Frisson, Art, and Politics

In order to create art, it seems that a bit of frisson, friction, discomfort, or disorientation is required. I mean art as in expressive communication of alternate viewpoints whether in poetry, fiction, sculpture, painting, film, or whatever a person has chosen for expression. Professor Tolkien wrote that things that are good to have and times that are happily spent make short stories and are quick in the telling, but things that are hard to bear and times that are painful make riveting stories and are long in the telling. So if you have an educated class that is entirely provided for, perhaps there is no motivation for art. One Kuwaiti person asserted that as along as women are bought off with enough money for travel and shopping, there is no motivation to examine their lives and realize that there is more than just shopping and travel. When they realize that, they will organize and work for more political rights for women and children.

Others have asserted the same opinion concerning literature in the Gulf. One finds a great deal of hyphenated Arab writing in English by Arabs who have moved to other countries, and with that distancing and the frictions of living in other places, they are able to write about these discomforts and the accompanying insights. Nationals in the Gulf are very comfortable. Some teachers at state universities say that men who are Gulf nationals take their jobs for granted, so they are not motivated to apply themselves to their studies. In fact, about 70% of university students are female. Maybe the limitations on women's movement and choices provides women with the push-back required for artistic reflection. Certainly there is more writing available from these women. In the short stories and novels I have read so far in English, marriage and relationships figure prominently, but such is also true of women writing in other genres. I wonder if there is a Molly Ivins equivalent in the Gulf? Maybe this person is just now in grade school, and we will hear from her in a few years.

We were wildly fortunate to be able to have a private session with three of the women who serve in the Kuwaiti parliament, and they opined that women need to be more involved in the work force and in public life in order to have more support for women's rights. As long as women are comfortable, they will not support political and legal changes in women's rights in Kuwait. Today there was supposed to be a vote for some pieces of legislation that would give citizenship to the children of women who married non-Kuwaitis and another that would provide support for women who would stay home and raise children instead of joining the work force. The female ministers of parliament were supporting the citizenship legislation, but they were not so supportive of the subsidies for homemakers because it was potentially a way to convince women to stay out of work.

There seem to be competing social forces at work here because if women make up 70% of the universities, but are then paid to stay home with toddlers, it is not clear that this is a recipe for social success. One a person learns to think, it is hard to say, "Okay, now stop thinking." Raising children is a very difficult and important job, and research is clear that a well educated mother raises better educated children, so in this way, it could be a very good thing. In fact, raising children should merit hazardous duty pay at times. However, there may be some women who might want other duties, and these may head out to the work force. Certainly these four women who ran for parliament did, and they are making a difference for mothers and children, or trying to. The vote for this legislation was supposed to take place, but parliament could not meet to vote because a quorum was not present, so those who showed up all went back to their offices. Three of the four women ministers actually agreed to talk to us since parliament was not meeting, so we went to the huge diwaniya room in the parliament building to discuss women's rights in Kuwait. These were dynamic people who felt frisson in their culture, and were ready to move forwards. They all had PhDs from the United States, were witty, knowledgeable, generous, and full of passion for their work.

Between the US ambassador to Kuwait, Deborah Jones, and the Kuwaiti women in parliament, there is hope for planet earth after all: the trajectory of the proverbial handbasket may yet be diverted by people like these phenomenal women.