The Pioneer Women: Rewriting the History of Gender in Sudan
Historians of Sudan have documented many cases of Sudanese women, who struggled against colonialism even before the beginning of women's access to primary formal education in the early twentieth century. The objective of this chapter is to go beyond such historical stories to critically rethink our history to understand how Sudanese women's activism has informed this history. Also, it aims to advocate against the gender blindness of history and to investigate the meaning of feminism in the context of the women's movement in Sudan within the framework of nationalism. I argue that these women worked together with nationalist forces to gain both independence and women's rights to education, work, and suffrage. They have managed, through a long and difficult journey, to change the meaning of gender relations over time and to realize major changes in the lives of women. My research outcomes reveal that women in Sudan believe that their struggle and activism not only revolve around achieving equality with men, but that their activism began with their demand for rights in public life, in education, in work, and for suffrage, gradually and positively changing gender relations to their favor. Adel Al (1997) documented the story of Mihera Bint Abood, whose father was the leader of the Al Shaigiyya Tribe in Northern Sudan; Mihera participated with the knights of her tribe in fighting against the Turko Egyptian invasion in 1821. Badri (1986) contends that this early participation was documented in a popular song that encouraged women to take a lead in freeing their country. This asserts these women's political consciousness and sense of belonging. This chapter further historicizes and contextualizes the life experiences of the pioneer of women activists in Sudan with reference to their heterogeneity, understanding of feminism and nationalism in the period of 1947 1969. This era represented the organized start of the women's activism in Sudan with the nationalists' struggle for independence. My goal is to make visible how women who joined the nationalists' movements as active agents "imagine their nation." As Sorenson and Matsuoka argued, men and women do not always share the same vision of a "nation." Women may imagine themselves achieving more participation in decision making and a more equal division of responsibilities at home. Very few men envision new nations in which women play a major role and in which men participate equally in household tasks and child care (2001, 105) Drawing from and building on feminists' theorizations on the role of the state, feminism, and nationalism will help to highlight the experiences of women during this era and support their struggle and achievements.
Female Pioneers from Ancient Egypt and the Middle East