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The dream becomes a reality (?): nation building and the continued struggle of the women of the Eritrian People's Liberation Front

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The dream becomes a reality (?): nation building and the continued struggle of the women of the Eritrian People's Liberation Front

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Content THE DREAM BECOMES A REALITY (?):
NATION BUILDING AND THE CONTINUED STRUGGLE OF THE
WOMEN OF THE ERITREAN PEOPLE'S LIBERATION FRONT
by
Eva Beth Egensteiner
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(Visual Anthropology)
August 1995
Copyright 1995 Eva Beth Egensteiner
UNIVERSITY O F SO U TH ER N CALIFORNIA
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY PARK
LOS ANGELES, CA LIFO RN IA 9 0 0 0 7
This thesis, written by .
— -
under the direction of hM*.....T hesis Com m ittee,
and approved by all its members, has been p re
sented to and accepted by the D ean of The
Graduate School, in partial fulfillm ent of the
requirements for the degree of
CL*
Dtan
D ate.. Sept ember_ 12, 19 9 5
THESIS COMMITTEE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 1
Thesis Summary 2
Methodology 4
Part I: History-Eritrea, The EPLF and Women 6
Eritrean History 6
The EPLF-Liberation and Women's Participation 8
Revolutionary Proposals and Women 9
Women and War 12
Expanded Focus of Research 13
Part II: Participation 15
Part III: The Women Question 23
Part IV: Gender and Identity 36
Part V: Women Fighters in Postwar Eritrea 41
Part VI: EPLF Media-Social and Political Propaganda 47
Part VII: Identity as Women Fighters in Media and Arts 50
Part VIII: Women and Media Today 63
References Cited 65
General References 65
ii
ABSTRACT
In 1991, after thirty years of war, Eritrea gained
independence from Ethiopia. A social, political and economic
revolution took place during the liberation struggle,
effecting the role of women to a large degree. The Eritrean
People's Liberation Front (the EPLF) was credited with
winning the war. Roughly 4 0% of the EPLF and 30% of those in
combat positions were women. This paper focuses on EPLF
women and incorporates segments of their life narratives. I
explicate and analyze the process of consciousness raising
and development of identity, which includes being a
revolutionary fighter, an Eritrean woman, and participation,
both during and after the war, in the media, arts and
research. Contradictions and challenges in the transition
from the military culture of the EPLF to the postwar period,
are discussed. The evolution of their work in these media is
examined, from revolutionary undertakings in the EPLF to
current efforts in nation building.
iii
INTRODUCTION
The thesis is based upon original research conducted in
Eritrea during the summer of 1994. In 1991, at the end of a
thirty year war, Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia.
A social, political and economic revolution took place during
the liberation struggle which affected the role of women to a
large degree. The Eritrean People's Liberation Front {the
EPLF) was credited with winning the war and now constitutes
the provisional government under a new name, The People's
Front for Democracy and Justice. Roughly one third of the
EPLF (a force of roughly 70,000 to 90,000 people) was women
(EWAE 1976: 25, Parmelee 1993: A30).
I was introduced to the political situation of Eritrea
in 1989 when I began work at a women's refugee organization
in California. The organization asked me to assist a six
member family that had immigrated to the US in 1980. Over
the course of several years I was educated on Eritrea through
this family's teaching and their passionate feelings for a
sovereign homeland, through the somewhat spare reading
materials on the subject, and participation in Eritrean
cultural events in the Bay Area of Northern California. My
studies in anthropology led me to a commitment to
ethnographic research on the subject of Eritrea.
1
THESIS SUMMARY
This paper focuses on the women who fought in the EPLF
between the years of 1975 and 1991. I explicate and analyze
the process of consciousness raising and development of
identity, which includes being a revolutionary fighter, an
Eritrean woman, and participation, both during and after the
war, in the media, arts and research. The transition of
revolutionary women from the military culture of the "field"
(a term used by most fighters to refer to the EPLF controlled
territory) to the postwar period often positions gender
egalitarianism against local historical ideas of gender.
Contradictions and challenges in the postwar lives of these
Eritrean women will be discussed, as will their current
efforts through the media and arts in which they have
participated as members of the EPLF. Segments of these
women's life narratives, collected during my fieldwork in
1994, are integrated into the text. ■
The first section includes a brief history of Eritrea,
the EPLF, and women in Eritrea and their participation in the
war. I discuss the EPLF's plan for a cultural revolution,
with its theoretical roots in Marxism. Women in particular
have experienced a social transformation due to these changes
and their role in the war. This is followed by an explanation
of my research goals.
Second, X will draw on the life narratives of these
women to analyze their motivations for joining the EPLF, the
2
development of consciousness of gender as well as nationalism
in the revolutionary context. Their active participation and
experience in shaping a revolutionary culture, as well as the
development of their personal identity is woven throughout
these life narratives.
The third part deals with the issue of women's
participation in the EPLF. I examine the process of creating
an egalitarian liberation struggle through the experiences of
these women and their development of gender consciousness.
The fourth part illustrates the formation of identity in
the "nontraditional" gender roles through a revolutionary
socialization process associated with EPLF participation and
armed combat.
The fifth section examines the transition of the "new"
Eritrean woman, with a revolutionary identity and
"progressive" gender relations, into a civilian context.
The sixth section points to the EPLF's multiple uses of
the media and the arts to disseminate their revolutionary
ideals and sustain their efforts.
in the seventh section, because I have chosen to
interview women who have participated in the media, arts and
research both during and after the war, I will discuss what
these EPLF positions involved and how they have shaped their
identity.
The eighth section discusses, in a postwar context, the
representational issues of gender identity, and the
revolutionary ideology and nation building involved in their
work in the media, arts and research today, as well as in
their personal lives.
METHODOLOGY
In the summer of 1994 I went to Eritrea for seven weeks
to conduct interviews with women fighters who had
participated in the media, arts and research during and after
the revolutionary war. Half of the interviews were conducted
in English and I worked with a translator for the other half.
In addition, I videotaped a number of interviews to be edited
later into a documentary that introduced the experiences and
history of EPLF women through their own life narratives. I
had formal interviews with eleven women, two of which were
conducted by myself and Dr. Sondra Hale, professor of Women's
Studies and Anthropology at U.C.L.A., as well as dozens of
informal interviews and conversations with fighters and
civilian, both women and men.
Upon my arrival, I first contacted the National Union of
Eritrean Women and met with the head of the research
department to discuss my research plans. She introduced me
to a radio and print journalist whose controversial article
on the subject of female virginity and Eritrean marriage
practices had just been published in the national newspaper.
From there, I networked through the TV station, newspaper
office, and Eritrean Profile office to conduct a majority of
4
my interviews. Three interviews were conducted with women
working at the research department in the Women's Union
itself and two were with women I met on other occasions.
These women are not representative of the female
population in Eritrea as a whole, nor are they representative
of EPLF fighters. They were chosen for their particular
positions held, both during and after the war. The interview
questions were shaped by the particular occupations or
creative endeavors of the women in order to best understand
their role during the revolutionary war, their personal
identities as women fighters, as well as the value they
placed on their current efforts in postwar Eritrea. Both the
theoretical approach behind the use of life narratives and
the focus on women in the media, arts and research will be
discussed below.
Much feminist anthropology has found appealing the use
of life histories, or life narratives, in the process of
understanding women's lives. The representation that women
are given through the telling of their own stories and
reflecting on their own gendered cultural experience provides
a form of empowerment and voice which is rarely heard in the
world in general and in anthropological data in particular.
The application of the life history method and incorporation
of the narratives in an ethnographic text play an important
role in feminist ethnography today.
5
The documentation, of Eritrean women's life experiences
provides data about the changes within their lives in the
context of a liberation struggle, from both a psychological
and historical perspective. Their life narratives can
illustrate the diversity of women's life experiences within a
single country and historical event, and illustrate the
socio-cultural factors that have influenced and shaped these
differences. Together life trajectories can answer questions
about historical change and the struggle for it. They provide
a framework for phenomenological analysis, as well as, a
personalized history. X have incorporated segments of
women's narratives into this thesis.
PART X i HISTORY - ERITREA. THE EPLF AND WOMEN
The country of Eritrea is located in the Horn of Africa
bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti and the Red Sea. With
a current population of roughly 3.5 million people living in
48,000 square miles, 80% are rural inhabitants, half of whom
are pastoralists or agro-pastoralists, and 20% reside in the
cities (Embassy of Eritrea documents 1994: l). Throughout
the course of the thirty-year war with Ethiopia interspersed
with bouts of famine, over 500,000 Eritrean refugees have
emigrated to Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Europe, North America and
other countries (Fenet 1988: 33).
North-east Africa has a rich and fairly well documented
historical record which dates back to the kingdom of Axum,
beginning in the fourth century A.D. (Pool 1982: 35-45).
Eritrea was once part of this empire but had also experienced
invasions by Ottoman Turks, Egyptians, Italians, British and
Ethiopians {Haile 1988: 11-18, Tseggai 1988: 68-74). What is
now Eritrea existed as an Italian colony from 1890 to 1941,
during which time continual attempts by the Italians to move
west and invade Ethiopia were met with defeat. Eritrea's
history as a separate political entity begins with this
colonization. (Leonard 1982: 56-57)
In 1941 the British defeated the Italians and
remained in Eritrea until 1952 when the General Assembly of
the United Nations federated Eritrea with Ethiopia. Numerous
U.N. commissions were sent to investigate the viability of
Eritrea's claim for autonomy, but they were contradictory and
never provided unanimous international backing for Eritrea's
case (Habte Selassie 1980: 27-55). In 1962 Ethiopia invaded
Eritrea under Emperor Haile Selassie and forcibly annexed the
state (Pateman 1990: 6). According to Ethiopia's rulers,
Eritrea was simply part of the ancient Ethiopian Empire.
Ethiopia moved from feudalism to a Marxist-Leninist military
government when a military coup assassinated Selassie and
replaced him with Mengistu Haile Mariam, a member of the
Dergue party (Pateman 1990: 3).
The Dergue, the ruling military junta founded
during the takeover of Selassie, was supported militarily by
the Soviet Union, Cuba and Israel, but also utilized American
7
arms received during the Selassie reign and the early years
of the Dergue in an attempt to absorb Eritrea and her coasts
(Pateman 1990: 7). The cultural, linguistic and ethnic
diversity within the borders of Ethiopia were not
sufficiently dealt with by the new state apparatus. This
included Eritrea, whose language and culture were
increasingly suppressed by the Dergue. Eritrea used a
Marxist argument to push its own case for independence but
was organized quite differently than Ethiopia under Mengistu.
For example, the Dergue utilized a Marxist-Leninist argument
to justify its determination to crush Eritrean, leftist and
nationalist movements. While the EPLF uses Marxism to
establish the right of nations to self-determination (Pateman
1990: 12-15,21).
The EPLF - Liberation and Women's Participation
In 1961 the Eritrean Liberation Front was founded,
comprised of a Muslim majority (Connell 1993: 76). Ten years
