Eliminating Women's Contribution Through History

Each of them uniquely in their activities in the field of knowledge and contribution to the country. But very few mentioned throughout history. The woman's contribution to social organization participation in conservation, the protection of the country's values, as well as the construction of the state remains second or not mentioned at all in history books.

Kosovo students learn more in history books about the contribution of male personalities. They then become their heroes even in art watches to paint. While the woman's contribution, according to historians, university legigators, women's rights activists, former KLA soldiers, is not included in history books, but marginalised.

Gender differences are also found in historical textbooks, which note that women are rarely mentioned as important historical figures.

The noted historian Jahya Drancholl says that the history texts are far from involved in women's contribution. “Madje, not only do they not treat women's phenomenon as part of society over the centuries, they as such connected almost exclusively with some personalities of prominent women cut from the historical context!”, he says.

Drancholl says that women throughout the history of the Albanian people cannot be said to have been completely expelled, but given that women throughout history have made up about half the gender aspect of the population, he says that the full-mouth “we can say the woman in the history texts is always second or doesn't figure at all!”.

Science in most cases has influenced women's discrimination because they have developed theories of reasoning. For this purpose, the feminist sequence was critical of these theories for not equality of genders, which were based on <x1-patiarchal features”. It is sufficient to note that many prominent people of European culture felt that women were not equal to men in mental and physical terms. So the woman becomes second, avoided the male-man standard. The story of women in the last quarter of the 20th century affected women to become educational during the history of”, he says.

The woman in the history text is still “out of reach”

Professor Drancholl explains that at first this issue is focused only as additional “prominent wives” of the distinguished men” or in men's biographies, such as their wives, mothers or daughters. Today, however, he appreciates that efforts are being made to pose his wife's role in history throughout life. “would be negative to the isolation of women's history itself because the history of half of the world's population will be ignored, and sometimes it has been the majority. Their cultural and psychological maturity makes the historical experiences of women deeply different from those of men. But males have defined their historical experiences and have left women out of them. From this point on, the danger may surface for the development of women's history as a particular lens, which would go along with the story of the male”, he says, adding that for this reason, we are recently witnesses to the development of “gender history” with which the doors are opened for researching differences between men and women.

In the 15th century, under the influence of European Humanism and Renaissance, he mentions that debate has developed over the participation of male and female authors. “Also, the rights of the citizen and the man promoted in the French Revolution had only to do with men”. Regarding this discrimination, Drancholl indicated that the creators responded. Thus, Olympia de Gouges proposed to the People's Assembly in 1791 “Proglamat for the rights of women and citizens”, which was supported but in practice encountered deaf ears. Meanwhile, in 1792 British Mary Wolfstoneecraft (1759-1797) published the writing dedicated to the use mechanism of women titled, “A Windition of the Rights of Women”.

In this context, our women during the period in question, even though it makes a name not only in our country, they were also distinguished throughout the Balkans and Italy. They played an important role in the historical courses, but they usually presented themselves as women of some prominent man. And here, the woman's departure from history and history aimed at avoiding her research that connects with politics, state and male ideas”, says Professor Droncholl.

He says the woman in the history text is still “invisible”. “In historical texts, they have remained invisible even after developments of new historical disciplines in a theoretical way. Even after models in Europe and the U.S., where male and female representatives have already achieved significant results, in our texts the parallel has not yet been interrupted and humane!”, says Professor Droncholl.

Former KLA fighter and doctor: Women's contribution has been minimized

Now Kosovo Parliament deputy Time Kadriy, formerly former Kosovo Liberation Army soldier (UÇK) and doctor in the 1998-99 war period at the Dukagjini Zone, expresses disappointment with (not) the contribution of women and girls to the country's history, and textbooks.

She says that when it comes to the men's contribution, it's always about the superseding, and when it comes to women's contribution or little or some form of speech, it's the minimizing of that contribution. “actually had to be the opposite of that because if under the same conditions and circumstances a woman's contribution and a man has been equal, then much more should be assessed by the woman's contribution than that of husband”.

Kadrij shows that there have been many soldiers, women who have contributed to logistics, then women who have stayed in military hospitals and mothers who have cooked food, doctors, nurses. So, according to her, the woman was involved in all KLA sectors.

While, Kadrijaj says very little has been done to reflect this contribution made to the recent war by women, without going further and digging into history for their contribution over the centuries.

The names of the streets, schools, all the institutions bearing names, very few roads are named after the nation's female martyrs. It's always given men priority. Then there are women in the titles and decorations who have been very active in war, but they don't have degrees like men do; general, colonel... or other degrees, even with categories below that they're not even aware that anyone has received such a title or a degree, even though they've met”.

Kadrijaj says that recently on Kosovo Independence Day, as well as the flag festival on November 28th, they always distribute gratitude and decorations for special contributions. Decorporates, she says, should be given with merit and not to the least of the women and girls who contributed.

