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Tuesday, February 22, 2022
No Longer Silent: How a Bosnian Theatre Festival Became a Focal Point for The MeToo Movement
The Theatre Times: Across the western Balkans women are raising their voices against violence following a series of high-profile rape allegations. Natasha Tripney looks at how a Bosnian theatre festival in Brčko became the focal point for women’s resistance and solidarity.
I haven’t heard much about the #metoo movement in a while. I can’t remember when the big surge was, maybe 2018? But the movement was founded in 2006. This article focuses on the current movement's impact in Serbia and the Balkans. This is because the #metoo movement is something that was made for and had always focused on Western stories. This is stated in the article and is important to keep in mind. Unfortunately, this movement has been greeted with a lot of silence. A silence that leaves the women speaking up behind and can even ruin their careers. The author utilizes the word “durable” to describe the careers of men who have sexually assaulted women and I think that is a very telling word. This word can also definitely be expanded to men in the Western part of the world. I hope that the women who have been brave enough to speak up get the support they need and deserve. And I hope they know they aren’t alone.
I found this incredibly interesting because oftentimes the Balkans get completely looked over or ignored, even though they have a beautifully rich and distinct culture unlike any I've encountered. I will say that when I traveled in Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, and Albania, I noted that there was a deeply concerning sexism that had to some extent been normalized or as part of the culture. Specifically, almost all the nightclubs and bars were filled with ultra-masculine men with a sea of Buzzcuts and perhaps most interestingly there was little to no dancing in many nightclubs specifically in Albania and Montenegro and the more Muslim areas of Bosnia like Mostar. My friend and I would even get looks of disgust to some extent when we would begin to dance as if asking who these idiots are what do they think they are doing. Particularly in Albania, I noted that no groups of single women would go out, virtually every single woman was accompanied by a man. In fact, my friend and I got into a large fistfight with some Bosnian mobsters in Mostar simply because they felt like proving their “manhood”. My girlfriend is from Belgrade Serbia and she went to numerous acting programs and theatrical programs as she sings Opera, but she eventually left the programs and moved to NYC because of the rampant sexism and misogynistic culture that persisted there.
I think it is important to talk about women's movements and successes regardless of where it is in the world or how "behind" we think they are from the United States. I am a little disappointed in myself for not keeping track of the me too movement or keeping track of how the movement has spread from one country to another. I think its interesting when people say the me too movement is a western idea and only centers western philosophies which is why the movement cannot get a hold in other countries when a lot of easter countries had focused on more matriarchal and equal power structures before colonization. Ultimately, I am a believer that the patriarchy should be smashed regardless but I do understand how the concept is tumultuous. I am happy to see a country within the Balkans take a stand and take steps toward equality. The more countries that take part of this movement, the more it will spread.
3 comments:
I haven’t heard much about the #metoo movement in a while. I can’t remember when the big surge was, maybe 2018? But the movement was founded in 2006. This article focuses on the current movement's impact in Serbia and the Balkans. This is because the #metoo movement is something that was made for and had always focused on Western stories. This is stated in the article and is important to keep in mind. Unfortunately, this movement has been greeted with a lot of silence. A silence that leaves the women speaking up behind and can even ruin their careers. The author utilizes the word “durable” to describe the careers of men who have sexually assaulted women and I think that is a very telling word. This word can also definitely be expanded to men in the Western part of the world. I hope that the women who have been brave enough to speak up get the support they need and deserve. And I hope they know they aren’t alone.
I found this incredibly interesting because oftentimes the Balkans get completely looked over or ignored, even though they have a beautifully rich and distinct culture unlike any I've encountered. I will say that when I traveled in Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, and Albania, I noted that there was a deeply concerning sexism that had to some extent been normalized or as part of the culture. Specifically, almost all the nightclubs and bars were filled with ultra-masculine men with a sea of Buzzcuts and perhaps most interestingly there was little to no dancing in many nightclubs specifically in Albania and Montenegro and the more Muslim areas of Bosnia like Mostar. My friend and I would even get looks of disgust to some extent when we would begin to dance as if asking who these idiots are what do they think they are doing. Particularly in Albania, I noted that no groups of single women would go out, virtually every single woman was accompanied by a man. In fact, my friend and I got into a large fistfight with some Bosnian mobsters in Mostar simply because they felt like proving their “manhood”. My girlfriend is from Belgrade Serbia and she went to numerous acting programs and theatrical programs as she sings Opera, but she eventually left the programs and moved to NYC because of the rampant sexism and misogynistic culture that persisted there.
I think it is important to talk about women's movements and successes regardless of where it is in the world or how "behind" we think they are from the United States. I am a little disappointed in myself for not keeping track of the me too movement or keeping track of how the movement has spread from one country to another. I think its interesting when people say the me too movement is a western idea and only centers western philosophies which is why the movement cannot get a hold in other countries when a lot of easter countries had focused on more matriarchal and equal power structures before colonization. Ultimately, I am a believer that the patriarchy should be smashed regardless but I do understand how the concept is tumultuous. I am happy to see a country within the Balkans take a stand and take steps toward equality. The more countries that take part of this movement, the more it will spread.
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