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Diversity can be amusing
Wera Reusch
The presence of feminists
at the 2nd World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil in February
2002
He had no chance whatsoever.
Thousands of people were sitting on the ground in the open-air "Por do Sol"
amphitheatre, near the Porto Alegre lagoon, tired from a long march through
the city, waiting for the opening session of the 2nd Social Forum, when the
Governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Olívio Dutra appeared on the scene.
Very serene, trying to attract the public's attention. But neither his enormous
moustache nor his gaucho costume, the typical dress of the region, nor his
welcoming speech managed to fascinate the public. Everyone was concerned
by an enormous object to one side of the scene, on the grass. A 15 metre
high balloon, which little by little was being noisily inflated. "Will it
go up?" was what everyone wondered.
"Your mouth, fundamental
against fundamentalisms" was written on the balloon, together with enormous
blue, red and yellow mouths. And, for the 50,000 participants at the Social
Forum, coming from 123 countries, this was the first contact with a very
showy and well thought-out campaign, specially launched by the MERCOSUR Feminist
Articulation for the 2nd Social Forum. For the next five days, the participants
found those coloured mouths on several occasions and under various forms,
masks, T-shirts, in a kind of lottery ticket and outdoors. The feminist campaign
against fundamentalisms became one of the most visible messages and images
of the Forum.
The campaign was prepared
by a group of women's organisations from Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia,
Paraguay, Argentina and Chile and was not based on an issue thought of as
being typically feminist, but on an issue that has traditionally been considered
'political.' It was not only directed to women but to the whole forum, using
aesthetically beautiful and amusing means to transmit a very serious message:
that all fundamentalisms, be they religious, economic, scientific or cultural,
deny humanity its diversity and legitimise violent mechanisms of subordination
by one group over another and, primarily, deny women's rights.
The way in which women are
affected became evident through the impressive testimonials of women from
various parts of the world who were invited by the campaign. There were two
women from Afghanistan, members of the RAWA (Revolutionary Association of
Women of Afghanistan) who highlighted the fact that the situation of women
has not changed in the least since the Taliban regime was overthrown. Suzanne
Pharr, the United States researcher was there, who examined how lately right-wing
fundamentalism has increased in her country. Lily Traubman, a militant in
the Women in Black (Israel) and Suhad Bishara, a Palestinian lawyer criticised
fundamentalism in their region. Vivian Imogbo, testified on clitoricectomy
in Nigeria, Anna Leah Sarabia, general secretary of ILGA (International Lesbian
and Gay Association) talked about homophobia in the Philippines. Creusa Maria
Oliveira, president of the Federation of Domestic Workers denounced racism
in Brazil and Rose Marie Muraro talked about her story as a women
politician.
The feminist campaign not
only called for diversity, but also what it represents. It sounds paradoxical,
but in spite of the fact that the Social Forum is the most plural place one
could imagine, in terms of nationalities, classes, races, ethnic groups,
ages, subjects, not even this event knew how to use that diversity properly.
Walking around the forum,
it was easy to see that the thousands of trade union workers, ecologists,
leftists, and progressive supporters, Negro movement militants, homosexuals,
peasants, indigenous peoples and all the very many groups, were in fact attending
one hundred different fora, without much contact between themselves. What
united people was no more than the general issue of "another world is possible"
- not even "a better world is possible." While in one room the people from
popular education were holding hands, accompanied by a harp, in the next
room left-wing youth tried to imitate Fidel or Che to reach another world.
It would be interesting
to find out if that plurality, which doubtless to say has a very special
charm, were to work on and promote its diversity. What would it imply if
landless peasants were to discuss homophobia, trade-union workers to discuss
abortion, ecologists racism? In the process that hopefully will be developed
in future fora, women will have a key role to play, not only because there
are many women in all these movements, but also because feminist movements
are probably the only ones to have tried to link the Forum's issues, be they
democratisation or human rights, ecology or economy, racism or homophobia
and, more than anything, have worked on the complex subject of diversity.
It is a movement that tries to analyse the transversal nature of issues -
and which has, although far from perfect - a certain degree of experience
in linking diversity and also in sustaining it. And without doubt, it is
a movement that has understood that diversity can also be amusing.
Wera Reusch is a journalist, who lives in Cologne, Germany.
http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br
http://www.mujeresdelsur.org.uyy