Hush Woman!
I was invited to a meeting yesterday. I was supposed to tell them about my project. I got there only to find out that the meeting was this kind of meeting…
Oh horror! I was a unique figure among all these men!
When my turn came to speak, Tayseer gave me the microphone. The moderator, a man who is sitting at that far corner, yelled “Tayseer! We don’t have time, pass the microphone to a more important person!” …
I was horrified! This man did not even know who I was, did not know what I wanted to say… he had never seen me in his life!When he realized that the microphone was with me and he could do nothing about it, he said “My sister, we don’t have time, BE brief!…” As if women only go to these meetings to blabber…
Had he been less disagreeably misogynist, I should have listenedsweetly, and stopped at thirty seconds! I had been sitting for two hours, listening to these boring men, blabbering, spending half their time just going through the required social pleasantries.
Oh boy… the moment I got my hands on the microphone, I decided that I was sick and tired of these men’s bullshit! And therefore decided to tell them ALL what they need to know about the project … not my 30 second note that I had spent the night before preparing!
Tayseer was waiting patiently, as if I was a naughty kid eating chocolate with dirty hands. Not knowing whether he should snatch the microphone or just wait till I finish…
The moment I finished, he took it from me, and moved quickly as if he was holding on to a diamond and was afraid it will be taken away from him, he then simply passed it to a more important person… who started with the required social pleasantries!
I don’t know if anyone listened and frankly it does not matter one bit. I felt good; I managed to amuse myself, saying what I wanted to say…I refused to be intimidated by all these men, and I left with my head held high… After 2 hours there, I became certain that what I was brining to that table was much more interesting and much more effective than some of these men could ever dream of achieving.
Go Mariam, you tell ‘em!
That pretty much could have happened anywhere in the world - to a more or less extreme. Just be who you are and listen to your own drums.
Makes you wonder why men still think they are all that. Women only talk if they think it’s important and meaningful, men, however, just talk.
Miss ya lots,
the older woman.
You know, it’s men like that who give all of us men a bad name!
Can I just cheer, DON’T HUSH, lady!
Actually, Linda, I’m still trying hard to figure out how that “makes you wonder why men are all that”?! It’s not a gender-specific character. It’s rather cultural.
Ameen, do disagree here. I’ve seen the exact same behavior in numerous Western European companies, so it cannot just be a cultural thing. Coming to think of it, sure my comment was a bit generalized for the mere purpose of amusement and I’m sorry if I offended you, but I still wonder why a lot of men think they’re all that …
Good for you!! seriously i take my hat off to you, its not easy to take the stance you did
BTW, out of curioust (so am sure u will understand ;)) did they try to shush any of the men?
Hi Mariam. It’s so nice to read your posts again!
I wish you would’ve given the moderator a piece of your mind
Good for you Mariam saying what you wanted to say in spite of the jerk who wanted to make you feel small and unimportant! I hope that some of the men there appreciated your presence and actually listened to what you talked about.
Now, I am interested to know what you said. Would you please tell us about your project?
These mentalities think this way:
———–
1. A Woman and
2. A successful problem solver to our community day to day issues.
No no no..disregard no.2..stick to no.1
oh!the shame! who let her in!!
———–
or they don’t see no.2 at all? hmmm
Hey Linda,
Have not seen you in such a long time. Have been thinking about you lately… maybe i should simply write you a long email. Love
Qwaider, if there is one thing i know, it is the fact that not all people are the same… no worries, i won’t be hushed easily
thanks for the support.
Ammen, have picked up a Pamuk book based on one of your old recommendations… i don’t remember which book you recommended, but i picked out the red book… if you can remember what is a good Pamuk book, do let me know
Loolt, of ycourse they did not try to hush any of them… they were all important! actually i felt very amused by Tayseer while i was speaking, that i did not feel nervous at all… the whole scenario was simply ridiculous
Oleander, it so so nice to read your comments again
i swear to you, i was very close, but decided to bite my tongue last minute… I was thinking that if i started giving him a lecture, i would be falling into their trap… and decided to act like (what imagined a man would do) i bit the bullet and kept cool.
David… i seriously don’t care! if they did not listen, it is their loss… i will have to write all about the project in a different place…
Mr.Anonymous… Actually i am almost sure they wondered who let me in
it was seriously hillarius… i can’t find any better word to explain the situation 
Ridiculous. The only way to deal is what you did - get in their face. Quite sad. Curious to know what the setting/event was and what the topic was?
Well,
It was a meeting that gathered the represenatitives of the civil sosiety at Wadi Al seer…
It included people from the administration, tribes elders, police representatives, municipality people, big families… it was interesting…
I did not know that we have those kind of meetings for different areas… and i am surprised that they don’t include women, when are supposedly discuissing the needs of the area.