LARA GEWHERİ

Mahabad – NuJINHA spoke to Iranian poet and writer Rojin Habibi (we do not use her real name for her safety) about the difficulties and challenges faced by women in the fields of art. 60-year-old Rojin Habibi is a married woman living in the city of Mahabad. Her poems are well known in Eastern Kurdistan and she has published several books in Kurdish. She has been working as a teacher for 30 years.

Indicating that she has spent her life by writing poems, articles, teaching and telling stories for children, Rojin Habibi told us the challenges she has faced. “Since my childhood, I have been struggling for my rights. My father did not allow me and my sisters to go to school but my mother sent us to school secretly. My father did not realize that we went to school until I was in fifth grade. One day, my father saw me reading a book. He went out and did not prevent us from going to school.”

‘My teacher told me that women do not have a talent for writing poetry’

Rojin Habibi wrote many poems and one day decided to show her poems to her teacher. “When my teacher saw the poems, he told everyone in the classroom that women do not have a talent for writing poetry. He said women should get married and stay at home. It was the first time I showed my poems to someone and the reaction of my teacher was so harsh that I could write poems for a while. Now, one of my children is interested in writing poetry. I support her to improve herself.”

‘Women face many challenges in art’

Despite gender discrimination and social and cultural pressures, the women of East Kurdistan keep struggling against the patriarchal society to pave the way for next generations. They struggle for freedom and to enter the fields reserved for men. “The patriarchal mentality constantly underestimates women and says women are weaker than men. In Iran and Rojhilat Kurdistan, women are not allowed to sit in public spaces. When a female poet writes a poem about men, she is told that she has no right to talk about her feelings. For this reason, women who are interested in literature often write in a secret way. Women have no right to join literary societies and receive education. Women have to pay more to publishers so that they publish their books.”

In the beginning, Rojin Habibi confronted her parents, her brothers, her husband, and then the entire community. “I was the first woman to act in a film named ‘In My City’ in order to break the gender stereotyping norms imposed on women and girls in our society. I never allowed challenges and difficulties to stop me. I taught many women how to read and write. I formed a women's group and we have provided opportunities for women writers to publish their work, and I have provided financial support to them so that women can have a space in literature. The weapon of poets and writers is their pen. We fight with our pen and we write our pains and desires for everyone to read.”

‘The Jina Mahsa Amini uprising has a great influence on art’

Commenting about the protests that started in Iran and Rojhilat following the killing of Jina Mahsa Amini, Rojin Habibi said, “The Jina Mahsa Amini uprising has a great influence on all fields, especially on the field of art. Women writers and poets have played an important role in changing their society. The uprising has changed many gender stereotypes in art and literature. This uprising is a blow to the patriarchal society in Iran.”