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> add tags About this document (click for more) Abstract: A collection of visual and physical art exploring these themes. Notes: Formatted by the author. Mirrored with permission from www.sonjavank.com/rewriting/

Rewriting the Script:

Some thoughts on gender roles and the Bahá'í Teachings by Sonja van Kerkhoff 2000

2000 'Abdu'l-Bahá said that "Woman's lack of progress and proficiency has been due to her need for equal education and opportunity. Had she been allowed this equality, there is no doubt she would be the counterpart of man in ability and capacity." 1



Although women now comprise more than 50% of the students in tertiary education in some western countries, it is evident that 'equal opportunity' requires something more than this.



Access to education, and creating female identities that encourage girls to develop careers, have been important steps. What is needed now is that male identities, and men, should change. In particular, child rearing needs to become a part of a father's identity.



This photo-essay will elaborate on how I deal with this and other issues related to gender in my own art.



In 1994 I was one of a panel of 4 artists for a discussion in connection with the exhibition "Prima Donna," held in the feminist 'Amazone' gallery in Amsterdam. I argued that fathers taking full responsibilty for parenting is important for the development of society, and that until they do, we can't develop gender equality. 2



During the panel discussion, someone commented that my work in the exhibition wasn't really about the Madonna but about the man holding the baby. That was my point and why the piece was called 'Mutability'. Its depiction of a man holding a baby in the foreground (with a real shadow under his feet) and the Madonna and child on a high pedestal behind him was about taking motherhood from the pedestal and putting it into the hands of men. Making the idea of motherhood -parenthood mutable. Before we have women in all walks of life we need a society where the norm is that women can develop careers. Currently the whole of society operates around women taking time out from them and men not. But women are not under any less obligation to develop their personal - and God-given - potential through a career, since Bahá'u'lláh commands:



It is incumbent upon each one of you to engage in some occupation -such as a craft, a trade or the like. 3



In the light of the other Bahá´í principles (such as equality, work as worship, etc) I interpret having a trade as meaning having a career, for both men and women. This need not mean working for money, although I am not belittling financial independence. The point is that such work is a means for spiritual development, and a right and duty for all. 4



I am currently active as an artist, meaning that I regularly develop and exhibit new work, (for the past 6 months I also work 3 days a week as a website designer, but did freelance work before that), as well as co-parenting two children. The 'co' in co-parenting is crucial.



When I go away for a few weeks for an art project I don't have to think about filling the freezer nor do anything extra about the well-being of the children.

More importantly, while the children were young I slept through the night and so was able continue developing my work or myself. I didn't have to stop my career, a career where there is never a guarantee of regular income. My partner didn't complain that I was being selfish for pursuing my career and not taking sole responsibility for the babies. I didn't complain that he was being selfish for pursuing his career and not taking sole responsibility, either. Most people have children and most women either take time out from a career to raise them or struggle to do both. Is this how it has to be? Are parenting roles a given?



"To the mothers must be given the divine Teachings and effective counsel, and they must be encouraged and made eager to train their children, for the mother is the first educator of the child. It is she who must, at the very beginning, suckle the newborn at the breast of God's Faith and God's Law, that divine love may enter into him even with his mother's milk." `Abdu'l-Bahá 5



"Unto every father hath been enjoined the instruction of his son and daughter in the art of reading and writing and in all that hath been laid down in the Holy Tablet." Bahá'u'lláh 6



Some Bahá´ís interpret these quotations as meaning that the woman must do the 20 or 24-hour daily care and that the father's role is to help with the homework!



But both quotations seem to be saying much the same thing. My view here is that both should be read as examples of the principle of 'mutatis mutandis':

" the laws of the Kitab-i-Aqdas are stated succinctly. An example of this conciseness can be seen in the fact that many are expressed only as they apply to a man, but it is apparent from the Guardian's writings that, where Bahá'u'lláh has given a law as between a man and a woman, it applies mutatis mutandis between a woman and a man unless the context makes this impossible. This understanding of the implications of the Law has far-reaching effects in light of the fundamental Bahá´í principle of the equality of the sexes, and should be borne in mind when the sacred Text is studied. " 7 The passage from 'Abdu'l-Bahá insists that women (also) should be educated and motivated, and justifies their inclusion by saying that they are the first educators of the child. It goes without saying that if in the modern world they are also to be doctors, presidents and artists there is even more reason for educating girls and developing the careers of women.



I am sure it was not meant to be read as saying that women can only be the first educator or that only women can be the first educators. 'Abdu'l-Bahá uses breastfeeding as a metaphor: someone who develops the spiritual potential of a child is like a breastfeeding mother. There is no reason for reading the metaphor backwards, and concluding that only breastfeeding mothers are first educators. The identity of a father can also embrace the metaphor of a 'breastfeeding mother'. Biology does not determine roles: I do not have to have the main responsibly for a baby because I have breasts, just as the fact that a man is muscular does not mean that physical work is his main calling. Most societies seem to have believed that there are essential differences between men and women - which happen to correspond to the male-female division of labour in that society. In different times and places women have been the frail sex, or responsible for the heaviest work, paragons of virtue and causes of sin.



Essentialism is rather silly, but this way of thinking is a serious problem and permeates many aspects of our lives. If we believe that there are essential differences between men and women, we will not look for our own alternatives to the way society has constructed roles for mothers and fathers.



If the roles are not regarded as given, practical solutions can be found. A couple needs to look for an approach to parenting suited to them, that allows both to develop their potentials. For example, my partner fed the baby at night with expressed milk, while I continued full-time study at art school. Because I could sleep and feel human I was able to breastfeed for 13 months.

Some couples have told me this would be impossible for them: a father who is working full-time can't feed the baby at night. What I read between the lines is that they don't realise how much energy is involved in producing milk and that they consider the man's work more important.

There are diverse ways of co-parenting. The main issue is shared involvement and responsibility, the number of hours spent is secondary. Likewise, the opportunity to continue in a career is important for development and identity, the number of hours available for it is secondary. Yet "involvement" and "development" cannot happen without a regular committment of time.



Imagine what sort of society we would have, if men and women from all walks of life (working-class as well as those who can afford to work part-time) were to share child-rearing.



I am inspired by Bahá'ulláh's announcement that "Today the handmaidens of God are regarded as gentlemen (rijal)." 8



This makes it impossible to claim that gender-role stereotypes continue to be valid today. It may be more of a challenge for the 'gentlemen' to regard themselves as 'handmaidens.'



'Abdu'l-Bahá has said:"Know thou, O handmaid, that in the sight of Bahá, women are accounted the same as men, and God hath created all humankind in His own image, and after His own likeness. That is, men and women alike are the revealers of His names and attributes, and from the spiritual viewpoint there is no difference between them. Whosoever draweth nearer to God, that one is the most favoured, whether man or woman." 9 This keeps me going when around me - and as much in the Bahá´í community as outside it - I see women struggling and sometimes succeeding to raise children and be involved in the workforce. The writings speak of the high value of parenthood but it will not have real value until the majority of men are actively involved in it. I know that there are many obstacles, but the goal must be taken seriously. Women will never be equals in a world where they have to be the responsible parent and work at their careers.

The idea of motherhood is a construct, built by generations of conditioning.



I meet few women with children engaged in the art world. Most female artists opt not to have children and I don't blame them. I honestly do not know what would have happened if my partner had not - naturally - taken on the night duty while I was breastfeeding, or the washing while I was working on a new print. Equally important, I had and have space ('a room of my own') to develop. Currently the socially ascribed identity of a mother, whether this is consciously expressed or not, centers on being a mother. The socially ascribed identity of a father is that he has a job or career.



The development of an identity can't be imposed. Just as forcing women to work outside of the home will not create for them an identity that includes developing a career, if men are or feel forced to do certain chores with children it will not work.



These concepts and identity constructs must be developed, and since identities are socially constructed, we must start by talking about them and finding ways to make them visible.



We start by not assuming that we know what equality means, which then gives us the freedom to explore diverse ways. For me, it is a matter of the Bahá´í community showing that it is serious about exploring the issues of gender equality.



It is a dangerous thing to believe that we as a Bahá´í community already have gender equality yet I often encounter that attitude. When I encounter this, I don't feel I belong. My world view is so different.

On the other hand diversity means encountering the other. I feel I can do more about working towards gender equality by working on my career as an artist and 'telling stories' through this medium. I also write articles on the arts. I curate exhibitions and coordinate arts projects, aiming and sometimes succeeding to develop a spirit of cooperaton and collaboration in these.



As co-editor of a Bahá´í-run magazine

(see: http://bahai-library.com/bafa)

on the Arts, I try my very best to have a 50/50 representation of female artists, dancers, writers, etc. I never manage to achieve that. But I have not given up trying.

I make sure we use gender neutral language where possible.



All these little things, I believe, help us to work towards a culture where it will matter less whether we are female or male, and one in which expressions of the divine have many shades of gender.



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