🌐 WOMEN’S STORIES _ Saheera Sharif
By Amber Karlins, The Heroine Collective
The
Revolutionary Poets
Revolutionary Poets
Saheera
Sharif has spent much of her professional life working for the women of
Afghanistan. As one of the few female members of the Afghanistan Parliament,
she made it a priority to address women’s issues, particularly with regards to
child marriages. She worked long hours, five days a week, to try and
improve the lives of her constituents while also raising a family, including a
child with special needs. However, despite the long, hard work she put in
as a member of Parliament, she is perhaps most known for the work she did for
women outside of the legislature – work she did as the founder of Mirman
Baheer.
Sharif has spent much of her professional life working for the women of
Afghanistan. As one of the few female members of the Afghanistan Parliament,
she made it a priority to address women’s issues, particularly with regards to
child marriages. She worked long hours, five days a week, to try and
improve the lives of her constituents while also raising a family, including a
child with special needs. However, despite the long, hard work she put in
as a member of Parliament, she is perhaps most known for the work she did for
women outside of the legislature – work she did as the founder of Mirman
Baheer.
Mirman
Baheer is a poetry society in Afghanistan. The idea of a poetry society does
not, on its own, sound revolutionary – that is, of course, until one considers
that the potential price of writing and sharing that poetry in Afghanistan,
particularly in the more rural provinces, could be death.
Baheer is a poetry society in Afghanistan. The idea of a poetry society does
not, on its own, sound revolutionary – that is, of course, until one considers
that the potential price of writing and sharing that poetry in Afghanistan,
particularly in the more rural provinces, could be death.
“A poem is
a sword”.
In
Afghanistan, poetry is often associated with questionable morals and ethics, so
women are rarely encouraged to write and/or study it. Landays (2 line couplets
consisting of 9 words and 22 syllables) are considered particularly dangerous
because they have long been used by the women of Afghanistan as a secret
language of protest. In these landays, women have found a place to speak
openly and critically about everything from war to religion to sex. In Mirman
Baheer, these landays have found a home.
Afghanistan, poetry is often associated with questionable morals and ethics, so
women are rarely encouraged to write and/or study it. Landays (2 line couplets
consisting of 9 words and 22 syllables) are considered particularly dangerous
because they have long been used by the women of Afghanistan as a secret
language of protest. In these landays, women have found a place to speak
openly and critically about everything from war to religion to sex. In Mirman
Baheer, these landays have found a home.
Each week
in Kabul, the members of Mirman Baheer gather together to share their landays.
Women and girls from the outer provinces, who cannot travel to the meetings,
sneak out in secret and call the group to share their landays over the phone.
It’s risky business, but that doesn’t seem to deter. Instead, the society is
growing in size and popularity, with women flocking to Mirman Baheer for the
opportunity to share their own raw, unfiltered thoughts – to participate in
their own literary rebellion.
in Kabul, the members of Mirman Baheer gather together to share their landays.
Women and girls from the outer provinces, who cannot travel to the meetings,
sneak out in secret and call the group to share their landays over the phone.
It’s risky business, but that doesn’t seem to deter. Instead, the society is
growing in size and popularity, with women flocking to Mirman Baheer for the
opportunity to share their own raw, unfiltered thoughts – to participate in
their own literary rebellion.
In
addition to giving women a place to connect and contribute to the rich cultural
and literary history of landays, recently, Mirman Baheer has also been doing a
great deal to combat stereotypes of Afghan women. Since first being brought to
the international public’s attention in Eliza Griswold’s article for the New
York Times in 2012, the landays composed by the members of Mirman Baheer have
been published in a collection of poetry entitled I am the Beggar of the World.
The society and Saheera Sarif were also featured at the International Poetry
Festival in London earlier this year.
addition to giving women a place to connect and contribute to the rich cultural
and literary history of landays, recently, Mirman Baheer has also been doing a
great deal to combat stereotypes of Afghan women. Since first being brought to
the international public’s attention in Eliza Griswold’s article for the New
York Times in 2012, the landays composed by the members of Mirman Baheer have
been published in a collection of poetry entitled I am the Beggar of the World.
The society and Saheera Sarif were also featured at the International Poetry
Festival in London earlier this year.
“This is a
different kind of struggle”.
Mirman
Baheer is a place where women unite. It is a place where established female
government officials mingle with young women from rural villages who taught
themselves to write in secret. It is a place where women discuss what
makes them unique and what makes them the same – where they can protest the
war, mourn the loss of a lover, or even criticize religion and the
government. In Mirman Baheer, these women, whose freedoms are so often
restricted, for 2 lines, 9 words, and 22 syllables, get to be free.
Baheer is a place where women unite. It is a place where established female
government officials mingle with young women from rural villages who taught
themselves to write in secret. It is a place where women discuss what
makes them unique and what makes them the same – where they can protest the
war, mourn the loss of a lover, or even criticize religion and the
government. In Mirman Baheer, these women, whose freedoms are so often
restricted, for 2 lines, 9 words, and 22 syllables, get to be free.
