DÎREN ENGİZEK

Qamishlo- Since the revolution in North and East Syria, women have led their society by rebuilding life. The revolution in Rojava is also known as a women’s revolution because women led the revolution. Now, they keep struggling to break stereotypes.

One of the stereotypes faced by women is cycling. About two and half years ago, a group of women launched an initiative called, “I want a bike” in North and East Syria’s Qamishlo city to break this stereotype. In an interview with NuJINHA, Medya Xanım, one of these women, told us their aims.

 ‘We wanted to take such step against patriarchal mindset’

MEdya Xanım called on all women to say, ‘I want a bike’ to break the stereotype saying women cannot cycling. “The patriarchal mindset still sees women as ‘bodies’. Since the revolution, many things have changed; however, this mindset is still common in our society. We wanted to take such a step against this mindset,” she said.

‘Girls could not ride a bike after the age of 12’

Medya Xanım could ride a bike when she was a child. Although she liked riding a bike, she could not ride a bike after the age of 12. “Because our society did not accept girls to ride a bike after the age of 12. My family did not accept it because of social pressure. When girls were 10 or 12 years old, they were told, ‘You have grown up, do not ride a bike’. I wanted to change this. We launched this initiative to change this, to break stereotypes faced by women and girls.”

 Medya Xanım goes to work every day by bicycle. “I wanted to break the stereotypes by doing what I love. This initiative paves the way for many women.” The group consisted of several women when they first launched the initiative. In time, many women joined the group to cycle in the city. The group now has 40 members. The group participated in a cycling marathon held in the city of Amude, the Cizre region.

“At least 25 women of different ages participated in the marathon. Our group consisted of 15 women at the beginning but now we are 40 women. This number shows us that we keep on the right track. When we share our photographs on social media, some people insult us but some support us.”

‘Women fought ISIS, why should they not ride bikes?’

Medya Xanım thinks women can break stereotypes and take important steps in their lives. She said, “Women fought ISIS, why should they not ride bikes? Women have a strong will to break all stereotypes.”

‘Cycling is helpful to our health and environment’

Speaking about the benefits of cycling, Medya Xanım said, “I have ridden a bike for two and half years. I am a journalist and do not have time to do sports. I go to work every day by bicycle and it is a sport for me. I feel stronger and healthier when cycling. Cycling improves both physical and mental health. Cars pollute the environment but when you ride a bike, you protect your environment.”

‘We aim to organize marathon in every city’

Medya Xanım told us that they aimed to organize a marathon in every city of North and East Syria. “Two months later, we will organize a marathon with the participation of 40 women. We also teach women how to ride a bike. If they want, they can also participate in the marathon. We want to open a center so that we can reach more women.”

‘We try to change this mindset by cycling’

Rehef Zulfo is one of the members of the group. She has loved cycling since she was a child. “We teach women and girls how to ride a bike three days a week. Families allow their sons to ride a bike but not their daughters. We cycle to change this mindset, our society. In order to change our society, we must first change our families. We ride bikes in the city now but we want to ride our bikes in the villages, too.”