India is the one country in the world I promised myself (and my parents) that I'd never visit alone as a female traveller. Well suffice to say I broke that rule spectacularly. But the question I continually ask myself is why? Why shouldn't I explore these amazing countries in the company of myself, strangers and locals? This summer I spent just under 3 weeks travelling with my English friend in Malaysia, and we had many heated discussions about why we sometimes feel confined as female travellers, and what we can do about it.
N.b. A couple of years ago I wrote a blog post about my rejection of 'feminism' based on an, in my view, archaic BBC4 documentary harping on about women's rights and inequality. Personally, I perceive the categorising of feminism as outdated and even harmful to contemporary societal development. By repeatedly using the term 'feminism' are we not just emphasising past events, living in history and failing to recognise how we can actively change concerns of inequality? I will never disagree that Emily Davidson jumping under a horse in 1913 or Rosa Parks not standing up on a bus were not pioneers in their advertisement of female empowerment, however these examples are nearly a century old; why are we not focusing more on Malala Yousafzai and other incredible females to admire now? There is the eternal dilemma, particularly when travelling, of how much you are provoking males into sexist remarks and gestures, and how much it is their fault. Even at schools in the U.K. we hear about teenage girls being told off for their skirts being too short or bra straps showing, and the argument returns, that it is not the fault of the individual, but rather the sexualisation of these gestures by others that is the problem. I am very mindful when I am travelling of trying to fit into the cultures I am visiting as best I can. I wouldn't, for example, go downstairs to talk to my Sri Lankan amma, or worse, leave the house, without ensuring my knees and shoulders are covered. This is not me being confined or subjected, this is me being respectful of a different and more traditional culture to my own. So there is a fine line between subjectifiying and respecting. As my friend explained during our 3 hour roadside wait for an elusive public bus: "I think you should write a blog post about girls travelling. I'm sick of men making sexual gestures towards us girls travelling, and passing it off as cultural differences. Stop being such a sexist pig looking at my knees and thinking they're dead arousing...I wonder what age they start doing that to girls from their own country." Female equality, traditions and cultures , I'm aware are a very controversial topic, so I would love to hear about your own experiences at home and abroad, and whether these have been negative or positive? It is exactly because of this controversy that we need to continue this conversation - and I truly believe that even our small voices can help to make a difference to awareness and empowerment in this world.
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About meI enjoy writing and have had experience from my degree and through working on news posts. I hope to use this blog as a summary of extraordinary things I've discovered or witnessed in everyday life. Archives
March 2020
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