later in 1971 the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, was
founded, comprised of both Muslims and Christians. They
assumed leadership of the independence struggle after
defeating the ELF in civil war (Pateman 1990: 117-123).
At this moment women were to become active in the war
for secession, not only participating in combat, but helping
to engineer and command it as well. Although women
participated in the ELF, they did so in a restricted
8
capacity, and in non-combat roles (EWAE 1979: 15, Wilson
1991: 40-41). The EPLF, initially an ideologically Marxist
organization, established the significance of mobilizing and
including women in this national effort for liberation and
social revolution. The National Union of Eritrean women
(NUEWm) was founded by the EPLF to recruit women and
implement the social changes. Branches were established in
Sudan, Europe and the United States. The first women joined
the EPLF in 1973, and by 1979 women comprised 30% of the
forces, and 35-40% by 1990 (Habtemariam 1990: 79-87, Parmelee
1993: A30). The war between Eritrea and Ethiopia ended in
1991 with the Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam
fleeing the country and independence won for Eritrea. In
1993, an official referendum was held in Eritrea, which also
included votes from its immigrant population abroad,
resulting in a nearly unanimous vote for complete
independence from Ethiopia {San Francisco Chronicle 1993:
A14). The EPLF is currently acting as the provisional
government, but has recently discontinued the use of the
name.
Revolutionary Proposals and Women
The EPLF proposed to transform Eritrean society along
with liberating it from Ethiopian control. In brief and in
part the EPLF's "National Democratic Programme" of 1977
included the establishment of a democratic state, the
9
nationalization of agriculture, industry, trade, finance, and
the development of schools, housing, technology, public
health and the economy (Wilson 1991: 155-158). In addition,
the program called for religious freedom, the abolition of
"the disgraceful social habits [of] Ethiopian colonization,
world imperialism and Zionism", to "destroy the bad aspects
of the culture and traditions of Eritrean society", and the
creation and protection of the rights of workers and women
(Wilson 1991: 159-161).
There was a nine point plan established for women's
rights, which included developing a women's union, liberating
women from domesticity and moving them into the economic,
technical and political realm through training and equal
opportunity, as well as establishing marriage and family laws
that protect their rights and eradicate those practices that
disempower women (Wilson 1991: 161). Aside from slightly
decreasing the nationalization plans and allowing for more
privatization, the EPLF's revised program in 1987 indicates
that they have remained committed to many of their earlier
goals.
Historically, the low status of women in Eritrea was
compounded by the fascist-capitalist economic structure
imposed during Italian occupation. Women's lowly status was
further perpetuated under Ethiopian rule, which included
severe exploitation and denial of national and cultural
identities (EWAE 1979: 9). The status of women was defined
10
as subordinate in two ways. The first in relation to men,
and second with regard to the economic class of labor
positions they filled, earning them half a man's wage in the
same work (EWAE 1979: 8). Essentially, the struggle for
liberation and equal rights for women was oriented around
both gender and class issues (EWAE 1979: 10). Eritrean women
have participated in activism before the EPLF existed. For
example, peasant women played a role in the anti-feudal
uprising in the 1940's (EWAE 1979: 13), the EPLF revolution
created drastic gender role changes for some women.
In order to facilitate these revolutionary proposals
regarding women, changes had to occur in the economic,
political, educational, social and health systems. The EPLF
initiated and implemented these new policies for its members
and attempted to carry this out in the areas liberated from
Ethiopian rule. For example, a land reform act that gave
women equal rights to land ownership, would involve not only
new rights for women and previously landless farmers, but a
dismantling of existing feudal forms of land ownership (EWAE
197 9: 22-24). A new marriage system was initiated based on
consensual bonds, monogamy, equal rights for both sexes, and
legal protection for women and children. Child betrothal,
exchange of nuptial gifts or money, concubinage, bigamy and
circumcision were all prohibited by the EPLF. Efforts were
made to stop these traditions in the areas within Eritrea
that came under EPLF control during the war, the "liberated
areas." However, the EPLF's approach was to convince the
population of the value of these changes rather than strictly
enforce these laws. There is no doubt that traditional
marriage practices are still being carried out. No research
or data is available on the effectiveness of the social
revolutionary efforts among the civilian population, although
some of the women I interviewed claim that these changes had
taken place in the EPLF liberated areas. The NUEWm is
working to continue these efforts. In addition, these
proposals, or versions of them, are currently being written
into the constitution.
Women and War
Women became part of this revolutionary plan with
efforts from both sexes. Many became politicized regarding
their country and their gender, and went to war. For the
women of Eritrea the fight for national freedom was
integrated with the fight for equality as members of a
society. Referring to Leninist ideology the Eritrean Women's
Association of Europe published a newsletter stating that
"the success of a revolution depends on the extent to which
women take part in it." (NUEWm 1980: 6). This was the EPLF's
revolutionary rhetoric. The question was just how extensive
and permanent these changes would be. Almost a half decade
after the war has ended and aside from scant pieces of
journalistic reportage, there is little data on the present
12
state of women in Eritrea. A paper presented by an Eritrean
woman at the 1990 international Conference on Eritrea in
Maryland, called for continuity and progress for women in
Eritrea, noting that the tenuous roots of these gains are in
need of support. (Habtemariam 1990: 79-87)
With the war over, many of these women could not find
the egalitarianism previously experienced in the EPLF to
maintain the continuity of their achievements. Opportunities
for them may well be poor in this country scarred by war,
famine and underdevelopment. The new laws and social rules
for women set out by the EPLF may not be followed nationwide.
In 1987, 20% of the seats of the Organizational Congress
of the EPLF were reserved for women with the other 80% open
to both sexes. The Central Committee of the EPLF, the
highest component of the revolutionary structure, has only 6
women in its 71 positions (Wilson 1991: 184). Today, women
are politically under-represented in the provisional
government. However, the changes instituted by the EPLF may
prove to be more resilient and pervasive with continual
effort on the part of both women and men. The degree of
representation of women in the media is also a source of
empowerment. But, in many countries where women participated
in revolutions, such as Nicaragua, El Salvador, Algeria,
Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, China, Zimbabwe, The Soviet Union,
Ethiopia, etc. the gains made for women's rights, status and
13
national participation, weakened with peacetime. The EPLF
and women fighters are well aware of these histories.
Expanded Focus of Research
The laws and social codes created by the EPLF in the
1970's were implemented to varying degrees within the
liberated areas. They reflected the EPLF vision of a new
society and were to affect the lives of women by providing
them with different opportunities and more rights. Women
fighters in Eritrea experienced the eplf ideology of gender
egalitarianism the most intensely. Since the focus of my
research is with the EPLF women who have returned to civilian
life, it is important to look not only at their experiences
during the war, but their experiences before they entered the
field, and their transition into peacetime.
Their level of participation and the nature of their
interaction within society also defines their roles as women.
Thus, the degree of change for women must also be evident in
their social, political, economic and ritual action. The
representation and participation of women in cultural
performances, media and various visual forms can reveal as
much about a political-cultural agenda as it does about lived
realities, individual identities and personal expression.
Understanding the creation of gender roles and personal
identities within a gender-egalitarian, political-military
organization is the heart of my ethnographic research. The
14
role of women in the creation of EPLF and NUEWm propaganda
has directly affected their lives. In addition, their
participation in the arts and their work in these media
today, is a large part of their identity and is directly
affected by their revolutionary experiences. There exists a
degree of contradiction and tension in their work and in
their lives as women fighters in a civilian context.
PART II : PARTICIPATION
In 1973, the first woman joined the Eritrean People's
Liberation Front. At the end of the war in 1991, roughly 40%
of the EPLF and 35% of those in combat were women {Pateman
1990: 121). What compelled women to join the revolution,
risking their lives to reach the EPLF camp and in battle was
the first question I asked during my interviews. It was the
process of political and social consciousness raising that I
aimed to understand. I wanted to know how much of the
liberation struggle they were familiar with before entering
the field, and whether it was primarily the national
liberation or the social-revolutionary component that drew
them into danger. I had expected many of their motivations
to point to the appeal of the progressive gender-role
ideology. But to my surprise, not one woman claimed this to
be the case. However, most of the women were somewhat
familiar with the EPLF ideology through word of mouth or
printed propaganda, and a few were already participating in
clandestine student organizations established by EPLF
members. This reached very young Eritreans who were
organized into groups, each kept unaware of the others even
in the same school for security purposes {personal
conversation with a fighter). Many women were driven into
the struggle due to the atrocities of the Ethiopian Derg they
had witnessed in their towns. Some had family members killed
by the Derg in Eritrea and Ethiopia. The participation of a
sibling in the EPLF functioned as a form of recruitment, as
many followed their family members into the field. One women
even tells of how she was the first in her family to join,
followed by two siblings, one older and one younger. Below
are a few of the narratives that describe the diverse
motivations that sent women into the revolution.
Aster was born and raised in Ethiopia and from an elite
minority. She had worked for the Ministry of Information
after earning a degree in journalism from the University of
Washington in the US. When the Derg came to power, her father
was a general in the Ethiopian army under Haile Selassie and
was killed along with 60 other high officials from the
Selassie government. She then became involved in anti-Derg
politics, and was finally forced to escape Ethiopia to the
Sudan to ensure her own safety, leaving a husband and
daughter behind. In her narrative she explains how she
became conscious of the Eritrean political struggle and her
Eritrean identity after joining the EPLF.
16
ASTER
From the Sudan I was trying to join the
EPLF, but still I was not interested, I didn't
know anything about Eritrea to start with. I
always thought I was an Ethiopian because I
was born there. [Although] I knew I was an
Eritrean, I didn't have anything to do with
Eritrea. But then....I heard through the
radio that my sister was killed because of me,
and my husband was in prison because of me,
because I had to run away. I had [to deal
with] these consequences.
That's when I wanted to join the EPLF. So
after 6 months, in the Sudan I joined the
EPLF. It was then that I started to
understand all about Eritrea. Before that I
didn't care. Later on when I was in the
field, we had this political education and I
started to find out that Eritrea was a colony.
I thought they were joking just to make us
join the struggle (laughs). I started to
hear many stories about what the Derg (the
Ethiopian regime) was doing to other
Eritreans, burning their villages, and things
like that, things worse than what happened to
me actually.[...]
I was really convinced with this United
Nations part, that Eritrea's case was raised
in the United Nations a long time ago in the
1950's. And I could see the books. They had
books. I was really impressed that Eritrea
was actually under the [occupation] of
Ethiopia and then before that the Italians. I
never had that information. [...] I knew that
I was an Eritrean actually, I didn't miss that
part, but [Eritrea] was just like a province
