Audience interaction…breaking the silence

An abstract illustration of a person tangled up. Artwork by Haisam Al Saiegh — Artwork by Haisam Al Saiegh

“It is not the page’s business to confirm or deny the events. Is it true or am I wrong??!!!!!! If you have changed your business and became a feminists let us know because then we, the men, will have no business with the page 🤷”
“What if the husband is also not satisfied because he’s bored with his wife and wants another woman? This sexuality topic is very dangerous. Any sort of messing with it or its human nature will instantly lead to decay and adultery, God forbid.”

“As long as Rozana, the always loose and decayed radio, is against this then of course I don’t see it as a crime.”

“You said it in the title, it is a rape (it means he forced her). Which means it was violent. It is something that happens when both parties are into it, so it is naturally a crime.” Rozana *

– “Go home and wash the dishes, better than these cheap tricks.”

“Go dance on stage, stay away from the street.”

“She can certainly keep on. She’s got beautiful legs and a wonderful body, moving nicely with the rhythm. Hope she shows us more of her body to form a more informed opinion about her. Down with the best of professional belly dancers, this daughter of Qamishli is better.”

“Damn you and the person interviewing you. Once shyness is thrown against the wall, we get nothing in the country but plight. This is the price of freedom.”

These are some of the comments that were written about the young artist, Nazik Al-Ali, dancing in the streets of the city of Qamishli, out of her desire to confront the impacts and scars of the war and Covid-19 on the souls of the people. She was hoping to use dancing to address feelings of loneliness, hunger, poverty and despair that weigh on the chests of Syrian men and women. But she did not expect that people’s reaction to her dancing would be worse than the impact of Covid-19 on her.” Syria Untold *

Bullying from the audience, their strong reactions to topics and questions like:

– Syrian women broke the walls of silence and confronted society with their desires. Rozana*

– Know yourself: Are you a man who supports women? Rozana*

– What do you think should be the fair redress against a man who uses violence against women in his family? Rozana *

– Do you agree to criminalising marital rape by law? Rozana *

– Do you know what homophobia is and why it happens? Rozana*

– Forbidden to women! Syrian law against women. Rozana *

– Are Syrians the most violent against women among foreigners in Germany? Verify-Sy *

– Cyber violence against women in Northern Syria. Verify-Sy *

Medical articles and news stories related to the sexual health of women and men were also attacked by a segment of readers as irrelevant topics. Some said that the presentation of some issues in the media is considered “a violation of public decency.” Enab Baladi was also accused of “corrupting generations” by raising these topics.

This difference is part of our lives

– While dancing in the street, the ballerina noticed that passers-by were amazed at the presence of a young woman dancing in the street barefoot for the first time. People’s opinions differed, so she clarified her point of view to us: “This difference is part of our lives. There are negative people and there are positive and supportive people. We should not be affected by the negative things, but we have to take them as a motive for progress and see ourselves as we like and not as people like, so let us be whatever we want.” Syria Untold *

– In a survey conducted by Aljumhuriya in late 2021, the stories in the gender section – as expected – were chosen by many as “things that I like in Aljumhuriya”. The following are some quotes from the respondents:

“All reports and essays about gender, sexuality and feminism are much to my liking and are very inspiring.”

“I remember the essays about the refugees in Turkey, their stories, also another series of essays about sexuality and gender. These were among the best articles I have read.”

“We hope you do more stories and contributions on LGBTQIA+ issues.”

“It is true that sexuality stories are nice, but they became strange lately, not as deep as they used to be :).”

“I don’t like how the platform talks about love, marriage and sexual relations. I wish you will remove all these things about sex and love and replace it all with friendship and family.”

Breaking the silence

“There is a tendency among conservative sectors in the society to avoid thorny issues. We have seen a general reservation. Yet, the violent attack, such as the “character assassination” type, rarely occurs. Most likely, the attackers wash their hands from the website in advance, so most of the attacks take place in the form of questions or reservations, and we try to engage with that.

