Meet Estayqazat, Syria’s online feminist movement
“Cuckoo.”
“Nanoush.”
These are but a few of the names that, according to a daring animated film based on real interviews, Syrian women give to their vaginas. This is the work of Estayqazat, a self-described online Syrian feminist movement focusing on the body, sex and sexuality of Syrian women. With a name that translates to “She has awoken” in Arabic, the group’s goal is ambitious: to inspire a feminist movement in war-ravaged Syriathrough online videos and testimonies.
Sparked by the traditional patriarchal Syrian society, Syrian men and women formed Estayqazat in 2014. “Patriarchy, apart from keeping women marginalized by default, also keeps women in a permanent state of anxiety and guilt,” Estayqazat says. “Many Syrian women are struggling in their personal life. They are not in control over it. They make decisions on matters in their lives that are of a ‘socially acceptable’ nature.” The group of 30 volunteers, spread throughout the Middle East and Europe, collects anecdotes and experiences through interviews with Syrian women, then transforms them into creative messages to inspire individual women online.
Thus far, the collective has published two short films: “What do you call it” and “When I heard my voice for the first time.” Boasting over 140,000 views so far on Facebook, “What do you call it?” is an attempt to restore ownership and eliminate shame around the taboo topic of female sexuality in Syria. “Women do not have the ownership of their vagina,” Estayqazat wrote to Al-Monitor in an email. “We are starting by putting names on things, so that they, and other things related to them, can be addressed and talked about.”
One thing that Estayqazat will not put names to is its members. Communication for this interview was done solely through emails, although the organization has members based in Beirut. After repeated requests for an in-person meeting with one of the group’s representatives, Estayqazat stressed that focusing on an individual would be a distraction from the group’s ultimate goal. “Estayqazat tells stories from the ‘real’ world, rather from ‘real’ people, as do you as a journalist,” the group answered. “Thus we find it to be an overemphasis as well as sidetracking to put focus on us as persons, just as you prefer to tell the story and not to be the story.”
Collectivist intentions notwithstanding, Estayazat also admits there are security reasons for not revealing their names. “One could look at what we are doing and how we chose to communicate as a sign of the environments Syrians face in Syria and in their host communities. … We cannot pretend that we are living in open societies when we are not.”
Estayqazat’s second video takes societal considerations about women‘s roles head-on. The first part of the “Trilogy of Voice” series shows Syrian women describing the first time they felt empowered by their voice — in many instances, the first time they participated in demonstrations against Syria’s embattled regime.
Reactions to the group’s work range from enthusiastic encouragement to the harshest condemnations. “This is what you call waking up?! Please, keep sleeping,” wrote Facebook user Fadi on Estayqazat’s first film on what Syrian women call their vaginas. “This is really shameful — you should be ashamed of yourselves,” said another user, Dandoon Ana.