Films en boeken hebben altijd
een rol gespeeld in het vormen, motiveren, en inspireren van opeenvolgende
generaties van strijders voor gelijke rechten. In het kader van de Maart van de
Vrouw schreef Riane de Haas-Bledoeg voor PROJEKTA over het boek dat haar inspireerde.
Book worms tend to get their hands and eyes on everything
that is readable and since my childhood I fitted this profile. Targeting every
library that I was allowed to enter - from private collections, school, church
to public libraries - and with eyes only capturing presents of which the wrappings
indicated that the content could be readable, I explored this interesting world
of knowledge and entertainment. It was in perusing my mother’s collection of
books and writings that in the early seventies works about female roles and
realities caught my attention.
One of the books that triggered my interest in works from female
writers and in role models, especially the ones from my home country Suriname,
was a publication about Sophie Redmond who lived in Paramaribo from 1907 – 1955
and who became the first black female medical doctor in Suriname. Sophie’s
father, who was a teacher, got the shock of his life when she expressed the wish
to become a medical doctor. In those colonial times, the highest career for a
woman, especially a dark coloured (Creole) woman, was the position of
teacher. Notwithstanding all advice, she enrolled in 1925 as a student in the
Medical School. Despite all discrimination and resistance she encountered
during her studies, Sophie persevered and completed her medical studies in
1935.
Being a twelve year old then and open to influences that may
shape a girl’s character, I guess that it must have been this resilience in a
woman that intrigued me and nurtured my ‘rebellion’ against social roles that
were traditionally predetermined for women. Even though Sophie Redmond
pioneered for other Surinamese women to pursue a career other than what was
then considered appropriate for women, we know that follow up is a long process.
Also, before the fifties, careers like
teachers, secretaries and nurses might have been open to women in Paramaribo, the
capital city, but in the rural areas/districts this was not necessarily the
same, especially for young women from Indian and Javanese families for whom the
traditional role was usually set as a domestic and/or housewife/mother. There
have been changes since then but anno 2015, we find ourselves still engaged in
sensitizing girls to widen their career options and also pursue careers in
traditionally male dominated positions.
Sophie Redmond lived before my time and I am grateful for
initiatives from writers like Thea Doelwijt and organisations such as the Young
Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), who documented and published in 1972
Sophie Redmond’s work in advancing the position of women in Suriname. The book,
that remained in my memory and which I consider a “must read” for next
generations is titled “Sophie Redmond – Toneel”[1]
It gives a brief background on Sophie Redmond written by S.A.S.
Mitrasingh-Sitalsing and an introduction by Thea Doelwijt to the four theater
plays written by Sophie Redmond.
Als u hier klikt, kunt u verder lezen.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten