Anoush from the Armenian Volunteer and Anoush Armenia blogs has forwarded me an announcement about yet another demonstration planned for Yerevan in the next few days. On Saturday 25 November a march is planned from the Cascade to the Minstry of Foreign Affairs on Republic Square. These are the details I have.

On November 25, the International Day against Violence, women from across the South Caucasus will unite to urge government officials and decision makers to include women in the peace building process. During the Kvinna Till Kvinna Thematic meeting on Women in Peace building and Conflict Resolution in September 2006, the Women’s Coalition for Peace in the South Caucasus was formed in order to bring together the efforts of all women and peace activists of Armenia, Azerbaijan, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Georgia in a call for peace in the region.

[…]

In Armenia, the Women’s Resource Center is working to mobilize women and other NGOs to bring the voice of women into policy meetings on conflict resolution and stop all types of violence against women in conflict zones, based on the UN Security Council Resolution 1325. We ask that our colors, red and white symbolizing violence and peace, be worn during the Solidarity March on November 25th to show support for our message.

Peace in the South Caucasus is possible! JOIN US!

WHEN: November 25, 5pm

WHAT: A Solidarity March for Women in Conflict Zones, delivery of an open letter to the Foreign Minister’s office and ceremony of White and red ribbons on Republic square.

WHERE: Meet at the Cascade and end at Republic Square.

In the email that Anoush sent out she quotes a recent article published by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) bringing the issue of gender into a more localized context. According to the article it would appear that Armenia fares worse in this regard than Georgia and even Azerbaijan although I’m sure the situation is somewhat similar.

Armenia has fewer women in parliament than any other country in Europe. Currently there are only seven females in the 131-seat national assembly, accounting for five per cent of its members. Outside parliament, just 15 of the 926 local government heads at village and town level are women…

This was also mentioned in an interview I conducted with former U.N. Residential Representative, Lise Grande, where she said that independence also brought with it the resurfacing of patriarchal tendencies in Armenia and the South Caucasus. On the other hand, many capable women instead found themselves taking up positions in the NGO sector.

We’re not making any more progress on this issue than we were five years ago but one of the points that is quite noticeable about the collapse of the Soviet Union is that you had the “evacuation” of women from the public sphere. This is not so true in international organizations, the media and NGOs, however, and while women could not hold their former positions in government they certainly found a home in these institutions. In a sense, we’ve become a bastion for highly qualified women who are unable to secure positions elsewhere.

Patriarchy is a pretty slippery thing although I wouldn’t call myself a feminist. All of the countries of the South Caucasus have patriarchal structures which pre-existed communism when many male-centric practices were reversed in the public sphere although I don’t think that you can claim this to be the case in the family. Regardless, when communism collapsed and these countries moved into the period of transition, patriarchal practices in the public sphere began to reassert themselves.

Probably this next link will bring me some accusations of sexism, but I do see some validity in the Babe Theory of Political Movements. For sure, as a photographer, being able to document a demonstration that isn’t only attended by men dressed in black over the age of 50 is welcomed. There’s also something to be said in so much that the most impressive people I’ve met here in Armenia all tend to be women.

Anyway, the Babe Theory reads as such:

Where and when there are hot babes, an exponential number of men will show up. If 100 cute girls with voluptuous bodies are protesting for freedom, you can count on a thousand men being there as well.

If sexy babes are involved in a peaceful political movement, it has a far greater chance of succeeding. If there are no good-looking women involved, the odds of a successful (and peaceful) movement fall dramatically.

Where and when alluring women are excluded from demonstrations, you can expect greater chances of strife, rioting, and failure.

[…]

An alternate view of the Babe Theory holds that attractive women are drawn more to successful political movements than to fringe movements. In other words, if the ideas behind a political movement has value, if the fight has a noble purpose, if it has worth, it will attract lovely young ladies, who then become the face of the movement. Women (babes), then, are discerning consumers of political movements, and when there is a worthwhile one, they buy into it whole-heartedly. Under this view of the Babe Theory, sexy women just happen to be found at successful demonstrations; the sexy women are not actually responsible for the success of the movement, babes at political rallies are but a symptom of success, an effective heuristic for prognosticating, an augury of what is to come.

Regardless, I thought that the winter would be somehow boring until the 2007 parliamentary elections really get underway from the middle of January onwards, but it seems not. In addition to the actions blogged here, here, and here, life and work just got interesting again. Perhaps Civil Society in Armenia is experiencing a rebirth?

Until then, the full Babe Theory of Political Movements can be found here.