of Ethiopia [to me] . Everyday I would be
educated. People used to tell me from the
beginning what kind of atrocities were being
done on the Eritrean people and then I started
remembering back.
Her words indicate that the legitimization of
Eritrea's case for independence in book form and on an
international level was what really convinced her of the
EPLF's agenda. Although Aster speaks about her identity as an
Eritrean before joining the EPLF, it was as an Ethiopian from
17
the province of Eritrea. This was the Ethiopian government's
geo-political definition of Eritrea. The concept of an
Eritrean nationalism was part of the political education she
had experienced in the EPLF. It could he suggested that many
of the early recruits and volunteers, both from within and
outside Eritrea, underwent a similar process of learning a
separate national identity. Biserat and Haleema's
narratives, below tell of their experiences inside Eritrea
before joining the EPLF.
BISERAT
I was terrified and whenever anybody went
out, my mother, my sister, everybody was
horrified. We were afraid of the (Ethiopian)
soldiers. We didn't know what was going on,
they were just walking with shoes, big shoes
and kalishnikovs and they killed people all
the time with iron and threw them on the
[ground]. [I saw them] kill a women [...] and
a beggar on the streets. I saw a guy who was
selling magazines and he was killed in front
of me. We saw terrible things happen in
Asmara. One family was destroyed and I saw the
daughter walking, she was just walking and
talking and talking and we knew that that
evening her father and mother and her sister
were all killed in their house... she saw all
the blood. I don't know where she is even now
I asked [but] they don't know if she's
alive or not. So when you see atrocities of
this kind ... you have to go and fight for
that. That's what pushed me to join the
struggle.
But it's because of my sister, she was part
of the EPLF and we were trying to ask who was
fighting against the soldiers. So my sister
began to explain what was going on and we
tried to understand. Then, we entered the
circle of the EPLF (working with them) knowing
what was going on. [...] At the beginning of
'78 some of our friends went to prison so we
had to go, we had to leave our home. My
sister [and I] went together. To get out of
Asmara was very difficult [because of the]
troops. We had to sneak away, changing our
dress like the countryside [style], and doing
our hair [in that way], [and snuck out of
Asmara].
HALEEMA
To tell you the truth, I had two brothers
who I loved very much (both are still alive).
I didn't know my mother since she died when I
was very little. I only knew my brothers.
When both my elder brothers joined the field I
was left with my uncle who was an adult. And
he was participating in these kinds of works,
(EPLF) secretive works. He used to hint about
his participation and X started to hate being
left behind by my brothers. [. . .] At first when
the decision was made, I left with my uncle.
When he said he was going, I told him I'd be
going with him. Since I was young, I didn't
have special feelings about my [life]. But I
loved my father very much and when I realized
that I was leaving him behind, I felt very,
very bad. I cried a lot when I said good-bye
to him.
Eritreans joined the EPLF from Ethiopia, other parts of
the Horn of Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North
America. I spoke with one Eritrean woman, Elilta, who joined
the revolution even after her father was killed by the EPLF
as a soldier in the Ethiopian army. She suggests that her
decision to join was primarily due to the lack of educational
opportunity as a teenager in a war-torn country.
Interestingly, in her story she implies that, although her
father was collaborating with the "enemy", he was still a
great influence in her decision to join the EPLF.
Elilta was born in a village roughly 35 kilometers
from Asmara, but at age five she and her family moved into
the capital city. She explains that the move was motivated
by her father's desires to provide an education for his
19
children because there were no schools in the countryside.
The only job her father could get was as an Ethiopian
soldier. Although he was not happy about this, he continued
as a soldier to provide schooling and income for his family.
When the war escalated, they were trying to convince him to
leave the army, but their pleas were not effective. Although
she explains the situation in terms of a self-sacrificing
father, it may have been extremely dangerous for him to quit
the Ethiopian army and facing the possibility of being
accused of collaborating with the EPLF.
ELILTA
"I'd die for your good life", he said, and
he died like what he said. He died in the
field in battle, on the way from Keren to
Asmara with the EPLF {short laugh). [...]
Everybody understands the situation you see.
Inside I'm sure he was a full Eritrean and
sometimes he wanted to [...] join the EPLF.
We were even sending him a lot of letters,
[saying]... "they're our brothers, they're
Eritreans don't fight these guys, we all share
blood, you and us... we're from the same
land"...but you see, as I told you my father
was always thinking about us. If he joined
the EPLF, he thought many doors would shut,
like to our education, and this was horrible
for him to think about. He chose to live
without seeing us.
Elilta and her family moved to Keren, another city in
Eritrea, which was under EPLF control at the time. Elilta's
younger sister left for Sudan, then Saudi Arabia as a war
refugee, and was able to work and send money back to her
family. Nearly 750,000 refugees fled the country during the
war, many to Sudan, the Middle East, Europe and North
20
America. She explains that it was her younger sister who
left the country to find work. Elilta was more oriented
toward schooling than earning a living due to her father's
encouragement. It could also be suggested that since her
father died for his children's education, this was exactly
was he had intended for her and what she decided to pursue.
ELILTA
So when there was no education, when Keren
was held by the EPLF, there were not enough
teachers [because] the EPLF couldn't pay
[them] at that time. [...] So everything was
bad for me. The only thing [to do] was to
read the political newspapers and magazines.
But [even] before that I knew everything about
the EPLF. [...] I knew that I wasn't studying
well because of the equipment at school and
there was no peace, you are always afraid of
the soldiers. When you pass, if there is a
soldier there you have to change your way,
especially women, it was horrible to be a
young person, a teenager, always frightened.
So I had in my mind that I was not
satisfied with my education, with my life. I
was sure one day there would be a change, and
the change was to j oin the EPLF. [...] in the
field, it was accidental, I mean it tum[ed
out that I was to be] in the art section. I
didn't even imagine joining the art section
in the field. You can't imagine because you ■
think about the fighters, that they're always
fighting, they're in the battle, and they
don't have time even to entertain with
pictures. You think about fighting like that.
And you just go to join the organization, to
be like it. You accept everything.
Frewoini's story, below, is quite unique. She was an
independent minded, professional women in the decade before
women were joining the revolution. It cannot be overlooked
that deviations from the traditional gender roles of women
existed prior to the formulation of the EPLF's social
21
revolution. How much of an impact women such as Frewoini had
on the ideology of the EPLF is not clear, but no doubt
considerable. Driven to the field by sentiments of
nationalism, she left her husband behind and even took her
children. She remained a teacher at the Revolutionary school
for children (civilian's orphans and fighter's kids) which
was located in the Sahel, the headquarters of the EPLF.
After liberation she returned to civilian life in her 50's.
FREWOINI
I was learning in a school called
"Eetegaymenin" (Selassie's wife's name) And
then when the girls from rich families got
jobs, those of us of average economic standing
couldn't find a job. But then I started
running my own school, a school called
"Frewoini Negash". I opened it with my own
name, in Haile Selassie's time they used to
ask me why I opened it with my name. They
commented that I should have given it the
king's name or the name of a famous historical
individual of Ethiopia. But I told them that
since they never helped me with anything I
would name it with my own name. I had many
students, 6-700 and about 15 teachers.
I was 24 when I taught in this way and the
Selassie government took everything. At first
I used to feel (really bad) about their taking
it away, but then I started growing strong
feelings about the fight (liberation
struggle). In 1976 I could see the crime
which was being committed on innocent people
and as I started growing feelings against the
enemy. Besides the feelings I had for my
country, I was participating in the
(clandestine) works of the EPLF beginning from
1976
I went to join the field in 1979. [...] I
left without telling ny husband. I left on
Saturday and on Monday four military cars came
to our home and searched the house, but I was
gone. I took military training for eight
months. We used to wake up at three o'clock.
We woke up and didn't have to make the bed
since we slept covered with "netsella" (white
22
shawl) - we just folded it. That netsella is
used to wrap our body of we die. And up at
six, we do our training and then from 6-7 we
ate breakfast and then it's "move-it". We
depart to go for political education. After
[training] I was assigned to teach in the
revolutionary school.
I had to go because I had strong feelings
(for Eritrea). Besides, I was looking at the
crime with my own eyes. .. and my husband
waited for me for 14 years and here I am now.
We are together. I had two children. One of
my children was martyred and the other came
back. But my husband never got married in
these 14 years.
PART III : THE WOMEN QUESTION
One woman, Mebrak, gave several reasons for joining the
EPLF, her familiarity with the political issues, the
assassination of her Uncle in Addis Ababa, and the grief of
her family. She lied because, as she stated, all parents
were suspicious of their children running away to combat.
She told her mother she was visiting a relative in another
village and headed for the field alone, at age 16 in 1975.
When she reached the fighters and told them her desire, they
turned her away and demanded she return home. In these early
years, women's participation was still low scale and there
was much hesitation on the part of the EPLF in allowing
Mebrak to join. Her persistence was necessary to change
their decision. She explained how she cried everyday while
waiting with other young women at the EPLF camp. After four
months, they were finally allowed to join. When they cut off
all her hair, she knew she had been accepted, and she
23
remembered how the man who cut it saved the long hair for
her. Her military training started, and, after one month,
many women began to join the struggle. All of the women who
joined the EPLF underwent six months of military and
political training, twice as long as the men's, and in a
separate location. This separate training was explained to
me as a way to give women more confidence before fighting
alongside their male comrades. It could also be suggested
that it functioned as a method of minimizing the possibility
of relationships developing between new recruits before they
were fully indoctrinated into the liberation movement.
Perhaps it helped distance them from their socialized
concepts of womanhood. Mebrak's story above illustrates the
fact that in the early years of the EPLF the concept of
women's participation was not yet established. It is
apparent that women's full role in the war was shaped by the
political-social ideology of the EPLF, as well as, women's
persistence and commitment to the revolution and a rejection
of their traditional roles as women.
As I stated above, none of the women I spoke with
claimed their participation in the EPLF was solely to secure
or prove their equality. However, the struggle became two
fold. Mot only were women fighting for the liberation of
Eritrea, but for their own emancipation as well. The EPLF
and the NUEWm sought to reform social norms and raise
24
people's consciousness. Although the struggle for gender
equality still existed within the EPLF in its early years as
is indicated in the story above, after a few years of women's
participation, the ideology of the revolution paralleled
women's actual participation in the war.
Women had to fight to be allowed to participate and
struggled for equal positions and recognition once they were
in. There is no suggestion that the large percentage of
women in combat was simply a result of a need for "man
power". There was a effort made on the part of the EPLF and
the NUEWm to recruit both men and women to believe in the
revolutionary ideology of national liberation and social
reform, and fight for it, but enthusiastic volunteers of both
sexes existed. It was. only after several years of war that
the revolutionary ideas of the intellectuals in the movement
