I'm a bit Behind...

So... I guess I did not keep the promise I made in my last post-  three weeks and I still have yet to update.  Sorry!  Life has been hectic as of late.  We just completed our first course, Globalization and the Ethics of Development, and had a busy week of paper writing and presentations.  Then last week, we spent time at Visthar's other campus in Koppal exploring issues of women, children, and labor regulations as we begin our next course, Identity, Resistance, and Liberation.  I'm working on an post overviewing the past few weeks, so you will be soon be updated on life in India!  Until then, here is a reflection I wrote for my last course as a preview to some of the things I have been thinking about.
Peace,
Zoë
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Fighting for Feelings

I am a strong believer in the interconnected nature of all humans, that we all share common needs, experiences, and sentiments.  Though we may hold a wide range of ideals or follow differing cultural practices, there are certain unifying elements and emotions that bind us together.  This unified nature applies to the right for all human beings to be able to freely live their lives with dignity.

John F. Kennedy once said, "In giving rights to others which belong to them, we give rights to ourselves and our Country.”  Though this particular quote was meant to be applied in the context of the United States, I feel that the general point it brings can be considered on a global scale as well.  There is something about empowering and enabling others that speaks to our connection as humans, and transcends all borders and barriers.  When we fight oppression for one person, we are in turn fighting for all human beings, and the shared rights that our existence demands. 

However, the challenge we face in advocating for certain global human rights lies with the risk of perpetuating ethnocentrism.  How do we keep from viewing all situations we encounter through the lens that we were raised to see the world?  Coming to India from the United States, I have often felt a twinge of guilt— what right do I have to assume that all humans desire the same liberties?  Separating what should be labeled as a fundamental right, and what is a part of my Western upbringing has proven to— and will no doubt continue to – be a struggle.  The experiences of this trip, however, are helping me come closer in my understanding of “universal human rights”, and all of the implications this term carries.

It is easy to generalize and make assumptions about groups of people we are not apart of.  Far too often, individuals decide what a group needs without even stopping to consider whether or not it is truly desired.  As was so poignantly conveyed by Julia, a woman we met during our orientation in Minneapolis and who has lived the majority of her life homeless, it is important to listen.  We do not need to be a voice for the powerless, but instead listen to their voices.  This is a vital point to consider when examining injustices.  I have often felt that I need to “do something”, but felt at a loss as to what course of action to employ.  What I am realizing, through time spent in India, is that action— though important – is not something that is always appropriate for me to take.  Sometimes, it is more constructive for me to work to recognize injustices, and then simply listen.  It is not necessarily my place to make suggestions regarding liberation, or for me to impose my experiences.  Rather, I need to be supportive of the needs and emotions people express, work to make others aware of this, and help promote a level of consciousness in society.  If we take time to listen rather than constantly make suggestions, the emphasis of a movement moves from the ideology that one person is right and the other is wrong, to simply focusing on human emotion.  It is not always promoting the specific rights that we think should be recognized, so much as considering universal feelings that should be emphasized.

I am not necessarily arguing for the imposition of a universal set of rights, but more for the acknowledgement of a universal set of emotions.  With variances found in different cultures and communities, it is unrealistic and insensitive to expect all of the world to operate in the same manner. Rather, we should focus on reaching a universal set of feelings— a universal sense of dignity.  No one should ever have to exist in a manner that forces them to feel inferior, or to live in fear.  During my home stay experience a couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend time with several young Muslim women.  Seeing them live their daily lives as influenced by their faith was beautiful.  For several, choosing to wear hijab was their choice, and an act that illustrated their faith and love in God.  I respect their decisions.  However, there was one moment when one of these women experienced fear.  Growing up with the ideals of her faith and culture, she admitted that she did not often speak to men outside of her family.  When faced with a hostile and confrontational man, she was filled with fear not only at his behavior, but in the level of inferiority she felt in her position.  In this moment, her dignity as a woman— a human being – was challenged, and she was living with negative emotions.  Here, her feelings were compromised.  When the feelings and emotions we as humans share being are harmed, it is our responsibility to acknowledge the unjustness of the situation.  No one should ever have to live in fear.  These are the feelings we must address. 

The measure of whether an act is oppressive or merely a societal practice should not be examined through one culture’s ways or set of ideologies, but whether or not an individual feels valued and comfortable in their community.  It is not constructive to deem one set of values or manner of living as correct.  Instead, we should consider how a person feels.  If I feel that something is oppressive or demeaning simply because my culture labels it so, then I do not really have the right challenge it.  If a person living in a way that I would find unappealing is happy and has freely chosen to exist in this manner, then I need to respect their choice.  However, if an individual feels fear, discomfort, inferiority, or is being forced to follow a practice unwillingly, than it is important to listen.  When the emotions we share and the dignity we deserve is compromised, we are not sharing the rights that our connection as humans requires us to give. 

All in all, we must consider emotion.  We must consider the universality in the sentiments experienced by the human race.  In fighting for the dignity of others, the objective is not to promote one way of living, but a universal way of feeling.  We all deserve to feel safe, happy, and at peace.  Perhaps, instead of working for the rights of others, we should be working for their feelings.  Fighting for the emotions of humanity, and the freedom to openly feel.