This March 8 is International Women's Day(IWD). On the eve of this IWD, I just wish to mention the accomplishments of some international women(Including some of our own Bangla women) in areas that are considered physically and mentally challenging. These areas were (and still is to a great extent) male dominated and a general misperception exists (even among many women) that only men can excel in these areas. In this context I am reminded of a riddle I used to hear in my childhood days. It goes like this. A boy who doesn't have a father is admitted to the hospital for surgery after suffering serious injury in an accident. On arrival to the operation theater the surgeon cries out "he is my son!". How could this be when the boy doesn't have a father?. That a surgeon could be a women probably was inconceivable at one time. Unfortunately it still is the case to some extent. The fact is that women's progress in these areas do not make news headlines or do not appear regularly in news dailies, so there isn't much scope for changing this perception. Women do not only possess equal strength and intellect they also have the equal potential to misapply them as well like men. My companion essay A Critical Look at Gender and Feminism, focuses on that aspect. This writeup will focus on the positive aspect only.
Let me cite some inspiring historical facts on women's ability and then move on to more recent times. The talk of war, enemy, generals, soldiers, freedom figheters etc subconsciously conjures up images of men in one's mind. But history testifies against that perception. Long ago the Zenata Berber tribe, led by the woman Kahina (prophetess) in North Africa defeated the Muslim Army led by General Hassan Ibn Naaman during Umayyad Caliph Abdul Malik Ibn Merwan in 695 AD. Women warriors have been dubbed "Amazons" in history. Amazons were once common in the East African nation of Dahomey,currently known as Benin. During the early part of eighteenth century King Agadja formed an army constituted with these Amazons, which was later expanded, trained and rearmed by King Gezo. These Amazons were elite fighters who were known for their valour and skill. In the latter part of nineteenth cnetury the Dahomey Amazons fought for King Behanjin against the invading French army. The French ultimately won due to their superior weapons and supply. The Amazons of the Khampa tribe of East Tibbet known as Ahosis, were engaged in a freedom struggle against Communist China for a long time. They fought with courage in 1950, 1956 and 1959 against Chinese invasion. The 1956 fight against Chinese invasion was led by a young and shy Khampa woman named Dorji Yudon.
Now let us focus on our own Indian subcontinent. First we have to mention the story of Sultana Razia, daughter of Iltutmis, who ascended the throne in Delhi in 1236 AD amidst fierce opposition by the nobles against women's rule, but was appointed nevertheless by them due to total misrule by her incompetent brother Rukanuddin, who inherited the throne even though Iltutmis had chosen Razia as his successor. Razia unlike her brother showed remarkable skill and foresight in managing Delhi's throne. Sadly she was killed in a conspiracy by her ministers during and after her attempt to quel a rebellion by Altunia, ruler of the province of Sarhind (who she later married). Mention needs to be made of another Sultana, namely Chand Sultana of 16th Century A.D, daughter of Hossain Nizam Shah, the third Nizam of Ahmednagar. When her nephew Sultan Ibrahim Nizam Shah died in an accident, the nobles appointed his infant son Bahadur Sultan Shah under the regency of Chand Sultana. She carried out her regal duties quite efficiently. During this time the Mughals invaded and seized AhmedNagar fort. She defended Ahmednagar against the Mughal with courage and tactfulness despite the trouble and conspiracy within her regency. Another valiant Indian woman was queen Durgavati. She was the wife of King Dalpat of Gaur Katanga province (In current Madhya Pradesh). Aftre her husband's death in 1548 she took over the reign of the state, and assumed the guardianship of her 5 yearl old son Bir Narayan. She ruled for 16 years with remarkable tact and generosity. At that time she defeated the army of Malava's Raja Bahadur and Afghan army. She also had interest in hunting tigers with guns and arches, and was quite skilled at both. When King Asaf Khan of Elahabad, under orders from Akbar attacked her territory in 1564, she launched a defensive war against his army. She herself fought valiantly seated on an elephant and continued to fight even after being shot with an arrow. Eventually she committed suicide knowing that defeat was inevitable. Much later we read the story of Lakkhi (Laxmi) Bai, the queen of Jhansi (in Madhya Pradesh). She bravely resisted the invasion of Lord Dalhousie's British army, and led her rebel troops against him, making the supreme sacrifice in the battle (in 1858).
Now let me focus on our own Bangla/Bengal. Whenever we talk about armed freedom struggle in India against the British rule most of us think of sepoy mutiny. But what many do not know is that about a century earlier there was a mass armed uprising in Bengal and Bihar against the colonial British East India company. The amazing thing about that struggle was that the foot soldiers of that struggle were the saints and peripatetic mendicants. Thats why it is known as the Fakir-Sannyasi rebellion. In Rangpur this culminated into a peasant's uprising in 1783. A legendary Bangla woman known as Rani Chaudhurani was the key protagonist in that uprising. She led an armed invasion by the ryats against the tax collecting British lackey King Debi Singh and forced him to flee. The story of Rani Chaudhuarni is recorded in the memoirs of lieutenant Brennan of British army based on a letter to him by the collector of Rangpur. Her story also inspired a novel by Bankim Chandra in his famous "Devi Chaudhurani" and also a movie by that name much later.
we also read about the bravery of Pritilota Waddadar (1911-1932) , Surja Sen's able companion rebel against the colonial British. Not many know that she also earned a BA degree with distinction from Calcutta University in 1932 and was appointed the headmistress of Nanda Kanan school in Chittagong at the young age of 22. Most know about her famous attack of the European Club in Pahartoli(Chittagong) on September 4, 1932. She committed suicide by cyanide poisoning during that attack.