were completely put into practice within the EPLF. As
explained to me by a few women fighters, it was also the
actual practice of gender egalitarianism that supported the
idea of gender egalitarianism. Aster explains this process
through her early experience in the EPLF.
ASTER
There were women fighters from 1973
onwards. They were telling us they had
problems before. The men used to say "noooo
you can't make it, you're not as equal as us,
you can't fight", things like that. They had
some problems in the beginning. But when I
came in 1977 everything was okay. Everybody
understood that we were equal. Starting from
the beginning, from the training camp, we were
taught that we were equal. And that really
impressed me very much. [...But] actually you
see it in practice. You don't even need
25
anybody to tell you when you are in the field
that you are equal because we were doing
everything together. There was no man's job,
no women's job. The men used to cook with us,
and we did everything that they did..even
serve(shoot) the gun and fight. That was
supposed to be our behavior... [even the most
difficult aspects of war], [like] climbing
mountains. [... ]
women really showed that they were equal.
They really [pushed] themselves. They used to
tell me that when somebody was martyred, a
woman, it was the happiest day for the women
that were there. Because now they had reached
the stage to say that we can even die for the
country. So it was, the beginners said, the
happiest day when somebody got wounded. That
was very nice. When somebody died, when a
woman died, [. .. ] we were really very happy
for them for serving their hearts. [...] As
women started to be martyred, started dying,
it became normal. So we believed that we
fought for our equality. It wasn't handed to
us (laughs).
Another woman fighter, Mona, explained how the process
worked both ways, with theory supporting practice in certain
cases, and the practice supporting the theory in others. It
was perhaps the ideology which established the egalitarianism
and the practice which perpetuated and strengthened the
practice of it.
MONA
We saw it (gender egalitarianism) in
practice, and it was much more effective than
talking about it. We could see it for
ourselves, and did not need to be told. [But]
lots of people were joining the field from the
towns and villages, and a lot of them were
"backwards"(not progressive). So it was not
easy for them to just drop their culture and
join the activities [they saw around them].
So first it was the policy of the EPLF that
made the fighters conscious of their rights.
The theory then supported the practice [in
this case].
26
Frewoini and Biserat's stories below reveal how women
who entered the field as traditional wives and mothers were
transformed into revolutionaries, and suggest that their
experiences gave them opportunities for work after
liberation, and the confidence to change their situation.
Unlike Mona's reference above to the difficulties of personal
changes with new recruits, their words sketch out the process
as simple and almost natural.
FREWOINI
We had equality in the EPLF. We were free.
Women were equal to men. [.. . ] We were equal
in education, equal in politics. One or two,
very few, might be influenced by the cultural
traditions.[...] Women [entering] the field,
[either] educated women or farmers' wives,
came in a mess... their clothing, everything.
I mean, some of them never left their kitchen
("oushate" - traditional kitchen/woman's
space). But then after they came, it didn't
take (much) time for them to change. After
they knew about the politics, that's it, they
started going for the mountains, leading
groups, they just went through the battles and
anywhere. I [am convinced] that women are
tougher and fiercer than the men.
BISERAT
In general I can say that women in the
field gained a lot of experience. There was
not this kind of sex discrimination in [the
daily] work and everything, professionally
even. Especially, those women who weren't
working before coming to the field, those
women who were married, they [experienced]
freedom. They can be sure of themselves in
their society now, that they can do something,
be independent and take care of their
families. Even if they don't get married, or
get divorced, they can remain independent
financially and live with strength and say " I
can do something [myself] to be independent".
27
It is not clear what this transition into the EPLF
actually involved in terms of the length of time and
emotional difficulties during the acclimation, it is clear
that they had to be retaught their roles as women with the
goal of equal participation in the nationalist movement and
as role models for the "new" Eritrean woman. The
difficulties they may have experienced with the transition
from "traditional" women to revolutionaries may have been a
great deal easier than the transition women fighters
experienced in their return to civilian life.
Many young women joined the EPLF to run away from
unpleasant marriages. Many female children joined quite
young, at 8 or 12 years old, for example. Although they were
well aware of the expected behavior and positions of women in
civilian life, and had experienced this to some degree as
girls, they left too early to be completely socialized into
these roles. Essentially they were socialized (or
resocialized) as women in a revolutionary context, which
departed radically from the civilian culture. In many of the
women's narratives, they refer to these "backward traditions"
as a result of Ethiopian colonization, which suggests an
image of the pre-colonized Eritrean women possessing a more
equal role in society.
Prior to the Derg and Selassie's influence, the Italians
reordered Eritrea for Italy's benefit, economically,
politically and socially. One could speculate that the
economic changes within the households of Eritrean families
altered gender relations. Further, the growth of
prostitution for the Italians, the British (who took over for
a decade after W.W.II) and American troops stationed in
Asmara (to protect their strategically located radio
station), would most likely have had an effect on the power
relations between the sexes. Even though outsiders
perpetuated or worsened the traditions that hurt women, it
would be safe to state that gender relations prior to
colonization in Eritrea were not egalitarian, and blaming the
Ethiopian Derg for their "backward traditions" was most
likely a component of the revolutionary propaganda. But what
these two narratives below also reveal is the socio-cultural
gap between the EPLF and much of civilian society. Postwar
nation building has included efforts to diminish this gap, a
process which appears to utilize the EPLF ideology as the
model framework. In Mona's narrative the methods for social
change comes into question as the effectiveness of laws
verses revolutionary consciousness raising is discussed
regarding land ownership.
ASTER
I can not talk about the whole society, the
Eritrean society, [but] during the war there
were some liberated areas where it was under
the control of the EPLF. In those areas the
women question was really very good. What I
mean [is] they would send women and children
to school and they were taught by the EPLF.
They used to, for instance, not circumcise
their children. Even the age of marriage (was
changed), you know a woman is not supposed to
29
get married until she's 18 or something
{according to the EPLF). They used to respect
all this because they were taught that this
was the right way in the liberated areas. In
the other parts where the Derg was under
control this was a different matter. They
could practice circumcision, infibulation,
child marriage, etc.
So when we come out here, after the
liberation, we still have this kind of
problem, because the rest of the society that
was under the Derg's control hadn't heard of
these things or didn't approve of these
things. In the field there were marriages
between Muslims and Christians for instance.
[...] We never even bothered what religion the
other person had. Religion means nothing,
because we were dying together, eating
together. But when we came here, our people
didn't even eat Muslim food. They don't
associate together. [...].So [there are] two
kinds of life around here, the field way ...
the fighters way, and the people's way. Some
people [...] for instance in Sahel where the
armed struggle was going on, [...] the
headquarters area, they are more progressive
and more conscious about these women's issues
and about everything else because we were
there. [In] the other areas we weren't able
to reach them. Tradition is still going on.
So we really have hard work now, to teach our
people what we [are] accustomed to.
MONA
When we were in the field, the EPLF worked
very hard towards women's rights to land
ownership even more than the Union. Some of
the people were rebelling against that, even
carrying a rifle [to stop the changes the EPLF
was trying to implement]. But the EPLF
stopped (the rebellion). And in some places
the EPLF gave land to women. After liberation
we entered the wider society. Though the EPLF
laws [existed] , they were not yet national
laws. To nationalize the laws will take 1-2
years; meanwhile, we are still using Ethiopian
laws. In these laws, if a woman gets married,
she shares the land with her husband, but is
not allowed to have land of her own. So women
have had problems in the post-liberation
period. In the provinces the elders do not
allow women to own land, and the court has
been using Ethiopian laws, so the Union has
been struggling against this. Now there is a
law that allows for women to own land. In
some places they just are not accepting the
idea. It's more effective to try to raise
people's consciousness than to formulate a
law. The Union is struggling to raise
people's consciousness.
I asked all the fighters I interviewed to explain their
transition as women from civilian life to the EPLF. The
responses were varied descriptions of egalitarian relations
and roles experienced for the first time, always full of
amazement, pride, and detail. However, Ruth's story, or at
least her perception, was different. She was born and raised
in Addis Ababa in a middle class family. Her father was
abducted by the Derg, accused of involvement in clandestine
EPLF operations, and tortured and imprisoned for many years.
She then began her own participation in the EPLF and made her
way to the front in Sahel, northern Eritrea. Ruth describes
her entry into Eritrea, as an introduction to the existence
of gender inequality and oppression of women. Although there
is no doubt that women in Ethiopia were experiencing
similarly oppressive power relations, her narrative reveals
the class position that she experienced in Addis. Women left
for the "field" from a multitude of environments. Both
Christian and Muslim women participated in the war. Some
came from cities in Africa, Europe, or America, and from
educated and middle class families. Some came from rural
villages in Eritrea leaving families with women who lived
through colonization and "traditional" gender relations for
31
generations. Nijat's story is clearly articulating a
specific class perspective as she critiques both the women'
situation during the war and the state of women in post-war
Eritrea.
NIJAT
I can divide my experience as a woman into
three phases; the experience I had with my
family, the experience I had in the front, and
the experience I have now. I can say that the
best part of my life as a woman was with my
family, because there was no discrimination of
sex within the family. It was a special case,
it was not the general case because I was from
a middle class family who lived in Ethiopia.
My father was well educated and ny mother was
conscious of all the women's problems, so I
didn't have any problems. My brothers and
sisters shared all the domestic work. We went
to school together. We went wherever [my
brothers] went, [and it wasn't a] problem.
It was when I went to the front that I
realized that women are inferior to men. That
doesn't mean that the front was against women.
There was a lot of struggle on behalf of the
front to emancipate women, of course. But
there was still a struggle. It was not easy
even though the leadership had proposed and
had set forth so many declarations to defend
women's lives. It was not so easy to go into
people's minds and convince them that women
were equal. So we had to struggle and this
was a different experience for me because I
never experienced a struggle between a man and
a woman (before). But finally, I was able to
cross that border and [remain true to] myself
as a woman.
When I came here after liberation, this was
another phase, because the society is
completely different from where I lived. I
lived in Ethiopia with my family. I didn't
know that in Eritrea there was such
discrimination of sex, in the tradition, the
law, and in the villages; the land problems,
the marriage... all the problems women had. I
realized that it was so backwards. And now
when we came to this society again I realized
that there was another struggle, different
from when we were in the front. I see that
it's still difficult to say that we are equal
to man, even though we want to be.
PART IV ; GENDER & IDENTITY
