdish women’s empowerment, a complex political, socio-historical background of Kurdish statelessness has intensified women’s empowerment or oppression. This essay will demonstrate how nationalist ideology, autonomous spaces, and violent conflict may provide the conditions for a 'double revolution' and/or 'double oppression' of stateless Kurdish women through the lens of statelessness. These three features of statelessness intersect with unique features of the stateless Kurdish populations across the Middle East to determine a woman’s status. More specifically, the case of Syrian Kurdistan exemplifies a 'double revolution' while Iraqi Kurdistan exemplifies a case of 'double oppression' for Kurdish women.

Kurdish women and TV journalism in Iraqi Kurdistan: Experiences and strategies

Few studies on female TV journalists in the Middle East have been conducted. Neither have Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts been used to analyse women journalists’ experiences of their professional practice and their strategies for navigating a male-dominated media world in the Middle East. For this unique study, ten Kurdish women journalists that work for six different TV stations in Iraqi Kurdistan were interviewed. Informed by different forms of capital, the thematic analysis revealed four themes that capture the respondents’ experiences and strategies: coping with perceptions of pretty dolls and honorary men; coping with the threat of violence and a bad reputation; coping with the gendered distribution of news assignments; and tackling glass ceilings and unwritten rules. A particularly interesting result of the study was that while the strategies range from proclaiming any news hard news to openly defying orders from the managers, and to claiming that one’s ability to advance depends on having a strong personality, the focus is consistently on individualistic survival strategies. When masculinity and male norms still dominate the contents of symbolic capital, it may result in seemingly counterproductive practices such as the lack of a distinct ‘we’ feeling among women journalists. For women journalists, the cost of transforming their cultural and social capital into symbolic capital that is effective in the journalistic field is affected by both the journalistic field and the society at large, which creates contextually bound obstacles to women journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Motives and Barriers of Female Entrepreneurship in the Kurdistan Region

The involvement of Kurdish women in nationalistic revolutions has left many astonished. Kurdistan's history is enriched with many women that have had leadership roles in political, religious, and even military positions. This research examined the life of modern working women in Kurdistan that have turned to entrepreneurship to break from societal ties in addition to expressing their creativity and unique skills while continuing to meet their responsibilities as daughters, wives, and mothers. The purpose of this research was to answer questions regarding the motives of female entrepreneurs as well as the general and gender-based barriers that female entrepreneurs face in the Region. According to Al-silefanee (2019), the entrepreneurial ecosystem consists of two significant elements, the entrepreneur and the environment in which the entrepreneur operates. Regardless of how new the idea of entrepreneurship is to KRI, the region has the chance to build-up the entrepreneurship ecosystem by encouraging entrepreneurship through the development of an environment that facilitates entrepreneurial youth and initiate economic growth. Keywords: Female Entrepreneurship; Online Businesses; Entrepreneurship Motives.

Women in Iranian Kurdistan: Patriarchy and the Quest for Empowerment

Informed by sociological standpoint, intersectional, and gender regime theories, we examine perceptions of a diverse sample of Iranian Kurdish women in the city of Sanandaj about their legal status and social positions. We find perceptions of injustice, oppression, male control, and lack of opportunity associated with both the family and broader society. Kurdish women are socially located in structures and institutions of both private and public patriarchy. At the same time, their growing educational attainment and knowledge of possibilities for change enable them not only to articulate grievances but also to aspire to, and sometimes engage in, collective action for women’s rights. By focusing on an under-studied region, this article contributes to the wider literature on Kurdish women, underscores the continued salience of intersectional and standpoint approaches, and expands gender regime theorizing beyond Western cases.

Feminism, gender and power in Kurdish Studies: An interview with Prof. Shahrzad Mojab