Now let us revert to modern warfare. Women's induction in the combat sector of armed forces is a new phenomenon not just in Bangladesh but even in the western world. In Bangladesh combat role was opened up for women for the first time in 1994. In the international arena, the first woman air force fighter pilot to break the sound barrier was Jacqueline Cochran of US air Force in 1953 flying an F-86 saber jet. Women were barred from active participation in combat role in US armed forces until 1991 when congress passed a bill approving it. Utilizing that new opening Martha McSally not only passed out successfully as a Thunderbird fighter pilot, but also earned the priviledge of commanding a Thunderbird squadron in 1994, a first for a woman. Holland's Manja Block became the first woman in the world to command the sophisticated F-16 fighter. In US the first woman to pilot an F-16 was Jackie Parker in 1994. After this black female F-16 fighter pilot Christina Hopper became the first woman to actually participate in a combat operation. She took part in bombing operations in Iraq war. After completeing 50 air operations and 800 hours of flying she became an instructor and is engaged in training both male and female F-16 fighter pilots. Women are not lagging behind in navy either. Kathleen McGrath became the first woman to lead a frigate to operation in the sea as a commander. She commanded the frigate USS Jarrett with 262 crew in the Persian gulf. Women are still barred from joining as a submarine crew in US navy due to the close work environment in a submarine. So women do not have the opportunity to show their capability in submarine operation. But there being no such bar in Norwegian navy, Solveig Krey easily proved that she can command a submarine by becoming the first woman submarine commander of Kobben S318 submarine in 1995. She was the only female crew of that submarine.
Women have achieved success in civilian air and sea navigation
as well. Karin Janson of Sweden became the first woman captain
of a major cruise ship, the 2400 passenger Royal Carribean
cruise ship "Monarch of the Seas". Women in civil aviation is
historically not a new thing. They have been involved in it
since the thirties. Amelia Earhart created a record for flying
solo across Atlantic in 1932. Geraldine Mock became the first
woman to fly solo around the globe in 1964. I always feel a
sense of awe everytime I fly on a Boeing-747 airplane. I wonder
how challenging it must be to be in command of such a behemoth
of a plane. Here also women have not retreated from such a
commanding task. Beverly Burns in 1984 became the first full
captain of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet. Susan Darcy, who become a
full-fledged captain of a 747 series in 1989, also was the
first woman to become a full captain of the most sophisticated
and computerized Boeing-777 in 1995. Darcy was also the lead
pilot on the final Boeing 777-200 to enter flight testing.
Earler to this, she also achieved captain status on the Boeing
737 in 1987 and 757/767 in 1989. Darcy is cross-trained as an
instructor on the 737, 757, 767, 747-400 and 777 airplanes. She
has done flight instruction as well as flight testing in the
United States, Europe and Asia. One can see a picture of Darcy
on a Boeing 777 cockpit here.
Our Bangali women are not lagging behind in civil aviation either.
Captain Yasmeen Rahman of Bangladesh Biman became the first Asian
woman captain of DC-10 aircraft in 1991. At that time even UK didn't
have a woman captain of DC-10. She has another achievement to her
credit. She worked for 5 years as a professional architect (She
has a degree in architecture as well) after her five year career as
airline captain ended prematurely due to politically motivated forced
retirement, and then rejoined flying career again as airline captain
in 2001.
Let me now focus on women's achievement in space flight.
The toughest, riskiest job for any human in terms of skill and knowledge is known to be commanding a space shuttle. Commander Eileen Collins has demonstrated that she can do that when she led the 1999 Columbia Space Shuttle mission as it's commander. (Click here for a picture of Eileen Collins in action). Before that she was the commander of C-141 Starlifter transport plane of US Airforce. Recently in September 2007 history was made during the rendezvous of Space Shuttle Discovery with International Space Station(ISS), where the commander of both were women. Pamela Melroy commanded Discovery and Peggy Whitson was in command of ISS. One of the toughest physically challenging job is that of an astronaut. Besides so many American women astronauts, we had Indian born Kalpana Chawla, who lost her life prematurely in the tragic Columbia disaster. She was not only a Nasa astronaut scoring 252 orbits around the earth, but a PhD as well. Another PhD astronaut Shannon Lucid at one time created record for staying longest period in space. Jennifer Harris was the mission manager for Sojourner Pathfinder(Robot landing on Mars). And finally not to forget that the first woman to become an astronaut was again a PhD, Dr. Sally Ride in 1983.