The process of consciousness raising of a specific
gender identity also interested me. The EPLF provided a
reference point for gender roles and gender relations within
the organization and aimed to change the rest of society
according to this social plan. They created a culture of
their own, which included progressively equal roles for women
in their army and all other units. Many women held positions
as commanders, leading battalions of men and women (NUEWm
1980: 19, Parmelee 1993: A30). The EPLF's role in creating
and defining these women's perception of themselves (as
women) is important in understanding the effect's of the
social revolutionary theory on the fighters, as well as
understanding the effects of actual participation in a war.
The gender identity of these women was established largely
throughout their years in the EPLF. My question regarding
just how this period affected their identity, as women, was
answered in many different ways. Mona phrased it as follows.
MONA
It's really amazing to have maintained
women's equality. There were so many women in
the revolution, if we say one third were women
then that one third were capable women, all of
them were good. You can't even say one or two
weren't good. And the reason for this is
because they put themselves in a position to
work very hard and achieved that goal. Another
reason is because the damage of colonization
had descended upon every family. Besides this
anybody can fight for a revolution but the
33
ideology of the EPLF was good. For example,
if you consider me, I didn't go out to the
field to ensure my equality. I didn't know
what equality meant then because I was so
young. This means I learned everything there.
X didn't know what it meant to be a man or
women. I learned that a women, as a man
should work, should be brave, should do her
duty and ensure her rights. The EPLF taught
us this.
Haleema who also entered the field very young was
adamant about convincing me that they were performing as men
were. Her words express a belief that women were
functioning as equals to men. But they are also expressing
that they were acting as men, using men's abilities and
"nature" as their role models, rather than describing women
as acting out a new gender role. The differentiation between
the emulation of a male gender role, and the idea of a
revolutionary woman's roles may be left up to the
interpretation of the individual woman according to their
particular experiences in the war. For example, many women
were fighting in front line battles, but others were also
integrating childbirth and marriage into their lives in the
EPLF. Along with a war needing to be fought, daily survival
work had to be done. Chores that were traditionally women's
work, such as cooking, cleaning and childcare, were shared by
both sexes, behavior that was highly abnormal in the rest of
society. Haleema responded to my question with a description
of what her perspective of the experience of women fighters
34
was. She was intent on making sure I understood the
egalitarianism.
HALEEMA
E - What was your experience like as a woman
in the EPLF.
A - First thing, I never knew myself as a
woman. I thought of myself as a man. You know
why, just like them I went to any, what you
call "trouble areas". So X can't say there is
a problem that I faced as a woman. I never
had any problems, except the general problems
we all faced together. ( both she and the
translator laugh hard)
E - Were you familiar with any problems that
women in particular experienced?
A - None of the women there experienced the
feelings of being a woman. We never said "we
are women and we are facing these problems".
We committed ourselves to all kinds of
difficulties. We expected the worst kinds of
problems and we were determined to overcome
those problems by any means. We persevered
just like the men did.
E - If women had to put aside their
traditional female behavior to function like
men, did men have to, at times, put aside
their traditional male behavior?
A - {much laughter) No, it's not like that.
You know that there is a habitual ideology
which is that a woman gives birth, that she is
weak and that women's work is quite different
from men's. But in our revolution, this kind
of ideology was destroyed. In the revolution,
the women couldn't be as a mother, someone who
cares for kids. Most of us didn't give birth,
(and become traditional wives) Most of us
participated in outdoor activities, (outside
the house) , do you understand me? And the men
participated with us.
So that doesn't mean that they have to destroy
their maleness. What I mean is usually
domestic work is for women in our society.
Tell me where you've heard of women leaving
their house (domestic sphere) for the field
except in the EPLF. That's what I mean, she's
got to be able to understand that.
E - If a woman did work like a man, did a man
do work like of a woman?
A - Yes, the men did. For example, we cooked
our food in rotation. If I cooked today,
Haile cooks tomorrow. If a woman cooks one
day, a man cooks another day. Besides,
considering the equality, we had faith among
us. The men believed in women's equality and
they tried to ensure that equality. And
similarly, the women adopted that belief and
carried it out together. For example,
consider the way we took care of a baby. If
the women is doing some work and the baby
needs to be taken care of, the man would just
take care of it. He either helps her with her
work so that she can take care of the baby, or
he takes care of the baby. It was really
great in the revolution.
PART V : WOMEN FIGHTERS IN POSTWAR ERITREA
Although most, if not all, women took with them a
commitment to gender equality when they left the field, the
revolution affected women in very different ways depending on
multiple factors such as age of entry, pre-EPLF socio
economic class and life-style, role in the organization, and
personality. There is no way of determining how much of
their self-perception, their identity, can be attributed to
the EPLF ideology or their experiences during the war. Did
they learn to be a certain kind of woman, given the
environment to self-actualize, or both. My interviews
suggest that the process of gender consciousness raising,
although implemented by the EPLF in a uniform manner for
fighters of both sexes, was experienced on a very individual
level. Therefore, it is important to look at these women's
36
lives and hear their words in the context of the post-war
conditions in order to assess the achievements and test the
permanence of the progressive social reforms of the EPLF.
Top positions in the army and even domestic work were shared
by both sexes in the revolution. But, to what degree is
there continuity for these women to participate and function
in civilian society as equals to their male comrades? To
what degree can these women self-actualize in a civilian
context? Many of the women I spoke with voiced varying
degrees of criticism of their transition into civilian life.
Returning to a rural village after liberation was
probably the most challenging for women fighters, and I heard
many stories of how family and fellow villagers put much
pressure on both men and women to conform to the civilian
ways. Some woman were moving back into roles as powerless
housewives and mothers. Some men were pressured to remarry
more "traditional" wives, although this decision to walk out
on their EPLF marriages may have been by choice in many
cases.
If the fighters did not relocate to their families'
homes in villages and smaller cities, the EPLF provided
temporary housing for the fighters in the capital city. But
returning to Asmara, which had been occupied until wars end,
fighters were still faced with a culture that could be
described as foreign to them. Wot only was there a heavy
Ethiopian influence deeply rooted within the social fabric,
37
but their unorthodox social positions as fighters in a
civilian culture made, and is making, reintegration quite
difficult, due to the length of time in the field and the
"culture clash". In the "field" they were functioning under
the EPLF ideology, as well as EPLF laws, as explained above.
But it will take time before these laws are written into the
constitution, implemented and enforced. Cultural traditions
and religion are rhetorically positioned as the new enemy in
many of the women's narratives.
The challenge that lies ahead is how these women
fighters will participate in society as women. In the EPLF
they participated as equals to men, but will they have that
opportunity in a civilian context? Many women want to
continue their efforts in the EPLF and begin to contribute to
the process of nation building through their jobs or by
independently organizing. Many want to start families yet
maintain the same gender egalitarianism they practiced in the
field. Some feel they want to make up for the time they
spent fighting a war to earn a degree or become qualified
professionally. Many do not have skills transferable to
civilian society. All of these postwar factors effect their
roles as women in civilian society. Mona discusses some of
these issues.
MONA
Even with us, we don't have as many rights
as we had in the field. For example, when we
were in the field there was no such thing as a
family unit. Everybody's objective was to
fight, to fight and die. A person is
considered a hero only if they performed their
38
duty properly and then died. You're
considered a hero if you give your life. So
be it in work or anything there was good
equality between men and women. [. . .] If I
compare [our revolution] to others in the
world ours was the best. I don't feel like
I'm exaggerating. I have read so much about
women in revolution in other countries and I
have the impression that ours was the
strongest.
But after liberation the equality is not
the same. [...] The eplf government was fair
and is fair now. [. . .] In fact, many women
are politicized from the field and they fight
for their rights individually. [...] But
what happened at this [time of] peace, is that
all the people who were in military positions
can no longer stay in those positions. They
have to be demobilized. But is it possible to
transfer all the military members and give
them civilian positions? Take education, for
example, because I worked very hard I reached
the stage to take the entrance exam (to the
university) but all women don't have these
kinds of opportunities. Some people went to
the field at 7th grade are still at a 7th
grade level. So now what position can you
give someone who has completed only 7th grade?
Can you find a good position for all these
people. All those women who spent their whole
lives fighting, may want to have children
before it's too late for them. The new
government is still forming, there is a .lack
of economic development or good salaries, [in
fact] we fighters are working without
salaries, and there is this construction of
the family [unit]... we just can't hold onto
women's rights the way we used to. It's
getting weaker and weaker.
Gender relations in the postwar period was an important
issue for discussion in reference to marriages and raising
children. EPLF marriages entailed a short wedding, one month
"honeymoon" and then the couple was stationed in separate
locations (personal conversations). The women described the
39
dynamics of these relationships, as equal in their decision
making, and childcare. The domestic sphere has always been a
controversial aspect of social revolutions. The family law
in Cuba in the mid-1970's, for example, which made both
parents legally responsible for the household and children
was the only one of its kind and not very permanent (Nazzari
1989: 109-127). I asked women about marriage, childcare and
domestic responsibilities today. Whether they were
unmarried, or married in the field or after liberation, they
all seem to seek an egalitarian dynamic in their
relationships in their household, and in their lifestyles.
EIiILTA
It has changed a bit now. If we don't
work hard, it can go on like that and get
worse and worse. We women have to fight for
our equality more and more. [...] For
example in the field if I have a husband we go
to the place where there is water and we wash
our clothes together. And sometimes if I have
to do something, he washes my clothes and his
clothes together, or if he has something to do
I wash our clothes together. If I can help
him in his work, I do it and he comes and
helps me if he can. But now it's not exactly
like this... for example no man can go and
wash his clothes, I mean there are very few
who remain as they were in the field. You
can't say it's because of this or that. I
think we are a bit confused at this time.
Even how to fight this.
NX JAT
I have a daughter in fact, and that was a
good experience for me because it's decisive
that you have a husband that understands the
women's problem. If not, nothing works,
whether you try or not. The main thing is our
daughter. Even though we try to treat her as
an equal and teach her this, for example, I
buy her cars, planes and not only dolls and
makeup. In fact I try not to attract her to
these things. I'm not a woman who wears
makeup. I'm not interested in that. She sees
how I act in the house and she tries to
imitate me, and I try to do all the jobs in
the house, I do the garden, I do the domestic
