Crafting a New Narrative: Women in Jordan Shatter Taboos
Peacegeeks
Yara, a young woman living in Jordan, could see that the feminist movement in her country was not connecting with women. As a worldly, well-read, liberal woman in her 20s, Yara felt the feminist narratives avoided discussion of taboos or unsafe topics. She wanted to see content about timely, relevant topics including virginity, sexual rights, gender-based violence and other issues considered ‘sensitive’ in her society.
In 2020, Yara participated in a residency through Peacegeeks and many local organizations including Peacegeeks Jordan/Meshkat Community, Working Women’s Association, Arab Women’s Organization, NAYA for Training and Community Development, and Liwan. Her residency was part of an innovative solution aimed at transforming gender narratives. As part of this innovation testing, the organization worked with women to develop effective, inspiring, and empathic content to catalyze a new conversation around norms that limit women’s economic potential and agency in society. The core concept focused on Jordanian women identifying and creating content (artistic, radio, television, etc.), but also included the engagement of men and boys. Content creators were provided with technical and financial support to complete their projects.
During the residency workshops, Yara developed a creative way of discussing sensitive issues with courage and confidence. Following this design period, she created the first season (10 episodes) of a podcast called Orchid, which helped women understand the intersection between their femininity and rights, especially on sensitive topics such as virginity, sexual rights, gender-based violence, hormonal changes, and relationships. Yara’s topics were controversial but strongly supported with research and reliable information, making Orchid a relevant, credible podcast. As this was Yara’s first time recording and publishing content, her self-confidence, and beliefs about her ability to make a difference and produce content that she believes is relevant to most Jordanian women, have increased during the residency. Her podcast shatters taboos and societal norms.
By the end of the testing period, Peacegeeks successfully trained 20 artists (13 women, 7 men) who were able to confidently create content that supports women’s rights and address discrimination against women.
The endline survey indicated that 91% of women and 100% of men reported increased knowledge on how to create content that supports women’s rights.
A total of 57 pieces of content that challenge discrimination against women were created by incredibly engaged artists, far exceeding the original target of 21. Additionally, Peacegeeks engaged with hundreds of Jordanians through in-person programming and nearly 17,000 people across online platforms.