In this interview, Prof. Shahrzad Mojab reflects on her longstanding personal, political, and intellectual engagement with Kurdish women. Twenty years after publishing the ground-breaking edited volume Women of a Non-State Nation: The Kurds (Mazda Publishers, 2001), Mojab assesses the complex relation between Kurdish Studies and feminism and evaluates current discussions regarding gendered power relations in Kurdish scholarship. Gender relations in Kurdish society and in Kurdish Studies can only be understood, she insists, when taking into account how gender intersects with capitalism, class, colonialism, nationalism, and patriarchy. Through her personal trajectory, the interview offers insight into the historical developments that have facilitated Kurdish women to increasingly be included in Kurdish Studies as both researchers and research participants. Abstract in Kurmanji Femînîzm, zayend û hêz di Xebatên Kurdî de: Hevpeyvînek ligel Prof. Shahrzad Mojab Di vê hevpeyvînê de, Prof. Shahrzad Mojab eleqeya xwe demdirêj a şexsî, siyasî û entelektuel ya ligel jinên kurd nîşan dide. Bîst sal piştî weşandina Women of a Non-State Nation: The Kurds [Jinên Neteweya Bêdewlet: Kurd] (Weşanên Mazdayê, 2001), Mojab têkiliya tevlîhev a di navbera Xebatên Kurdî û femînîzmê de; û nîqaşên nûjen yên di derbarê têkiliyên hêzê yên reng-zayendî yên di akademiya kurdî de dinirxîne. Têkiliyên zayendî yên di civaka kurd û Xebatên Kurdî de, ew îdia dike, hew ew çax dikare were fehmkirin ku bê qebûlkirin ka çawa zayend bi kapîtalîzm, sinif, kolonyalîzm, netewperwerî û bavsalariyê re tevlîhev e. Bi rêgeya xwe ya şexsî, ev hevpeyvîn pêşkêşiya fehmeke bûyerên dîrokî dike ku rê vekirin jinên kurd bi hejmareke zêde, hem weke lêkolîner hem jî weke beşdarên lêkolînan bikevin nav Xebatên Kurdî. Abstract in Sorani Fêmînîzm, cender û hêz le twêjînewey kurdîda: Dîmaneyek legell profîsor şehrezad mocab Lem dîmaneyeda, profîsor şehrezad mocab tîşk dexateser têkellîye kesî û siyasî û hizrîye dûrudrêjekanî xoy legell jinanî kurd. Bîst sall dway billawkirdnewey bergî pêşenganey "jinanî netewey-nadewlletî: kurdekan (dezgay bllawkirdnewey mazda, 2001) , mocab peywendî allozî nêwan twêjînewey kurdî û fîmînîzm helldesengênêt û giftugoy êstaş derbarey peywendîyekanî cenderî le twêjînewey kurdîda denrixênêt. Ew pêleser ewe dadegrêt ke tenha katêk detwanîn le peywendî cênderî le komellgay kurdî û le twêjînewey kurdîda têbgeyn ke ewe leberçaw bigrîn ke çon cênder legell sermayedarî, çîn, kolloniyalîzm, nasiyonalîzm, we pyawsalarî yekdebrrêt. Le ruwangey rêrrewî şexsî xoyewe, çawpêkewtneke tîşk dexate ser ew peresendne mêjûyyaney ke karasanî bo jinanî kurd kirduwe ta ziyatir bixrêne naw twêjînewey kurdî hem wek twêjer û hem wek beşdarbûy twêjînewe. Abstract in Zazaki Kurdnasîye de femînîzm, cinsîyet û hêz: Prof. Şahrzad Mojab reyde roportajêk Nê roportajî de Profesore Şahrzad Mojab angajmanê xo yo kesî, sîyasî û roşnvîrîyo derg ke cinîkanê kurdan ser o da, ey ana ra ziwan. Vîşt serrî weşanayîşê eserê xo yê înovatîfî Women of a Non-State Nation: The Kurds (Cinîkê Neteweya Bêdewlete: Kurdî, Weşanê Mazda, 2001) ra pey, Majob têkilîya komplekse mabênê kurdnasîye û femînîzmî de û munaqeşeyê ke no taw zereyê cigêrayîşanê kurdan de derheqê têkilîyanê cinsîyetkerdeyan de yenê kerdene, înan erjnena. A israr kena ke têkilîyê cinsîyetî yê komelê kurdan û kurdnasîye tena fehm benê eke merdim çatrayîrê cinsîyetî bi kapîtalîzm, sinife, kolonyalîzm, neteweperwerîye û patrîarkîye kî tey bihesibno. Pê raywanîya Majob a şexsîye no roportaj roştî dano averşîyayîşanê tarîxîyan ke cinîkanê kurdan rê rayîr kerd ra ke ê hîna zêde hem sey cigêrayoxan hem zî sey hetkaranê cigêrayoxan tewrê kurdnasîye bibê.