work, I have a bicycle and I try to take her
with me on the bicycle so that she understands
that she has to do all the jobs and nothing is
forbidden from her.
But she sees that sometimes ray husband
doesn't agree to do the domestic work and she
naturally understands that the domestic work
is only for women. That's the bad side of it.
So when you raise your children, you have to
agree with your husband to teach them in that
style or the other. If not it doesn't work
but I'm doing my best, (laugh)
HALEEMA
A - I have the confidence now, I can go
anywhere and express my ideas without shyness.
Besides, I'm independent. I don't depend on
my husband or on any other men. I'm
independent and I survive this way.
E - Are you married?
A - (laughs har'd) No, I'm not a married woman,
but what I'm saying is I have those kinds of
spirits and ideas.
PART VI : EPLF MEDIA - SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PROPAGANDA
The political and social agenda of the EPLF was
disseminated through multiple avenues. New recruits and
volunteers were be given military and ideological training
which included a political, historical and cultural education
constructed by the intellectuals of the movement. Those in
the liberated areas and the diaspora communities within
Africa and abroad were also exposed to this propaganda
(education if you will), through printed and audio-visual
41
material, and traveling performance troops, all of which
served informational and funding purposes. As was told to me
by Nijat, who held an EPLF position as a cameraperson, the
objectives (and effects) of the videos were many; to document
the war for historical purposes for the EPLF archive; to
circulate within Eritrea (for both fighters and civilians)
and throughout the diaspora communities abroad for
informative purposes and moral support. They also served the
purpose of fundraising from the Eritrean communities abroad,
who were the main source of financial support for the
struggle, and, to a lesser degree, to recruit fighters from
the outside.
Since the Eritrean liberation struggle was not
bached by any country militarily, donations from Eritreans
abroad were of great inportance, and video documents served
an important role in attracting these funds. The videos also
functioned as newsreels for the global community, although I
am not clear about the extent of whom their non-Eritrean
audience actually may have been during the war. Coverage of
the war in journals in Europe and North America was
inconsistent.
The participation and degree of military involvement of
women in the war was a part of this education and propaganda,
be it through print, radio, photography, film/video or
song/dance/drama performances. Originating in the Sahel, the
42
military headquarters of the EPLF, a radio signal called
"Dimtzi Hafash" (Voice of the Masses), functioned as
propaganda in multiple ways by broadcasting women's
achievements and effectively recruiting new fighters.
ASTER
In 1979 they started the clandestine radio
and I was working there since I knew the
Ethiopian language better than anybody else
they had. We had a radio program in Amharic
for the Ethiopian army. It was psychological
warfare that we were doing. We were telling
them that they should be [EPLF] fighters, that
we were not their enemies, it was the Derg who
was the enemy. We were playing them songs,
Ethiopian songs, so that they will reflect on
what they had left behind. We were very
successful because many [Ethiopian soldiers]
would surrender, even in the thousands,
because of the propaganda that we were
producing.
The other [radio program] played a big role
in women's participation in the front, because
it was always broadcasting the bravery of
women in the field, that they were doing
everything a man can do. And many women used
to come to join the struggle because of that
radio program. In our culture it's not very
easy for our [people] to believe that women
are equal. Some people were not happy about
their women, their children, their daughters,
going to the field because they had been
listening to this program. But many people
actually used to tell their women to go and
fight and win the war. So it was quite
successful in doing that.
in addition to the radio broadcasts the EPLF created the
National Union of Eritrean Women in 1975 to recruit women
into the struggle and achieve the social aspect of the
revolution regarding women (NUEWm 1980: 5-6). They grew with
a membership of fighters and civilians, spreading their
offices to Europe and North America. Magazines and
43
newsletters circulated within and outside Eritrea emphasizing
women's role in the revolution and updated members, and
potential members, on the achievements and goals of women's
rights in Eritrea.
Part of the process of change for the EPLF would entail
a critique of the culture to specify those traditions that
were not "progressive" {anti-revolutionary). In 1984 the
video section of the EPLF made a film, Ray of Liberation,
that included the many aspects of women's lifestyles in
Eritrea from the nomadic ethnic groups to women fighters.
One of the women I interviewed, Ruth, helped shoot, direct
and edit this video. We sat together and watched parts of it
as she explained that the objective was to show the
oppression of Eritrean women. During footage of women in the
countryside, she pointed out their tremendous workload and
how their husbands underestimated their labor. An ethnic
group of one of her colleagues (also a fighter) appeared on
the screen, and she joked that this was her life before the
EPLF. The video clearly pointed out the change of role for
women before and after their EPLF participation.
Along with audio-visual and radio broadcasts about
women, live performances by cultural troops organized by the
EPLF served to articulate the different nationalities within
Eritrea, intended to unify these nine ethnic groups, as well
as demonstrate the participation and conditions of women
fighters in drama, song and dance. (McCoy 1995: 29-31) These
performances were being utilized as propaganda, and a form of
cultural production. But they were also being used to break
traditions and create new ones, especially for women, who
were not accepted in these media and arts before the
revolution.
Today there are two all-women music bands in Eritrea,
comprised of fighters. One of these bands has recently
finished a tour throughout NE Africa, Europe and North
America. I saw this group perform twice in Asmara with full
houses. Haleema performed in a cultural troop in the EPLF
after many years in combat. She describes how music has
changed in Eritrea.
HALEEMA
There is a difference [in music today].
Let's consider our population, the Eritrean
inhabitants. Women musicians hardly existed.
Maybe there were l or 2, like those old women
such as "Tsaihaitu Beraki". But since the
Eritrean perception was very backwards, those
women were considered indecent, something like
street girls. People didn't have good
feelings about them.[...] But in the EPLF it
was different, very different. A lot of us
women learned about music. Since knowing
about the arts was a sign of development, a
lot of us women broke the traditional beliefs.
A lot of women artists were born, a lot of
women musicians were born. And those women
were being encouraged by the EPLF. So this
was a good development.
Within the EPLF organization, art sections were
established for illustration, painting, sculpting, etc. I
was told by an EPLF artist that at first they functioned for
purely propagandist!c purposes, but later their work branched
out after being encouraged by one of the EPLF leaders, isaias
Afwerki (who is now the interim president and whose brother
was also an artist) , to illustrate not just war related
images. There were temporary galleries constructed in the
field to exhibit the artwork to other fighters. I walked
through the EPLF painters gallery in the National War Museum
in Asmara with Elilta, an EPLF artist, images of fighters and
civilians in war, fighters socializing, fighter families, and
some paintings that were designed for poster conversion hung
on the walls of a small room adjacent to the gallery of guns,
grenades, launchers and even the original radio station
equipment. Posters were circulated both within and outside
the country.
Elilta had created several paintings to be turned into
posters illustrating women fighters in the field, in battle,
and the plight of civilian women during the war. One poster
in particular had made quite an impression on me, having seen
it in the home of some Eritrean friends in California over
several years. An extremely popular image, it was illegally
reproduced in Saudi Arabia and sold for profit when the
EPLF's supply ran out. It is a full frame image of a woman
fighter positioned on a mound, frozen mid-action with a
grenade in her right hand, a fierceness in her eyes and sweat
around her face. The background is full of tanks and
explosions, while she looks toward her enemy, stepping over a
46
dead Ethiopian soldier's body. She is dressed in the EPLF
fighter's attire, which consists of a khaki short sleeve
shirt, short khaki shorts, and rubber sandals made in the
field. This was painted during the Dergue's Red Star
Campaign, one of the most brutal offensives the EPLF endured.
This painting, among others, was sent to Europe for an
exhibition. The package was not insured and the paintings
were lost or stolen. Her painting suggests that the media of
art and communication were also used during the war to
reinforce the role and achievements of women in the
revolution. Elilta points out her motivations for painting
this image.
ELILTA
In that poster I wanted to tell that
Eritrean women were fighting with all their
efforts for the liberation of Eritrea. They
have used all their strength to eradicate
colonialism. She holds a grenade to kill an
enemy soldier, but [you can see that] she's
not happy about that in her face, she doesn't
look happy. She doesn't even look cruel. I
tried to make her human but you see
she's....she's doing it because she has to.
It can also be said that the women fighters themselves
served as role models demonstrating both the national and
social ideals of the revolution itself. They were organized
by the EPLF and NUEWm to develop a consciousness of women's
rights and revolutionary ideas in the civilians in the
liberated areas.
47
PART VII : IDENTITY AS WOMEN FIGHTERS IN MEDIA & ARTS
The interviews and conversions I had with women fighters
in Eritrea demonstrate a diversity of experiences before and
during the war. The one factor that they share in common is
their work in the media and arts, both in the EPLF (radio
journalist, Women's Union researcher, painter/sculptor,
musical performer, archivist, camerawomen, etc.) and in
postwar Eritrea (journal editor, journalist, researcher for
women's journal, artist, musician, TV camerawomen, and
researcher for the ministry of information). They were
assigned to these sections upon entering the EPLF. Some
volunteered, but others just accepted the positions given to
them. Many came without any experience or skill in these
fields. A few women told me about their initial
disappointment with not being assigned to the front lines.
They wanted to fight. However, all units were occasionally
needed in combat and these women have had their fair share of
battle experience.
Their roles were to document the war and disseminate the
ideology of the EPLF through these documents and creative
products. As women they brought a certain sensibility to
their work, which was gender-specific. Their gender may have
been utilized by the EPLF, such as with the camerawoman's
ability to enter the tents of nomadic women, a location
forbidden to men other than certain family members. Their
identity as women and as women fighters was also reflected in
48
their work. It was manifest in their creativity and within
the propaganda they produced as EPLF fighters. This is
evident in the subject matter of their work. Their roles as
camerawomen, artists, journalists, etc., became as much their
identity as being a woman and a women fighter. The EPLF was
largely responsible for this synthesis. As Elilta, the EPLF
artist, and I walked through the war museum, her explanation
and orientation of the war paraphernalia paralleled her tour
of the adjacent gallery with her two and three dimensional
artworks of women fighters. She was an artist, a
revolutionary and an Eritrean woman. Through her words,
these aspects of her identity were constantly interwoven.
Consider the words of these two women.
Haleema's short statement explains how the EPLF changed
her as a woman, how the confidence she accumulated helped her
participate as a strong fighter and, now as a musician.
During the day she works at the NUEWm as a staff member on
their journal, but her spare time is spent pursuing music
independently of the EPLF.
HALEEMA
It changed a lot of things for me. What I
mean is I went out when I was very young and
the backward {not progressive) traditions
didn't have much influence on me. I left
school when I was very young. Had I been
here in this society, I couldn't have been
what I am now. More than anything is the
confidence that I have. I am confident this
time, moreover, I believe that anything could
49
be done by a woman, anything which they say a
woman cannot do. For example, I could
