This is email I received as a participants for gender transformative education workshop from Brooklyn, USA. Jennifer suggested to watch the two videos with copying her friends. I watched the videos and I have feeling that we have done same thing for new results. Therefore, I dared to write them and indirectly encourage them to change the thought on gender transformative education. It's nice to share here but important to document for future regards to attempt to influence academia particularly in global north. If they would ready for change, change take places in many places.
To:
| Jennifer O'Donoghue |
| cc: | Atenea Rosado-Viurques , Amna Qayyum Anneris Coria-Navia |
Dear Jennifer,
Thank you for the message and videos. I watched.
I have a quick observation in this regard though I am a practitioner. I may not be in a position to write to you. My apology as an advance.
We called Gender Transformative Education and focused on Power Dynamics. I have a strong feeling that we are still circumventing the same things though we are expecting different results.
Globally, we keep saying patriarchy and power. But we are not digging what it means today ? What did we miss in our past ? By doing a lot of research, activism and all, so many things yet to change or we are in the same days as before.
I worked around women in politics, women in peace, men and masculinity, stop rape, sexual abuse specifically and GBV for many years. I have a strong feeling that we are not knocking the root of power construction and patriarchy.
Globally, we missed to discuss menstruation except medicine or hygiene or pads or business. Do you agree that menstruation ( I prefer to call menstrual discrimination), constructs the power and patriarchy systemically (throughout the life cycle) and symptomatically (menstruation and menopause).
At primary level school or at home, we won't have conversations on menstrual purity, its essence, how we could establish gender transformative education.
Our global Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Policy or ILO C 190 talks about these systemic and symptomatic impacts. Not at all.
If we started our conversation with menstruators and non menstruators instead of male, female or LGBTQI, our journey of inclusion would be faster and easier in many ways. In my country the underlying cause of sex selective abortion and in your working country (assume USA), the gender pay gap is because of women considered powerless, impure, or weak or disadvantage therefore the conversation on dignified menstruation or menstrual discrimination is the most urgent and important for gender transformative education.
While asking to share the stories of students (as per second video), did we ask to share the experiences related to menstruation to all gender identity students like: when did you hear or know or learn something about menstruation at first in your life ? Where did you know these things at first ? Where did you know these things and how was your first reaction ? This is how you get the answer of power construction and that facilitates the construction of the patriarchy.
Long story short, if all our gender equality or gender transformative courses started from menstrual dignity, we could make change otherwise doing the same thing so far.
Once again, sorry for daring to write this email and looking forward to seeing you at the workshop.