Let us come back down to earth from space, first in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh's noted personality and intellectual Prof Abdullah Abu Saeed
once said during an interview that his childhood dream was to become
a train driver (also known as locomotive engineer, specially in US).
Well, his dream may not have come true, but Miss Salma Khatun has
managed to fulfil her same dream by becoming the first woman loco
engineer of Bangladesh. In US the first woman locomotive engineer
was Evelyn Newell at age 28 in 1974. In Bangladesh, the name of
Papiya must be mentioned. She was the first (Seems like the last)
to dare to try to earn a living by pulling a Rickshaw in Dhaka
city. She carried male passengers too, not just female. Her
story was covered by Daily Star reporter Shehab Ahmed under the
title "Tale of a Courageous Girl", probably between 1997-9,
I am not sure about the date. One can look at the scanned image
of that report by clicking here.
In intellectual pursuit women have no less impressive a record. Going back in ancient times we hear the story of Hypatia of Alexandria ca. 355 AD, who earned her reputaation in mathematics and astronomy. She used to teach mathematics and astronomy at the Neoplatonist school. She was known for her wit, knowledge, beauty and oratory skills. In her time knowledge used to be seen as some sort of paganism by the religious orthodox and she was eventually lynched by an enraged mob goaded by the Christian monk Cyril. It is accpeted that intellectually the most difficult thing to master is the String theory of Physics. This field holds the promise for the ultimate theory of everything. Even nobel Laureate physicist Weinberg is intimidated by its formidable mathemmatical complexity by his own admission. Young string physicist Eva Silverstein has mastered string theory quite thoroughly. Another string physicist Lisa Randall who has been engaged in the research of advanced aspects of higher dimensions of space. One of her theory is that the weakness of gravitational force is due to the existence of a latent higher dimension of space, and if that higher dimensions of space are factored in the equation, gravity would not appear to be weak after all. All this may sound simple but a lot of formidable math lurks underneath to derive and express such findings. Prior to String theory High Energy Physics was the physicist's darling and the most sophisticated area. Chinese born female physicist C.S. Wu in 1956 by a clever experimental design verified the theory of Parity violation in weak interaction, which was propounded by her male Chinese counterparts Yang and Lee. That paved the way for the award of Nobel prize for the two Physicists. She did not shere the Nobel prize but nevertheless her contribution to the verification of this profound discovery was crucial. Some women scientists have been subjected to gender discrimination. Biologist Barbara McClintock discovered transposons ("Jumping gene") in corn in the 40's, but got the recognition and Nobel prize for it in 1983 when she was 81! She got her PhD from Cornell in 1927 but remained unemployed for many years due to gender discrimination. Finally she got employed in the reputed Cold Springs Harbour Laboratories and scientists finally recognized the importance of her work of the 40's. Many might have heard about the mysterious stuff called Dark Matter in popular astronomy. It was Vera Rubin who first theorized it's existence through measurement of velocity distribution in spiral galaxies.
Here's an inspiring historical anecdote of Amalie Noether (Physics savvy folks should know about Noether's theorem, one of the most profound theorems in Physics, with deep philosophical implications). Mathematicians know her through her Noetherian rings, Noetherian Transformation theorem etc. The anecdote is taken from p-572, "Superstrings and other things" by Carlos Calle.
Amalie Noether, got her PhD with Summa Cum Lauda from all male university of Erlangen in 1907. She was not accepted at the university of Gottingen to work on Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. Professor Hilbert, the lone contrarian among the faculty, however allowed her to lecture in his class arguing that why should gender be an argument against admissiom?. We are a university, not a bathing establishment, he argued!. She was finally admitted as an instructor in 1919.
Let us focus our attention on a different domain. The terms boss, CEO, President etc conjures up the image of a man with a strong personality in the minds of many. Forbes magazine lists the 100 most powerful women every year. The list covers women in top positions like CEO, CFO, President etc. I ahve compiled some names from various years. Some of them may not be current anymore. But the fact that did occupy such positions at one time certainly proves that women are capable of performing such high demand jobs, which is the point of my essay. And also this list proves that despite the proverbial glass ceiling that women face, the fact remains that women have succeeded in climbing up the corporate ladder by sheer dint of their competence. The glass ceiling is not unbreakable.
And finally we should not forget to mention Bangladeshi woman Dr. Irene Khan, president of Amnesty International, who is the first woman, first Asian and first Muslim to head this organization.
Needless to say I have omitted many more competent women who have made significant achievements in these and other fields like mountaineering(where Bangladeshi woman have also made great strides), undersea explorations and other areas. It is not possible to cover all in an exhaustive way. But I hope this modest attempt to highlight women's achievement will suffice to prove the main theme of this essay.
Readers may have noticed I have refrained from listing political leaders (like prime ministers, presidents etc) because such positions do not necessarily reflect merit as is so clearly demonstrated in the case of Bangladesh. There are exceptions of course.
