Here is the thing about us North Africans ,
We tend to glorify some parts of our History and deny others , Like referring to Kahna or Elissa and Hannibal is a must but discussing the issue of slavery is a big no no .
We as a Nation spread across the north of an Epic Continent we prefer to live in denial , we welcome the invader and embrace their cultures , when some people try to speak out we shun them and overlook the issue as if it doesn't matter and that we should look past it .
For a Nation to grow and thrive it has to come to terms with its past in the first place whether that past is beautiful/positive or Ugly/negative
I am not saying don't honor Kahna or Hannibal , but what i am saying is don't overlook the negative bits of our common history whether under the Turkish rule or the french occupation or even later on in the timeline ...
The thing that steered and drove me to write this article is the Buzz that few pictures of native -nude- women had. Nowadays instead of dealing with the real issue and discussing slavery we are going to another extreme that of sexualizing the content of the pictures instead of looking deeper and wondering why were they naked in the first place .
I couldn't help but notice the amount of shares and comments that ranged from "this is pornographic content /this is pedophilia " to those treating it as "vintage art " and that such a thing is a common in our past . well its definitely not the norm back then .
Then there is me thinking about social stigma and social issues that those pictures represent and arise from those forcibly smiling faces .
here is a link to the orignal article/set of pictures that i am referring to " Article/pictures "
Here are some points I want to clarify :
1- I don't find any of it sexual or pornographic
2- nudity wasn't a common thing
3 -those Native women didn't choose to be naked , or pose naked for those western photographers
4 - this is not the way to honor NATIVE -HONORABLE hard working women
5 - nakedness was imposed on them to differentiated them from "Free women" (who are mainly of Turkish and Balkan decent) ,
6 - a striking dichotomy: Natives bought and sold as merchandise and for everyone to see , "free women" locked and kept behind closed doors as "pearls' and rare "gems"
7 - Slavery was abolished in 1846 , whereas ,strikingly enough, these pictures where taking between 1902-1909, -wtf you might say ? well it obviously stayed in practice even though 60 years have passed from the time the law that abolished slavery was signed -
So when Free women are cherished and given servants and slaves to serve them , Native indigenous women were paying their youth for ephemeral sexual encounters with the master 'Sidi' and working their asses to please their Lalla (female Mistress , wife of the Master) regarding house chores and other tiring activities .
So not only did the invader , took over the region and its natural resources and mingled and settled down "forever after" but it invaded the life of the natives for centuries and also installed an everlasting social stigma that still lingers on (specially in the south)
Now , imagine you can easily trace your lineage to one of those women like it is the case in the south when in the birth certificate the issue lingers on till this present day with such a statement like Foulen ben Flen 3tig falten ; meaning X son/daughter of Y who was freed by Z (Z ofc being the master from long ago) what would be your stand and how would you feel when you see random people dehumanizing once more your ancestors and lineage ? by putting a comment such as "beauté exquise" or marketing the trauma of a group of people as exotic ,once more for westerners, is simply thoughtless and degrading
Add to that what Strikes me the most in the whole issue is that Those people who claim Turkish roots and were the masters of "their ERA" and claim being decent from the Great Ottoman emperors are actually themselves Slaves who hold the title of -Janissaries- mostly enslaved as young boys and girls from the Balkans and Eastern Europe to serve in the Ottoman Military (for boys) and ottoman castles and household (for girls), they themselves rebelled against slavery only to enslave the natives of other lands .
This leaves me to conclude that history never cease to repeat itself if we don't face our past and where we come from .
We tend to glorify some parts of our History and deny others , Like referring to Kahna or Elissa and Hannibal is a must but discussing the issue of slavery is a big no no .
We as a Nation spread across the north of an Epic Continent we prefer to live in denial , we welcome the invader and embrace their cultures , when some people try to speak out we shun them and overlook the issue as if it doesn't matter and that we should look past it .
For a Nation to grow and thrive it has to come to terms with its past in the first place whether that past is beautiful/positive or Ugly/negative
I am not saying don't honor Kahna or Hannibal , but what i am saying is don't overlook the negative bits of our common history whether under the Turkish rule or the french occupation or even later on in the timeline ...
The thing that steered and drove me to write this article is the Buzz that few pictures of native -nude- women had. Nowadays instead of dealing with the real issue and discussing slavery we are going to another extreme that of sexualizing the content of the pictures instead of looking deeper and wondering why were they naked in the first place .
I couldn't help but notice the amount of shares and comments that ranged from "this is pornographic content /this is pedophilia " to those treating it as "vintage art " and that such a thing is a common in our past . well its definitely not the norm back then .
Then there is me thinking about social stigma and social issues that those pictures represent and arise from those forcibly smiling faces .
here is a link to the orignal article/set of pictures that i am referring to " Article/pictures "
Here are some points I want to clarify :
1- I don't find any of it sexual or pornographic
2- nudity wasn't a common thing
3 -those Native women didn't choose to be naked , or pose naked for those western photographers
4 - this is not the way to honor NATIVE -HONORABLE hard working women
5 - nakedness was imposed on them to differentiated them from "Free women" (who are mainly of Turkish and Balkan decent) ,
6 - a striking dichotomy: Natives bought and sold as merchandise and for everyone to see , "free women" locked and kept behind closed doors as "pearls' and rare "gems"
7 - Slavery was abolished in 1846 , whereas ,strikingly enough, these pictures where taking between 1902-1909, -wtf you might say ? well it obviously stayed in practice even though 60 years have passed from the time the law that abolished slavery was signed -
So when Free women are cherished and given servants and slaves to serve them , Native indigenous women were paying their youth for ephemeral sexual encounters with the master 'Sidi' and working their asses to please their Lalla (female Mistress , wife of the Master) regarding house chores and other tiring activities .
So not only did the invader , took over the region and its natural resources and mingled and settled down "forever after" but it invaded the life of the natives for centuries and also installed an everlasting social stigma that still lingers on (specially in the south)
Now , imagine you can easily trace your lineage to one of those women like it is the case in the south when in the birth certificate the issue lingers on till this present day with such a statement like Foulen ben Flen 3tig falten ; meaning X son/daughter of Y who was freed by Z (Z ofc being the master from long ago) what would be your stand and how would you feel when you see random people dehumanizing once more your ancestors and lineage ? by putting a comment such as "beauté exquise" or marketing the trauma of a group of people as exotic ,once more for westerners, is simply thoughtless and degrading
Add to that what Strikes me the most in the whole issue is that Those people who claim Turkish roots and were the masters of "their ERA" and claim being decent from the Great Ottoman emperors are actually themselves Slaves who hold the title of -Janissaries- mostly enslaved as young boys and girls from the Balkans and Eastern Europe to serve in the Ottoman Military (for boys) and ottoman castles and household (for girls), they themselves rebelled against slavery only to enslave the natives of other lands .
This leaves me to conclude that history never cease to repeat itself if we don't face our past and where we come from .
This is my call for you
PLEASE, Embrace your Uniqueness
Try to positively change the paradigms and the existing narratives
DON'T comply with the lingering spirit of the invader
look back to the Kahina and see her as a force that drives you to defend and step up for your fellow citizens .
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