Hammoudi’s article, which dealt with his story as a gay detainee in the prisons of the regime and ISIS, shocked some readers and made some ask difficult questions, which seemed to be directed at themselves, and our team interacted generously despite some escalation and violence. Aljumhuriya

A radar on progress

“We receive direct feedback from active institutions and individuals and from within closed groups. We hear that the Gender Radar programme arouses the ire of some followers and producers of the alternative media content. They feel that their content is monitored and reviewed permanently, while feminist organisations and initiatives praise it due to the need to develop an alternative Syrian media discourse towards equality and gender neutrality.” SFJN

LGBTQIA+ Voices

The audiences targeted are:

Firstly, women and groups marginalised based on their gender. The aim is to present their suffering and to encourage them to speak out.

Secondly, Syrian civil society organisations (CSOs), in order to motivate them to give gender and LGBTQIA+ issues the importance they deserve, besides encouraging the CSOs to break their silence on many issues related to this matter.

Thirdly, we are targeting Syrians inside and outside Syria.

The LGBTQIA+ Voices Series was one of the most important ones and received follow-up, interest and controversy. Within this series, the article “A Revolution Between My Gender and My Patriotism” was one of the most viral on social media.

Gender-related content has a tangible impact and we see this on several levels, including translating gender-related materials into other languages and publishing them on other websites; through others getting to know Syria Untold as a platform that advances and cares about gender; through the many people who turn to us to publish their materials and their stories; and a number of institutions and masters students contacting us to ask about these issues while preparing their related theses. Syria Untold

An illustration of a blackhole. Artwork by Haisam Al Saiegh

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XwhY is a reader of gender and sexuality related-content that represents the problems and challenges faced by women and LGBTQIA+ communities in Syria and the region.

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Introduction XwhY

Metamorphosis of the body and sexuality

How the tale starts…

Again in other plastic boxes

A religious undertaking or a patriarchal tendency

Inflicting harm based on difference

Female detainees face a social stigma

A harassment-infested region

Between two camps… and solitude

Tarps fly away with the first gust of wind

Reality and hopes between laws and social traditions

Empowerment vs “slow change”

Syrian women’s path towards political participation…

Women's sports in the face of conservative social norms

Campaigns surveys and shared reports

Audience interaction…breaking the silence.

Sexual diversity star instead of the binary slash

Gender and sexuality reader Visit page

Since they were united in the embrace, they became two no more

A pair they had become

But we cannot say if a woman or a man they were

They appear sexless

But of two sexes each all the same.Visit page

I was 13 years old when I learned how to cook pasta at school. Meanwhile, my boy friends were playing football in the schoolyard. Visit page

How would it feel if we try to put you inside a plastic box with a transparent lid, and let you watch the world from there as much as the world is watching you? Visit page

Al-Hisba / Muhrim / the Branch / abominations / morals / do-gooders / right and wrong / veil and chastity / morality police … “Do we have Islamic feminism? Visit page

Women and the confrontation of violence… between the injustice of society and lacking protection alternatives. Visit page

Mending what has been broken, Female detainees face social stigma after their release from the Syrian prisons. Visit page

when these relations are imposed, in a space that feeds on fears that grow in the heart and mind. Visit page

After this long life, how can you want to preserve the right to life for yourself? You are already destroyed, even God cannot untangle your internal destruction. Visit page

In these forgotten camps, our concern was to secure many of the missing simple and basic things, the most important is how to get water, showers and hygiene. Visit page

Societal traditions prevent the progress from being put into practice, so how can we get out of this deadlock? Visit page

It was funny to read that more than a quarter of women would rather criticize their partner’s sexual performance than talk about money. Visit page

I am specifically calling for intersectional thinking, not to “adaptation”, the intersection between feminist and gender issues with all political issues. Visit page

Professional training, with the aim of supporting local women against extremist and conservative values. Visit page

despite the lack of data, interactive alternatives were in place. Visit page

The impact of breaking the silence and shifting from bullying to dialogue. Visit page

The most challenging aspect we faced while preparing the content was using appropriate language, but it wasn’t the only one. Visit page