Women’s Oppression: Jim Crow Yesterday, Aleppo Today, Who Tomorrow?
Women have faced oppression throughout history, beginning near 1887 with Jim Crow laws, which commenced the Civil Rights Movement, and lead to Aleppo women committing suicide today.
Oppression is defined as being subject to unjust treatment and control. To recognize a person as oppressed, one has to see that individual as belonging to a group of certain aspects. Both genders have faced different types of oppression, but women have faced tougher times than men. Women have been known to be the lesser of both genders; therefore, women are facing inequality within their own cultures due to men having the superior power. Men cannot be considered being oppressed because they are only oppressed for a couple of hours and are not pressed against anything. On the other hand, women do nit have much choice and any time they wish to impose free will, they can and will receive punishment for their actions. The Jim Crow Era was a difficult time for African American women, in which initiated the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) before the commencement of the Civil Rights Movement, and today Aleppo women are suffering in Syria and are either being belittled by their men or committing suicide.
In 1887, the southern American states brought forth Jim Crow laws to segregate the colored from whites. These laws were created because African Americans were relegated as status of second class. Whites were superior to blacks in all important way, including, but not limited to, intelligence, morality and civil behavior. Colored people could not interact with whites; therefore, all social interactions were segregated as well; water fountains, schools, restaurants, and other public facilities. If blacks were to break any of these rules, they would be punished. But women were the ones who suffered oppression more than men at most times. Black woken had high hopes of raising their children and staying at home, while their men worked, just like the white women did. But there were times where men could not work due to not being skilled enough, putting a burden on women to be the strong one of the family. These women were pushed into being the supporter in the family when problems arose, thus, they decided to become educated in order to create a association in which these women became leaders to abolish the Jim Crow laws. They organized clubs that supported anti-lynching legislation, suffrage for women and higher education for both sexes. The organization that roared the most was the National Association of Colored Women, NACW, which promoted women’s rights and racial encouragement. These colored women raised money for education, shelter, black schools and healthcare needs. No longer were these women going to take the oppression and decided to make a change in their society. Many would be punished for their actions; jailed, beaten, lynched and even murdered. But African American women made a stand in stopping segregation, obtain their human and civil rights and are equal to whites in a society that believed that even God supported inequality among these two races. This was the segregation of yesterday; separating public facilities between black and white, due to black people seen and treated as second-class citizens, with no interaction whatsoever because interacting with blacks meant that both races were equal. In turn, this oppression had come to its limit when black women decided to take segregation into their hands and organize a group to stop segregation and make these races equal. Throughout 1887 and now, there have been other organizations that wanted to abolish segregation, but today, there are a number of women in Aleppo who cannot make any move to equality without risking, and even ending, their life.
In the past couple of years, Syria has been going through a civil war that seems nowhere near an end. There are Syria extremists that are restricting women’s rights to free will and are being controlled not only by men, but also by their president, Bashar Assad. He has sent troops to capture Eastern Aleppo, making women see their futures perish and most of them, if not all, feared being raped. Aleppo women have been oppressed for a number of years and are too terrified to take any actions in obtaining their freedom because they could be raped or murdered by Assad’s men. Abdullah Othman, leader of one of the many rebel groups in Aleppo, spoke about these captures stating that civilians get trapped beneath rubble, people are being “cooked alive” by barrel bombs, residents are being put in interment camps and women are beginning to take their destinies into their own hands. Twenty women have committed suicide in order to avoid being raped. Rape has become to be seen as a powerful weapon of war, believing that they would conquer territory with the conquering of women’s bodies. In Syria, 1000 years men became prisoners of war in the past couple of years. Troops could not savor raping women, but it would symbolize a hatred for neglected women. Aleppo women have also been oppressed in the sense of clothing and how women should dress. Harsh rules violated women’s and girls rights and limited the ability of conducting and carrying out essential day activities. Jabhat al-Nursa and ISIS have enforced Islamic laws on women, requiring girls and women to wear headscarves and full length robes, and punish those who do not comply with these rules or freely moving in public, working or attending school. Women could not leave their houses without a male guardian, which pressed them to fear being free. If a women were to break these strict dress code rules or prohibition of male guardian, it would result in being threatened, or punished, by blocking women’s rights to transpiration, education, buying bread or working outside home areas. Jabhat al-Nursa has maintained control over Aleppo women by stating that they could not go outside into public after five o’clock. The Syrian constitution guaranteed gender inequality while the Syrian penal code had discriminating provisions for women. There were no cases in which these rules and limitations were applied to men and boys. Aleppo women cannot fight their oppression because it could result in their death, committing suicide to avoid being taped by Syrian men troops, or punished in another way. It affects the ability to obtain education, provide for families and crucial necessities crucial for women. We do not know how much longer Aleppo will be a part of this civil war or how long women will keep feeling oppressed, trapped in their own bodies, not knowing how to fight for their freedom just yet.
Women have been facing oppression for centuries now, in which it included being discriminated by race, class and gender. These women decided to form organizations that helped other women in feeling that they had a voice to share with men and demand their human rights and be equal with them. Changes have been made that provided some rights as history has passed, but I feel as if women have not yet received the equal rights we women have asked for, and I believe that we still need more time to make more change in becoming equal to men. African American women faced Jim Crow laws in the past, Aleppo women are facing suicide due to avoiding being raped today, but who is the next social group to face oppression due to inequality and discrimination against women in this country?
