The late 20th century can be termed as the times of change. These were the times when conversations which were unheard of started sparking. Two such whispers which ultimately opened up many conversations are ‘feminism’ and ‘heritage’. One talks about empowerment of a section of society who have been living under the dominant other while the latter celebrates the representations of past. Both strikingly different in representation yet similar in principle.
To understand further, let us break down the idea of feminism and look through it the principle of heritage, both tangible and intangible.
What is Feminism?
To put it simply feminism is defined as, ‘the belief that all genders having equal rights and opportunities in terms of social, political and economic equality.’ The idea of feminism roots out from the need and desire to liberate women from the clusters of patriarchal society in all forms. However, the colors of a feministic ideology can be smeared into different societal aspects. Many social differences such as race, religious beliefs, caste, gender, nationality, culture and identity can be fought for equality and representation under the telescopic view of feminism.
Over years, many sections of the society were not equally represented in societal spheres like traditions, culture, art, architecture and literature. These led us to collectively forget them and their stories. Heritage is a celebration of past and often it becomes a representation of glorifying a section of the society while completely forgetting the other. This may seem invisible in the grander scheme of national representation, but the comfort of presenting such history in itself creates a biased and an unfair representation of the society.
Built Space – A mirror of the society
Built heritage is an identical representation of the society. These representations have been for long defined by the privileged and today the existing built space and heritage share their stories. This can be seen in various heritage sites and cultural heritage elements.
In general, heritage either tangible or intangible, are often a representation of the stronger sections of the society defined by gender superiority, a defined racial group, religious background, linguistically dense group or misrepresentation of the weaker sections (especially LGBTQI and Ethnic groups) which creates a biased space which is not accessible to all the sections of the society.
Let us break down this concept into smaller fragments and look at various examples where misogyny is clearly laced in between the lines. It will be discriminatory in itself if we do not look at the colonial history and its impact on cultural, tangible and intangible heritage of the colonies before jumping into analyzing individual heritage entities.
“Colonialism” – Elimination of native narrative
The question of discrimination would be incomplete without discussing about colonialism and settler community. Though the colonial history may not seem to be the genocide of the settler nationalities, they invade and transform the socio-cultural and heritage of the said society. In many instances the colonial rule leaves in its wake many striking reminders in the name of buildings, monuments and many sublime changes like socio-cultural and traditional evolutions sometimes defining or altering the existing culture. When this heritage is seen under a microscope it may seem to accentuate a version of the past, its pride for the rest of the world when in fact it advocates anger, shame and dismay to the natives. The insurgent contestation of heritage in public spaces and heritage institutions frequently comes from dissenting and often marginalized voices that demand to be heard and met on equal terms, especially when it comes to questions like ‘Whose heritage?’ and ‘What is heritage for?’.
For instance, there are many buildings in India which were built during the British times that were used as local prisons or for their use, which are now protected and conserved just in the name of heritage. In these cases, there is no representation of the history of their land to the natives or there is no consultation with the locals debating about their understanding and their consent on how the site needs to be represented. There are many instances where the reminders of colonialism sparked hate around the globe including Edward Colston a slave trader in Bristol, Leopold II in Antwerp, Ghent and Brussels, Christopher Columbus in Boston and other parts of US. In India Kolkata which is the “princely state of the Raj” has witnessed the rage too. Lord Curzon was replaced by Sri Aurobindo, with his back turned to massive statue of Queen Victoria facing the west gate of Victoria Memorial. Mahatma Gandhi ousted Lord Ochterlony, a Massachusetts-born general of the East India Company.
These were not only dedicated to monuments but also to buildings, landscape and traditions.
Another ugly face of colonialism or the power hunger of the world countries are the ‘refugees’, who had to abandon their lives and their country and are pushed to make a living in a foreign land due to issues of conflict, destitute or often times are displaced to be working in far off shores by the colonies. Over time they make families and their offspring’s bond with the country they were born. However, there will be no representation of the refugee heritage and are often termed as intrusive or unwanted. This tries to erase a group of people who becomes part of the story. It takes a long battle or great number of years to be recognized and their heritage to be protected.
It is important to ask these questions,
It is important to protect colonial heritage, but is it not equally important to represent the histories of the natives equally narrated. Vandalizing the monuments or buildings is wrong, however answering the anguish of the society is equally important. Colonial heritage needs to be transparent, open to interpretation, discussion and acceptance. Its important to note that an attempt to erase our colonial history by vandalizing heritage only makes it to be seen evidently.
“The Comfort Girl” – A thorn for the Japan
War seldom leaves gruesome scars that are never healed and the burnt have to be faced for many generations to come. One such tragedy is the sexual enslavement of girls and women by the Japanese military who were forced to be prostitutes for the military. Beginning in 1932, this heinous practice continued until the end of World War II in 1945. Historians have estimated between 50,000 – 200,000 girls and women primarily from Korea and China, as well as the Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia were imprisoned. The girls, as young as 13, were forced to have sex with 50-70 soldiers per day. Beyond rape, the women were verbally and emotionally abused, starved and tortured. Only 30 percent of them survived the war. Japanese officials do not contest that these crimes took place but do contest the accuracy of the numbers.
In 1991, formal sexual survivors raised their voices demanding that Japan clearly acknowledge its responsibility, provide an official apology ratified by the legislature and approved by the executive branch, provide financial reparations from government sources, and disclose open all government records related to the situation. In 1993, Japan admitted that it administered the use of “comfort stations” for its military and expressed remorse. In 2015, the Japanese Government under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe again expressed “sincere apologies and remorse” to the victims and offered approximately $1billion yen in legal reparations. However, this agreement was reached without input from the survivors or their surrogates. Those within the movement claim that the apology did not go far enough and the atrocities committed are being erased from Japanese history textbooks.
In 2011, the first statues of peace were erected in Seoul opposite to the Japan’s embassies in Seoul and Busan, South Korea. This created a diplomatic feud with the Japanese government where the former demanded the statues to be removed. Initially, they had intended to create a memorial stone for the 1000th Wednesday Demonstration -- weekly protests that have been held by surviving "comfort women" outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul since 1992. However, the federation opposed the idea vehemently, which led to the erection of the statue instead. There are now dozens of the statues in Korea, and six in other countries, including the US, Canada and Australia, according to the artists.
A totally new perspective of the history is being unveiled ... !!
- Rameshrg