I don't know any institutions either the prime minister or the presidential institution in certain dates have shared decorations for specific categories. I think there are many now watching Kosovo's independence festival in February or now that it was November 28th, it had to be given a decoration for all the service they have done during the KLA war”, says Kadrijaj.

It appeals to the greatest sensitivity of the woman's contribution, according to her true contribution to different history stages not only in the last war. “We have female political prisoners who were in 1981 and participants and organisers of the protests, as well as ultimately the active key to the KLA war”, says MP Kadrijaj.

Miradije Gashi, a former participating woman of demonstrations organised in 1981, says women's values have been taken from men. Perhaps the whole woman has been sacrificed and the man has become a hero and a patriot and has taken the values”.

She says women have been arrested and imprisoned. “Prisoners and those arrested were attacked by strong instruments in the womb and vital organs in order not to bear children”, Gashi says.

 Gender roles differ in historical textbooks

Psychologist Spring Jetish tells the newspaper that men dominate the high-profile situations of such activity as smarter, more courageous, and more victorious. As women present themselves in second-hand situations, such as passive, victimised and dependent. “Dates in gender roles are also found in historical textbooks, which note that women are rarely mentioned as important historical figures”, she suggested.

Meanwhile, Ethnologist Shqip Arifi says that the woman, except that she has played a key role in shaping life, those in traditional society have also been seen in the role of mother, teacher, wife, but without giving up on her or participating in various battles. The “are not a small number of Albanian women who are prominent for their heroism at different historical periods, which you can provide enough data to read and talk about at”.

Arifi says that women's contribution in most cases has been mentioned at short points and has not been dedicated to any particular importance for an article or book to be made about them, because according to her on Albanian soil, gender affiliation in most cases determines what should be allowed or appreciated.

Only a few women she says was reached by the contribution, while a number considered by them unjustly hid behind the names of their patriotic men, warriors, or leaders. A large number of them were even anonymously included in the common woman name”.

The woman in Kosovo says that despite the long fight for their acceptance as full human beings and their fundamental rights, it still remains discriminated against.

The very few developed gender history Jeanry

Shpend Avdiu, a research researcher at Pristina's Albanological Institute, says Albanian history has paid close attention to women's contribution, given that Albanian history has, according to him, cost much of its history to political and military. Unfortunately, Albanian history has very little developed in gender history, social history and others. Albanian history in general has, in my opinion, had no sexist approach”. On the other side in scientific institutions, both in Kosovo and Albania, he says women have been part of these institutions. “If viewed carefully, Albanian history has given the woman a rightful place of contribution, and we would mention some women who have left their mark on Albanian history, and that the history has given them their rightful place, such as Elena Djikikes, Sevasti Kyriz, Shote Galica, etc. Of course, there are many women who have not been given the right place in Albanian history, but this has nothing to do with women, because many men have not been given the right place to”. Albanian historians Avdiu says he was quite generous in terms of women. He says so because he thinks that by all means the history has tried to present women's contribution, but the problem he expresses is somewhere else, “stays in society, and not only that Albanian, which society throughout history has been patriarchal and, like all other societies, has deprived women of social participation in the public sphere, and, as a result, the woman's role has been very small”.

Avdiu thinks that among the reasons why the Albanian cause has been affected is this, the failure to include women in the public sphere, because when half of society doesn't function, it's impossible to have the success that society would have.

Historian Shkodran Imeraj from the Kosovo Institute of History says the history books used in the primary and secondary schools of the Republic of Kosovo are reflected only some of the segments of the history of the Albanian people.

“Crahas historical themes that are dealt with in history texts, some of the prominent activists of the Albanian national issue; such as Isa Boletini, Hasan Pristina, Bajram Curri, Idriz Seferi and many others. Besides that, we'll be able to face data on several national activists like Chhote Galica, Sisters Kyriazzi. It is evident that the role of men in the history of the Albanian people is greater than that of women. I think that addressing women's history history in history texts in our country is not enough, so I think there is room that the contribution of women or female gender should be reflected even more”, Imeraj said to “Zer”.

Although they have changed their lives as intellectual and warrior in the most difficult times, unfortunately they are not seen worthy of neither universities or any institutes bearing their name in Kosovo.

Marie Shllaku, the letter that was killed for Kosovo and shot at the age of 20, Sisters Kyriazzi for forty years, educated and emancipated a backlog, Elena Djika, writer and progressive Romanian publicist of Albanian origin, Queen Teute, Shota Galica, fighter ...

And all universities are named after men's activists; men are named after the University “Kadri Zeka” in Gjilan, University “Uqin Hoti” in Prizren, University “Isa Boletini” in Mitrovica, University “Hasan Pristina” in Pristina, University “Haxhi Zeka” in Pec.

This article has been enabled with generous support from the American people through the United States Agency for International Development USAID. Content is the responsibility of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights Kosovo (YIHR KS) and does not reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. The article is part of the “Youth Entrance in Overarching Education” project implemented by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights Kosovo (YIHR KS), through the Association for E4E Action Programme, funded by the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, and implemented by the Centre for Training and Resources for Avokim ) ATRC.