SONGSOPTOK: What
is your earliest memory about being a girl?
IULIA: My earliest memory about being a girl is
that I always played the Prince role in our childhood games; I always wanted to
be in charge of things. Never the role of a feeble princess!
SONGSOPTOK:
Do you remember any incident(s) from your childhood
where you witnessed gender discrimination? What are your thoughts about that?
Do you think gender discrimination starts right through our home? A lot of
studies indicate that the gender segregation starts in school. What is your
experience?
IULIA: The only gender discrimination I have
witnessed as a child it was indeed at home where I have assisted to my parents
fights, where my father was always out having fun and my mother after the day
job would come home to more work, raising three children and keeping the
household all by herself; the poet/ man couldn't be disturbed....In my
view, gender discrimination starts at home, school will only certify it,
amplify it only... But, thanks God, I never felt discriminated at school.
Witnessing my parents fights, I grew up to be a person who wants to control
things, pretty much similar to a man :)
SONGSOPTOK: Now
going on to college / university – what according to you were the advantages /
disadvantages of being a woman? Do you think that women were treated fairly by
the educational institutions? We would
like to know your experiences.
IULIA: There was no gender discrimination in our school
institutions, regardless of level, if only because we all lived under the
communist regime, discrimination existed, of course, but on other criteria.
SONGSOPTOK: A
lot has been written about the unsafe environment in the world for women,
especially on public transports. What is your personal experience? How does it
differ from the environment in your country? Are the streets of your city is
safer for women? If so, what is your analysis of the differences?
IULIA: You should laugh, nowadays, the streets are
much safer for young girls and women due to the fact that everybody, both in
buses and on streets, keep their noses on the mobile phones. In other words, no
one sees no one! In my city, the danger has an olfactory angle: there is no
corner, no fence, no wall not to smell of pee... and that is man made only :)
SONGSOPTOK: According
to you, to what extent is the patriarchal society responsible for the status of
women? How does it works, evolves and shapes the individual woman.
IULIA: 100%. Patriarchal society is a nice way to
semantically cover the slave society. Women must serve men, isn't that what all
religions are preaching? The only change in our present days it is that
women have doubled their amount of work. Due to this regime women are pretty
much like bees or ants and I let you guess what role are men playing in this
scenario! :)
SONGAOPTOK: Do you think that social
status (caste, class, affluence) plays a significant role in how women are
treated in the Third World countries? Are there significant differences in the
status of women in your country? If so, then to what extent?
IULIA: Casts, classes, affluence layers after
layers of ground poured over the women tomb! any excuse to cut our wings is
good! In my country, after '89 revolution, or whatever that is called, we have
only to classes: rich and poor, in other words, thieves and victims...
SONGSOPTOK: Would
you say that in your country, there is equal treatment of women in the
workplace? Are women given the same opportunities as men? Has the situation
evolved compared to the earlier generation? If so, then how? What are the
mechanism and the dynamics of the changes!
IULIA: In my country there is equal treatment of women at the
work place. Occasionally, some are more equal than others, but that
happens regardless of gender :)
SONGSOPTOK: Has the position
and status of women evolved at home compared to your mother’s generation? Do
women today have more decision-making power within the family structure? Can
you explain your answer?
IULIA: Unfortunately or maybe not, I can't answer
this question, my wife career ended almost a decade ago
SONGSOPTOK: According to you,
what needs to be done to improve the situation of women all over the world? How
can women contribute – at home, at work, at social & political levels? How
can they establish the right equilibrium between the state power and feminism
because state power is basically patriarchal in nature?
IULIA: The word that synthesizes the answer at
your question is Respect. Men must acknowledge our presence and respect it.
That is a tough job to do for men, in their vision that implies losing a great
deal of power. Women do already too much at all levels. State power produces
discrimination for both genders, in my opinion. Feminism as any form of
extremism is only a cry of help. Somewhere a repetitive lack of respect took
place.
SONGSOPTOK: Violence against women is a global problem
today that manifests itself in different forms in different societies. And the
problem seems to be growing every day in spite of preventive measures. What, in
your opinion, should be the priority? How do you see the role of the civil
society in this context? Do you think women are still marginalised in our civil
society, which is the actual stumbling block to advance further or making any
significant improvement?
IULIA: Violence against women is another sign that
women are considered slaves, something to be used of, to be blamed on for your
failure, to beat and hurt when you are bored, after all they are guilty for
your fall from heaven, isn't it?! The blockage comes from men's denial for
their part of guilt. The blockage comes from men refusal to assume the
responsibility for their deeds. Blockage comes from the lack of respect between
genders and so on...
SONGSOPTOK: What are your personal views on women’s empowerment? What should be
the priorities here (economic / social / cultural/ educational….) especially in
the context of our patriarchal society where women are considered to be the
reproduction machine denied of dignity and liberty?
IULIA: It may sound mad but I should forbid marriage, this institution
is the root of all evil, especially in the third world!
SONGSOPTOK: Do you think the
situation of women can evolve in the years to come? What is your vision for the
future?
IULIA: It will most surely evolve! Step by step,
we will regain our deserved position, I have no doubt!
[IULIA GHERGHEI POET. RUMANIA]
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