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When one woman is stoned we are all at risk.

Thursday, 07. 16. 2009 – by Andrea

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As a western woman, it is easy to feel comfortable with our laws of due process and relative equality of the sexes. It is also far too easy to become complacent to learning and acting on behalf of those women and men that do not share this same comfort.

Throughout the film The Stoning of Soraya M. critical lessons about justice are revealed to the audience. The story takes place in a dusty isolated village where women’s lives are too easily manipulated to satisfy the men’s desires. Ali, Soraya’s husband, decided he needed a divorce in order to marry a 14 year-old girl, despite Soraya providing food, children and other traditional wifely duties without error. A divorce would leave her and her daughters in financial ruin so Soraya resisted.

To get his way, Ali set off a scheme of false accusations and played on the second class status of women. Eventually, his plan culminates in the violent stoning of Soraya.

Through the convincing performances of the lead characters, we see how empowering it is to speak out. In particular Soraya’s aunt, Zahra, shows us this power as she shares the violent acts against her niece with a journalist passing through town. Her struggle for a voice refuses to let us forget just how imperative awareness is to finding a solution to any injustice.

A film like this is significant because it serves as a bold reminder that justice should be blind, but is too often dishonest and twisted. As in the movie, the blatant conspiracy to convict Soraya should have and could have been stopped. As the film unfolds, you see how many people could have stepped in to stop this perverse act. If the men who convicted her had said no, if the co-conspirators hadn’t lied, if the women who watched her death had gathered the strength to stand up then the results would have been different. Each stone thrower and passive witness all contributed to Soraya’s death and ultimately the continued violence and sexism that allow such events. Only when people demand it can justice be realized.

A group of us watching the film experimented with a gesture of solidarity with Soraya by tying our hands while viewing the entire film. Thus, as I watched the film my hands were tied, both figuratively and literally. Although this wouldn’t have prevented me from covering my face during violent scenes, it served as motivation not to look away. Natural instinct makes us all want to turn away. However, the women who suffer such abuse deserve our attention and assistance. Sometimes it is ok not to feel ok. Sometimes it is good to feel uncomfortable and even horrified. This feeling can drive us to action!

It is my hope the film will make people uneasy and realize that when one woman is stoned, we all are at risk. Moving for a more just society on a whole is movement toward the end of such tragic events. I encourage everyone to see the film and do something with the feeling that follows, whatever that action might be.

Related Posts:

The Stoning of Soraya M. challenges people's comfort zones (75.8%)
Caution: Men at work (demolishing violence) (73.5%)
A Young Iranian Watches The Stoning of Soraya M. (67.1%)
The Stoning of Soraya M. and Pride week share message (RANDOM - 37%)

13 responses to “When one woman is stoned we are all at risk.”

Dana says:
July 16th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Great post Andrea! You're absolutely right, what happens to one woman can happen to any of us. No matter how far away, no matter what religious dogma is used. Jimmy Carter(!) actually broke ties with the Southern Baptist Convention because of their treatment of and attitudes towards women. He just wrote an op-ed about it for the UK Observer: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/12/jimmy-carter-womens-rights-equality.

Watching The Stoning of Soraya M, I kept thinking "If only those women would stand together for her, if all of them surrounded her they could protect her." I know there were a few women there who really believed that she deserved it, but I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority knew that what was happening was wrong. But their fears stopped them from taking action, so they watched her die. Standing up even when you're afraid is a constant struggle, and none of us can come through 100% of the time, but we have to keep trying.

AJHance Reply:
July 16th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
@Dana, Thanks Dana. I also envisioned the possibility of the women surrounding her while I watched the film and again when I wrote this post. It is very difficult to stand up when emotional, professional or physical risk is present, but we just have to do it in order to secure justice for all.

Also, I just read President Carter's article and absolutely loved it!

Janice Reply:
July 17th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
@AJHance, I don't know that I have ever heard a high profile man say things like what Carter is saying. I think we should follow up as Irshad has suggested. I am honestly blown away.
Irshad Manji says:
July 16th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Hmmm… Who's willing to write to President Carter and ask him to support the Moral Courage Project and our Soraya campaign? To whomever offers — I'll send you a reliable address for him. Ideally, we'll have a handful of people willing to sign the letter. And since many of us are based in New York, it shouldn't be difficult to coordinate. Awaiting the offer(s)…

AJHance Reply:
July 17th, 2009 at 9:25 am
@Irshad Manji, I would be very willing to be a part of this effort. I love Jimmy Carter and I think it would be a great idea to have more political figures supporting the project. I was planning to write my representative about it anyways.

Irshad Manji Reply:
July 17th, 2009 at 9:53 am
@AJHance, Thanks AJ. Please write your representative about it anyway. With respect to the Jimmy Carter letter, I'm looking for someone to write the letter and then gather signatures of other young people — which, it seems to me, is best done from New York since that's where most of the folks involved in this campaign live. Getting signatures on a physical page is the point. Do you live in New York?

AJHance Reply:
July 17th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
@Irshad Manji, This is Andrea, so yes I'm based in New York.

Janice Reply:
July 17th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
@AJHance, Lets do this you guys!!
Irshad Manji says:
July 18th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Andrea, that's great. How about you write the letter, and Janice will coordinate the signatures? I'll get the reliable address for Prez Carter. Sound good?

AJHance Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 8:43 am
@Irshad Manji, Yes sounds good!
Holly says:
July 20th, 2009 at 9:53 am
The Observer piece by former President Jimmy Carter is astonishing; I am grateful for his courage and forthrightness, and for the Observer's decision to publish it. At the same time, I'm disheartened.

Though I don't know if his op-ed was submitted to a U.S.-based paper first (and was rejected), can't we safely assume that this was the case? Wouldn't he want his bold act of breaking ties with the Southern Baptists to be explained to folks in this country first and foremost? Though his is ultimatley a global message, wouldn't it have made most sense for him to articulate it first to (and generate support among) his fellow Americans?

My point is this: I wonder what it would take for the editorial desk of the New York Times to respond to President Carter's op-ed submission in the same way that the Observer did. If the Times, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Dallas Morning News, or any other major U.S. paper took a look and turned it down, something is terribly wrong.

On a related note, I think we should implore Mr. Carter to see The Stoning of Soraya M? According to the film's Website, it opens in his homestate of Georgia this week, so it's great timing to do so….
nezha says:
July 21st, 2009 at 11:53 am
I would just like to say that i remember one year when i went back home to my birth country Morocco, Africa. My cousins and I were walking in the city of casablanca, which is a city known for it's european tourism and metropolitan vibe, dressed in very modern clothes (jeans and t-shirts). although were were untraditionally dressed were sustained our modesty, when all of a sudden a felt a sudden strike to my ankle. when i looked down i noticed that my foot was bleeding and half a brick was right next it on the ground. When i looked up, i saw 3 little boys dressed in qashabas and kufis with rocks in their hands aiming at me and my cousins. i've never been so scared in my life, my cousins and i ran as fast as we could to a busy street of the city meanwhile my shoe is soaked with blood. mind you, this part of the city was also very modern and "westernized" if you will. i wasn't halfway burried to my waste with the whole town right in front of me with rocks ready to be thrown at me but i was a victim of this crime on a very miniscule degree. i cannot fathom how one can say that they are abid allah (slave of god) and still commit such an inhumane and despicable act.
The Moral Courage Project » Blog Archive » Is President Carter the new feminist-in-chief? says:
July 21st, 2009 at 4:39 pm
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