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| Iris Chang |
Iris Chang died suddenly in 2004.
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| Han Suyin |
Dr. Han is recognized worldwide as an authority Chinese history and culture. In 1996, she was named “Friendship Envoy" by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. She currently resides in Switzerland.
Photo credit: David Stephensen
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| Anoosheh Azadbar |
In 2008, she was charged with a number of crimes against the Islamic regime of Iran in connection with the Students’ Day protests. Later the same year, she was voted an honorary Vice President of the National Union of Students.
A selection from “Sultana’s Dream” transcription from marxists.org
by Begum Rokeya (1905)
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| Begum Rokeya |
One evening I was lounging in an easy chair in my bedroom and thinking lazily of the condition of Indian womanhood. I am not sure whether I dozed off or not. But, as far as I remember, I was wide awake. I saw the moonlit sky sparkling with thousands of diamond-like stars, very distinctly.
All on a sudden a lady stood before me; how she came in, I do not know. I took her for my friend, Sister Sara.
"Good morning," said Sister Sara. I smiled inwardly as I knew it was not morning, but starry night. However, I replied to her, saying, "How do you do?"
"I am all right, thank you. Will you please come out and have a look at our garden?"
I looked again at the moon through the open window, and thought there was no harm in going out at that time. The men-servants outside were fast asleep just then, and I could have a pleasant walk with Sister Sara.
I used to have my walks with Sister Sara, when we were at Darjeeling. Many a time did we walk hand in hand and talk light-heartedly in the botanical gardens there. I fancied, Sister Sara had probably come to take me to some such garden and I readily accepted her offer and went out with her.
When walking I found to my surprise that it was a fine morning. The town was fully awake and the streets alive with bustling crowds. I was feeling very shy, thinking I was walking in the street in broad daylight, but there was not a single man visible.
Some of the passers-by made jokes at me. Though I could not understand their language, yet I felt sure they were joking. I asked my friend, "What do they say?"
"The women say that you look very mannish."
"Mannish?" said I, "What do they mean by that?"
"They mean that you are shy and timid like men."
"Shy and timid like men?" It was really a joke. I became very nervous, when I found that my companion was not Sister Sara, but a stranger. Oh, what a fool had I been to mistake this lady for my dear old friend, Sister Sara.
She felt my fingers tremble in her hand, as we were walking hand in hand.
"What is the matter, dear?" she said affectionately. "I feel somewhat awkward," I said in a rather apologizing tone, "as being a purdahnishin woman I am not accustomed to walking abut unveiled."
"You need not be afraid of coming across a man here. This is Ladyland, free from sin and harm. Virtue herself reigns here."
(read the full text)
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| Voltairine DeCleyre |
by Voltairine de Cleyre (1891) transcription from Anarchist Archive
Voltairine de Cleyre (1866-1912) was an American anarchist who was well known as an author and orator. She wrote and spoke extensively on the matter of gender equality.
The rights?-Ah ! the right to toil,
That another, idle, may reap ;
The right to make fruitful the soil,
And a meagre pittance to keep.
The right of a woman to own
Her body spotlessly pure,
And starve in the street--alone!
The right of the wronged--to endure !
The right of the slave--to its yoke,
The right of the hungry--to pray,
The right, of the toiler--to vote
For the master who buys his day !
You have sold the sun and the air,
You have dealt in the price of blood,
You have taken the lion's share
While the lion is fierce for food!
You have laid the load of the strong
On the helpless, the young, the weak!
You have trod out the purple of wrong;--
Beware where its wrath shall wreak!
"Let the voice of the People be heard!
O-- " You strangled it with your rope,
Denied the last dying word
While your Trap and your Gallows spoke!
But a thousand voices rise
Where the words of the martyr fell ;
The seed springs fast to the Skies
Watered deep from that bloody well!
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Miss Chao’s Suicide
by Mao Zedong (1919) transcription from marxists.org
Mao Zedong wrote extensively on the rights of women, but his work on this particular subject is often overshadowed by his philosophical and military writings. This early work by Mao brought much needed attention to the practice of arranged marriage in semi-feudal, semi-colonial China.
A person's suicide is entirely determined by circumstances. Was Miss Chao's original idea to seek death? On the contrary, it was to seek life. If Miss Chao ended up by seeking death instead, it is because circumstances drove her to this. The circumstances in which Miss Chao found herself were the following; (1) Chinese society; (2) the Chao family of Nanyang Street in Changsha; (3) the Wu family of Kantzuyuan Street in Changsha, the family of the husband she did not want. These three factors constituted three iron nets, composing a kind of triangular cage. Once caught in these three nets, it was in vain that she sought life in every way possible. There was no way for her to go on living; the contrary of life is death, and Miss Chao thus felt compelled to die....If, among these three factors, there had been one that was not an iron net, or if one of these nets had opened, Miss Chao would certainly not have died. (1) If Miss Chao's parents had not had recourse to compulsion but had yielded before Miss Chao's free will, Miss Chao would certainly not have died; (2) if Miss Chao's parents had not resorted to compulsion but had permitted Miss Chao to explain her point of view to the family of her future husband, and to explain the reasons for her refusal, and if in the end the family of her future husband had accepted her point of view, and respected her individual freedom, Miss Chao would certainly not have died; (3) even if her parents and the family of her future husband had refused to accept her free will, if in society there had been a powerful group of public opinion to support her, if there were an entirely new world where the fact of running away from one's parents' home and finding refuge elsewhere were considered honourable and not dishonourable, in this case, too, Miss Chao would certainly not have died. If Miss Chao is dead today, it is because she was solidly enclosed by the three iron nets (society, her own family, the family of her future husband); she sought life in vain and finally was led to seek death...
Yesterday's incident was important. It happened because of the shameful system of arranged marriages, because of the darkness of the social system, the negation of the individual will, and the absence of the freedom to choose one's own mate. It is to be hoped that interested persons will comment on all aspects of this affair, and that they will defend the honour of a girl who died a martyr's death for the cause of the freedom to choose her own love...
The family of the parents and the family of the future husband are both bound up with society; they are both parts of society. We must understand that the family of the parents and the family of the future husband have committed a crime, but the source of this crime lies in society. It is true that the two families themselves carried out this crime; but a great part of the culpability was transmitted to them by society. Moreover, if society were good, even if the families had wanted to carry out this crime, they would not have had the opportunity to do so...
Since there are factors in our society that have brought about the death of Miss Chao, this society is an extremely dangerous thing. It was capable of causing the death of Miss Chao; it could also cause the death of Miss Ch'ieh, Miss Sun, or Miss Li. It is capable of killing men as well as women. All of us, the potential victims, must be on our guard before this dangerous thing that could inflict a fatal blow on us. We should protest loudly, warn the other human beings who are not yet dead, and condemn the countless evils of our society...
This article is for Thomai, K., Z. and for my friend Clara Statello. These are the women I admire.
