The passage to success for Sudanese vanguard women was not at all an easy walk. According to the social researcher, Thorya Ibrahim, customs and traditions that considered “shameful” and “scandalous” woman work outside family house, have constituted major constraints.
Khartoum, Altaghyeer: Amal Mohammed Alhassan
The stigma of going to school was attached to both pioneering girls in education and men who helped them in this enterprise, e. g. Babikir Badri who had in 1903 established the first school for girls.
Thorya Ibrahim said Badri’s endeavor proved that men can be true supporters for women rights.
Despite such tremendous obstacles, Sudanese women have kept alive their struggle for earning their rights. A saliant example was Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim who in 1965 became the first woman MP in the entire Arab region.
“Body” taboo
If women who entered the labour market as teachers and nurses have encountered huge problems, the suffering of those who entered artistic fields is well beyond expression in words.
According ti Alsir Alsayed, a critique of Sudanese drama and theater works, women who worked in lentertainment such as acting and choreography have faught fierce battles against these Sudanese norms
Alsayed said society considered any female physical manifestation, a taboo. It seems that such cultural belief is still alive, he added. “The disappearance of many good female vocalists immediately after marriage, even when the spouse were working in the same field, proved this” he added.
The brilliant actress Tahiya Zarroug has used to identify herself at the early stages of her career as teacher, to get away from this social stereo typing, Alsayed said. She was the trailblazer who forced the Sudanese society to accept the idea of women active involvement in artistic performances.
The women who have appeared in radio acting before Zarroug could not claim status of vanguard because they were not able to reveal their real names.
Alsayed attributed women suffering in artistic fields to the domination of masculine culture and the thought that woman natural place is at home.
Over a century of hardship
Although the beginning of women education dates back to 120 years ago, customs and traditions remain a stumbling block before women progress. Social researcher Thorya Ibrahim told Altaghyeer that religion is being exploited by society to scare women away from questioning cultural and social legacies.
She pointed to UN reports that registered whooping figures of women dieing from pregnancy and child birth complications resulting from lack of adequate health care as well as from child marriage.
Women pioneers
Despite social constraints, the records of history pinpoint names of Sudanese women pioneers in as many a field.
The first Sudanese woman doctor was Khalda Zahir who along with Zarwa Sirkisian, graduated from Kitchener Medical School, 1952.
Batool Mohammed Iesa was the first to head the Sudanese Midwives School, 1946.
Hawa Ali Albaseer becamr the first Sudanese Dean of the Nursing College, 1956.
She was awarded the Order of the British Empire as well as an honorary MA from the University of Khartoum.
Wisal Musa was the first woman in the field of cinematography, not only in Sudan, but in the whole Middle East region.
Safia Alamin was the first female director in Sudan and the Arab region when she joined the national TV, 1964.
Singing in public was a much easier field for women to enter. They used to sing in women gatherings.
The first woman to enter this field, according to critic Khalid Alphanob was Om Alhassan Alshaygia who recorded her debut phonograph in 1927.
Women joined diplomacy field relatively recent, in 1980s. One of the pioneers in this field is Asmaa Mohammed Abdallah who was appointed by the former Prime minister Abdallah Hamdok as Foreign Minister.
Air piloting is one of the recent jobs that attracted women. It was widely known that the first air pilot was Haja Osman but some researchers said Olivia Yusuf got in the field much earlier than Haja.
End