participate in those battles. I knew that I
could go into those battles and even win. I
[have the confidence to] participate in the
arts too. I am a member of a band. We are
practicing tonight.
Some women have spent their entire lives, or a majority
of their lives, in the EPLF, growing up in the field and
growing old. Others participated for only a few years.
Shishaiy, for example, became a "fighter" in 1990. She was
very fortunate in her experience with the EPLF, since she
barely finished her military training, and her specialized
training in photography and video, when the war ended. She
now had a skill, very applicable to civilian life. At
liberation she was given the job as a cameraperson at the
television station. Many women who had given many more years
to the struggle have no work, and one could speculate on the
tension this type of situation may arise. In fact, one woman
even referred to the unfairness for those women with a great
deal of experience with the camera not being given the
position. I asked Shishaiy how participating in the EPLF,
even for such a short time, has changed her. She recognized
her good fortune, knowing that as a woman, a Muslim woman,
moderately educated, but unskilled, this opportunity would
never have existed before.
SHISHAIY
Well, me, I feel so good being a
camerawoman and I say I had a lucky day when I
50
went to the EPLF. X thank the EPLF a lot,
since I believe that I couldn't have gotten
the opportunity to be what I am now. X say it
was my lucky day.
PART VIII : WOMEN AMD MEDIA TODAY
A look at the post-revolutionary period will demonstrate
the degree to which the EPLF's ideals regarding women's roles
in society have been applied to the process of nation
building. In the postwar context the participation and
representation of women in cultural performances, the mass
media, the arts and research on women can be looked at as a
method of partly understanding the roles of women and the
perception of women in contemporary society. Furthermore,
the degree to which women have integrated into the
communication and information sectors of the nation partly
determines to some extent the amount of control they will
have over the dissemination of information regarding the
guarantee of gender equality in a civilian context, and the
power to affect change in society as a whole.
in postwar Eritrea, the most important issues of
concern to the former women fighters I spoke with were; 1)
the changing of traditions they perceive to be deleterious to
the equality of women, 2) assisting women fighters through
the transition into peacetime by ensuring their equality
through equal opportunity and organizing , and 3) ensuring
their own equality by holding work positions of power.
51
The first effort points to a continuation of the EPLF's
revolutionary agenda. The second and third efforts were
generated as responses to the needs of women in post-
revolutionary society.
The National Union of Eritrean Women researches and
publishes on women's issues. Although this was being carried
out during the war, their new independence from the EPLF has
enabled them to utilize funds at their own discretion.
However, the degree to which the Union is no longer under the
influence of the EPLF is debatable, and although members are
both civilians and fighters, the staff is still primarily
composed of fighters. Their goal, however, is to employ more
civilian women. Mona has worked with the NUEWm since 1990
and discusses here some of the changes and efforts of the
Union.
MONA
After liberation the National Union of
Eritrean Women became independent. Now the
main aim of the Union is on women's rights (as
opposed to recruitment). [...]. In our
research, health-care and in writing certain
articles about the Union, we spread ideas
among women, trying to make them qualified for
higher positions in the administration of the
various provinces.[...] The aim of Mosana (the
journal published by the Union) is to expose
the views of the Union and what it stands for,
what the Union approves, what the Union
rejects.
For example, in Eritrea there are so many
violations towards women and this is the
result of colonialism (Ethiopian). Even some
policies and laws are in disfavor of women. We
want to fight this, but to oppose these things
you have to unite in a Union. You can't
[fight this in small groups alone]... [...]...
For those who don't know about [the rights
women deserve], we have to unite them and
52
inform them, but they also have to learn about
it through reading. So there should be a
publications about what the Union stands for.
That's why we need the j ournal, Mosana. The
meaning of Mosana is "Tsamana" (our reward-the
fruits of our efforts). And the second
purpose of the journal is for women to share
their ideas with other women who are living
far away from the capital city. They have
this means of communication.
Aster, an ex-fighter who worked in the EPLF radio
station, is now the editor of The Eritrean Profile, an
English language periodical printed in Asmara and distributed
both throughout Eritrea and outside. She is an example of
how the positioning of women in the media directly effects
the issues that are covered in the press and the potential
for change.
ASTER
I see (the future of press in Eritrea)
positively, because I have seen the draft of
the press law, and it's very nice. I think it
will make us work hard (laughs)... this is
good. I have high hopes and the women that are
here are really... we're trying to help, we're
really trying to advocate for the women
question all over, in the radio, the
television, and this newspaper. We write
continuously on women things. And most of us
are fighters, ex-fighters, so it helps. When
[women ex-fighters] are heading something it
really helps because the men might tell us
that we can't print that. For example, every
week X have a "woman's question", or a
"women's issue", in my paper, and they say no
wonder, {laughs) it's because you are a woman.
Yes, I say, it's because I am a woman, I care
for that. So there are women now, ex-fighters
all over. I believe and I hope, that they are
really working to advance these things. It's
not only the women who have the problems, it' s
also the men.
53
Most of the women I interviewed were fortunate, getting
good positions in the Ministry of Information or the Women's
Union after the war. whether they were editors, journalists,
researchers, or artists, they all pursued the "women
question". There did seem to be a large degree of freedom to
publish, produce and circulate images, documents or articles
regarding women's issues. But to what degree are they
allowed to publish on any issue? My inquiry regarding the
publication or circulation of controversial material was met
with assurances from both a researcher for the women's
journal, Mona, and the editor of the Eritrean Profile, Aster,
that they have already been publishing controversial
articles, and followed this with examples, in fact, one such
article was published in the major newspaper just after my
arrival in Eritrea. I had the opportunity to talk with the
journalist herself.
The story was also broadcast over the radio, an
important medium if one intends to communicate with the
masses of Eritrean women, a majority of whom are illiterate.
She had also been encouraged by the Eritrean Profile editor
to get the story published in the newspaper, which is in the
two main languages, Tigrinya and Arabic. Her story covered a
legal battle between a mother and daughter who were suing a
group of elders they claim destroyed her virginity during the
"virginity check" on the day of her wedding. The
journalist's objectives were to force people to look not only
54
at the legal ramifications of these consequences, hut to
reconsider the cultural value of virginity altogether. She
received many calls and letters, both supporting and
criticizing her article. The process of socio-cultural
change is evident in the journalist's actions, but to what
degree the article will change the prevailing value system is
unpredictable.
In addition, the hotly debated topic of the
demobilization of fighters, especially women fighters, is
being covered in the journals as well. Although none of the
women were critical of the governments' approach, they were
critical of the lack of support these women had in their
process of demobilizing. Childcare for the children of
fighters, many of whom had full-time employment, was a
significant problem that the government has not yet resolved.
Aster published an article in the Eritrean Profile which
served as a medium to inform and advertise for a fundraising
event to build a kindergarten. They raised substantial
funding. This was probably one of the first major efforts
conducted by women, outside of the EPLF's, or the current
government's, initiative.
An analysis of the images of women in the media and
arts, and the women's issues exposed through the media and
arts, can provide a better understanding of the complex
subject of gender role and how these mediums are used to
55
initiate change. Further, the images of the women working in
these occupations can be a powerful influence, functioning
perhaps with a greater strength than words and pictures could
in promoting the idea of equal opportunity for employment,
achievement (whether it be as journalists or factory
workers), and education among the sexes, much like the women
fighters in the field influenced with their presence and
actions.
Aster spoke with recognition of her own "privileged"
position as an editor and was aware of the significance of
empowerment of women in these positions. She was raised in a
middle class family and educated in the united States. But
Shishaiy, a Muslim woman from the countryside had a very
different background. Working now as a camerawoman for the
television station, she wears Western clothing for her work,
yet appeared in traditional clothing of the Saho culture for
my videotaped interview. She talks about her influences as a
cameraperson. I asked her to tell me about the different
parts of her dress and her explanation illustrated her
intentions of both retaining her ethnic identity and breaking
some of the traditional rules to express her new identity as
a woman fighter.
SHISHAIY
E " How does your being a camerawoman
influence other women?
S - It does influence. For example, during
the referendum I had gone to a Saho village,
but not only Saho women, I know that all women
feel good to know that a woman is shooting
video. I have seen this and I know it. I
56
have to let those who don't know yet, realize
that a woman can participate in anything.
E - Could you discuss your clothing?
S - This dress is Saho culture dress and this
cloth is mostly worn on weddings but I got it
made in a fashionable way. So when I wear it
on holidays and when it exposes the Saho
culture, I like it.[...3 But all the women
dress their hair this way after marriage.
Before they get married, they always wear the
front hair top and side, and the rest
backwards. But after they are married they do
their hair like this. A lot of people ask me
why I do my hair this way when they know I'm
unmarried, but I like it - I'm pleased with
it. People consider wearing your hair this
way before marriage as a sin, but I am pleased
with these things. I like my culture. I
don't want to loose all nty tradition. I pick
what I think are the good ones and reject the
bad ones.
In the postwar context these women have found ways not
only to utilize their distinctive media to improve the
transition period for themselves and other women fighters and
to affect change on the rest of society, but also to
communicate what their experiences were like as fighters.
Although representations and experiences of women fighters
were circulated during the war as part of their
responsibilities in their particular positions, it takes on
new significance during peacetime, functioning as a method of
reminding the society at large how much they have contributed
to independence, and what their experiences were like as
described in retrospect. Elilta, the artist, had just
completed a new poster in August 1994. It was a women
fighter standing tall in khaki military clothing with a large
57
smile on her face handing an EPLF flag to an old man. He was
receiving it, bent over with age, saying the words "Now I can
die in peace". It was three years since liberation, but
still this image was appearing for sale in stores and for
display in shop windows. Perhaps it would sell like her
other one. Nijat, the camerawoman, had plans of her own:
NIJAT
I had a friend who came from England and we
worked together in the field. We had worked
on a film[script] about women in Eritrea and
all the history involved. We worked on it for
a long time, since 1970. It's about three
women [and] it begins in the field of course,
before independence. The story [...] shows
different experiences of these women, and what
kind of women came to the field. Many came
because they opposed their marriage, some from
Asmara. We used the example of a women who
was a clandestine member of the EPLF. She had
killed an Ethiopian general to join the front.
Another came from outside of Eritrea because
she was fed up with refugee life. These three
people meet in the field, and the film follows
their experiences as fighters. It was a long
contract (script), but if I have the chance to
do I would be happy. Last year I went to a
media course from the United Nations and when
I came back I went to London and I met her.
We're still working on it, we're trying to
make it clear and to present it as a project.
But we still [need] someone to finance it.
That is what I will do.
The ability to actualize the dreams and intentions these
women have with their lives may take some time. Their
creativity and their messages, as part of their identity, was
established in the revolutionary context. There is a tension
in some of their positions as government employees and as
women with agendas for change. For example, Nijat, spoke to
58
me about the conflict between her role in the media and the
representation of reality, suggesting that she was no longer
willing to produce messages to support a particular political
position, but had to be true to what she saw around her.
NIJAT
Well you feel a lot of responsibility.
Even though there's a lot of problems inside
the government, sometimes you want to hide it,
as if you are attacked, you want to defend the
government, because the government is a part
of and you are part of the government.
Sometimes you want to tell the truth and to
struggle against it because it's for the
interest of the people. But there are some
sides of it that you want to defend even
though there is a discrepancy, because you are
part of it and you have spent all your life in
the front. When there is an opposition
against the government, you feel that it's
being attacked and you have to defend it. You
feel some responsibilities.
But now things have gone better and we see
the reality more than before. But at the
beginning we just wanted to... because there
was a lot of complaints from the people and
that's natural, it takes a lot of time to
coordinate the people and the government who
are different things. And this is our
problem, we have to do that, we are the
coordinators, we are the media and we have to
do the job of inter-mediating the government
and the people. Now I feel that I have to do
the right thing and if I'm not convinced with
reality , I feel that I have to just let it be
instead of defending what is not real.
Eritrea's state of underdevelopment directly effects the
opportunities for women. There is a gap between their dreams
and the possibility of following them. There is a tension
between their roles as women fighters and their ability to
control their own destiny. Many women are still members of
59
the EPLF and are not getting paid for their work in the
ministries and Women's Union yet due to the national
financial situation. The EPLF artist wants to get formal
training in the US but is unable to get funding to do so.
However she did get a position as an art teacher in the art
school after I left. The Women's Union researcher I
interviewed is now in California. Prior to her work with the
Union in the field, she was an EPLF barefoot doctor. However,
it provided her with no license to practice medicine, and
therefore little freedom to change her employment in the
future. She hopes to earn a nursing degree to bring back to
Eritrea. Her narrative is complex in that it expresses a
recognition of her accomplishments but sees limitations in
her future due to her lack of schooling. She desires the very
opportunity she has fought for during the past 16 years of
her life.
HONA
I see my opportunity in two ways and there
is a good part of it and a bad part of it. Me
as a person, I never kneeled down for the
colonization. I'm really proud of myself for
understanding the situation and knowing the
consequences even at a very young age and for
joining the front and spending my whole life
there. It makes me so proud for not kneeling
down to the enemy and my position was good
there {in the front) Everything ended well.
What I mean is I'm proud to free my country.
But when I see the opposite side of it, if I'm
to talk about my personal situation, I joined
the front when I was very young. I was
extremely good in school. And now we are
living in times where education is very
important. Though I don't have a certificate,
I am confident that I know many things. But
because I'm not formally educated, don't have
special skills, nor a certificate or license,
60
I am limited in the jobs I can get and I don't
have the flexibility to change jobs if the one
I have is not suitable.
Now I'm saying this because the question of
death is gone and what we are left with is a
question of life. We have the freedom and
when I think of my future even if I don't feel
like I've wasted my time, I feel like my
future could have been better had I not gone
there, especially in terms of education. I'm
not concerned with wealth but with education.
The poor economy provides slim educational opportunities
and few jobs. However, vocational training schools are in
the planning to provide not only for Eritrean youth but to
train those fighters whose field skills were not transferable
in a civilian context. The process of nation building will
be a long one. Housing is being constructed for fighters
still living in military barracks around the country and for
those in the diaspora to return to Eritrea. The issue of
carrying out a full social revolution, which includes the
providing of opportunities and rights for all women, is being
dealt with in the drafts of the constitution. But the gap
between the role of women in the civilian culture, even
though it has changed since the early days of the war, and
the revolutionary women, is the biggest challenge they may
face. The future of women is also intricately tied with the
economy and state of development in Eritrea.
On a more personal level, the ability of these women to
function and express themselves as the women they have become
is somewhat dependent on their reintegration process, their
opportunities, and the development of gender relations and
61
women's rights in the post-revolutionary period.. In turn,
this transition is directly effected by their use of the
media. The degree to which they are able to self-actualize
corresponds partly to the extent of their ability to
participate as women, revolutionaries and art-media
professionals.
As I walked around the city between my interviews,
social appointments and explorations, I looked for women
fighters. I saw few women patrons in the multitude of cafes
around the city. Ever so often I would see a woman or two
walking arm and arm and easily recognize them as fighters,
with their hair in an unkempt loose Afro wearing an army
green overcoat. Just wearing "men's style" clothing alone
was an easy identifier. I was surprised not to be seeing them
more often, there had to be 1000's of them in this small
city. Most women in the highlands wear white or colored
shawls (netsellas) wrapped around their heads and torsos. But
I soon realized that many of the women that appeared to be
Eritrean visitors from abroad, or simply more "modernized" in
their clothing were actually fighters. They were everywhere,
the streets, offices of the ministries, talking on comers,
just not where I had expected them to be, in the Italian
coffee shops that were monopolized by men, making me even
reluctant to patronize. Aside from their work, I wondered
what kind of affect they would they have in the public sphere
on the civilian youth of postwar Asmara?
REFERENCES CITED
Cliffe, Lionel & Basil Davidson, eds. 1988. The Long Struggle
of Eritrea: for Independence and Constructive Peace.
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Nazzari, Muriel 1989, "The Women Question in Cuba: An
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San Francisco Chronicle 1993, "Eritrea Declares Independence
From Ethiopia After Landslide Vote", April 28, 1993.
Tseggai, Araya 1988, "The History of The Eritrean Struggle",
in The Long Struggle of Eritrea for Independence and
Constructive Peace. Eds. Lionel Cliffe and Basil
Davidson, The Red Sea Press: New Jersey.
Wilson, Amrit 1991, Women and the Eritrean Revolution: The
Challenge Road. The Red Sea Press : New Jersey.
64
GENERAL REFERENCES
Association for African Women for Research and Development,
1992 Women and the Mass Media, APARD-AAWORD : Dakar.
Anani, Elma Lititia, Alkaly Miriama Keita and Awatef Abddel
Rahman 1981. Case Studies from Sierra Leone, the Niger
and Egypt. African Training and Research Centre for
Women, Women and the Mass Media in Africa : Addis Ababa.
Charlton, Sue Ellen M., Jana Everett, and Kathleen Standt,
Eds. 1989, Women, the State and Development. State
University of New York : New York.
Di Leonardo, Micaela, ed. 1991, Gender at the Crossroads of
Knowledge: Feminist Anthropology in the Postmodern Era.
University of California Press : Berkeley, CA.
Gebre-Medhin, Jordan 1989, Peasants and Nationalism in
Eritrea. The Red Sea Press : New Jersey.
Gluck, Shema Berger & Daphne Patai, eds. 1991, Women's
Words: The Feminist Practice of Oral History. Routledge
: New York.
Hafkin, Nancy & Edna G. Bay, Eds. 1976, Women in Africa:
Studies in Social and Economic Change. Stanford
University Press : California.
Hammond, Jenny with Niel Druce, Eds., 1990 Sweeter Than
Honev: Ethiopian Women and Revolution. Testimonies of
Tigravan Women. The Red Sea Press : New Jersey.
Herrmann, Anne & Abagail J. Stewart, eds. 1994, Theorizing
Feminism: Parallel Trends in the Humanities and Social
Sciences, Westview Press : Boulder, Colorado.
Keller, Edmond and Donald Rothchild, Eds. 1987, Afro-Marxist
Regimes: Ideology and Public Policy. Colorado : Lynne
Reinner Publishers.
Keneally, Thomas 1989, To Asmara. Warner Books : New York.
Kruks, Sonia, Rayna Rapp and Marylin B.Young, Eds. 1989,
Promissory Notes: Women in the Transition to Socialism.
Monthly Review Press : New York.
Langness, L.L. and Gelyla Frank. Lives: An Anthropological
Approach to Bibliography. Chandler & Sharp Publishers,
Inc. : Novato, CA.
65
Levine, Donald N. 1974, Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a
Multiethnic Society. University of Chicago Press :
Chicago.
Marcus, George E. and Michael Fischer 1986, Anthropology as
Cultural Critique: An Experimental Moment in the Human
Sciences. The University of Chicago Press : Chicago.
Mohanty, Chadra Talpade, Ann Russo & Lourdes Torres, Eds.
1991, Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism.
Indiana University Press : Indianapolis, IN.
Randall, Margaret 1981, Sanding7s Daughters: Testimonies of
Nicaraguan Women in Struggle. New Star Books :
Vancouver, B.C.
Randall, Margaret 1994, Sandino's Daughters Revisited:
Feminism in Nicaragua: Feminism in Nicaragua. Rutgers
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Reiter (Rapp), Rayna, ed. 1975, Toward an Anthropology of
Women. Monthly Review Press : New York.
Research and information Center on Eritrea 1982, The Eritrean
Case; Proceedings of the Permanent People's Tribunal of
the International League for the Rights and Liberation
of Peoples. Session on Eritrea, Milan, Italy May 24-26,
1980, RICE : Rome, Italy.
Rowbotham, Sheila Women in Movement. 1992, Routeledge :
London.
Silkin, Trish 1983, "Eritrea: Women in Struggle." Third
World Quarterly. Volume 5 #4 pp. 909-913.
Tesfagiorgis, Gebre Hiwet 1993, Emergent Eritrea: Challenges
of Economic Development. The Red Sea Press : New Jersey.
The Personal Narrative Group, Eds. 1989. Interpreting Women's
Lives: Feminist Theory and Personal Narratives. Indiana
University Press : Indianapolis, IN.
Unesco 1987, Women and Media Decision-Making: The Invisible
Barriers, United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization, Paris.
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1970-90, U.N. : New York.
66
Urdang, Stephanie 1989, And Still They Dance: Women. War, and
the Struggle for Chancre in Mozambique, Monthly Review
Press : New York.
Urdang, Stephanie 1979, Ficrhtinq Two Colonialisms: Women in
Guinea-Bissau. Monthly Review Press : New York.
Vickers, Jeanne 1993, Women at War. Zed Books : London.
Warren, Carol A. B. 1988, Gender issues in Field Research.
Sage Publications : Newbury Park, CA.
Wilson, Amrit 1991, Women and the Eritrean Revolution: The
Challenge Road , The Red Sea Press : New Jersey.
Wolf, Margerie 1985, Revolution Postponed. Stanford
University Press : Stanford, CA.
Yohannes, Okbazghi, 1991 Eritrea. A Pawn in World Politics.
University of Florida Press : Gainesville, FL.
67
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Asset Metadata

Creator Egensteiner, Eva Beth (author)

Core Title The dream becomes a reality (?): nation building and the continued struggle of the women of the Eritrian People's Liberation Front

School Graduate School

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Visual Anthropology

Degree Conferral Date 1995-08

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag anthropology, cultural,history, African,OAI-PMH Harvest,women's studies

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Cooper, Eugene (committee chair), Hodge, Carroll A. (committee member), Simic, Andrei (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c18-1083

Unique identifier UC11357899

Identifier 1376450.pdf (filename),usctheses-c18-1083 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 1376450-0.pdf

Dmrecord 1083

Document Type Thesis

Rights Egensteiner, Eva Beth

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA