Series “Women” – Description

“Lidija, if your people attack, I’ll hide in your home, and if mine attack, you’ll come and hide with me.” – Statement by a narrator.

With the series “Women”, instead of the usual subject of “surviving” the war, we tried to explore some new categories, such as sexuality, reproduction, gender values, myths and roles, women’s self-consciousness etc. By distancing ourselves from the “big questions”, we expected to open some room for more intimate stories, focused on elements surrounding the family, the motherhood, but also the traditional characteristics of the womanhood, such as pacifism, nurture, warmth, caring, feeding, all these challenged in the face of the conflict of 2001.

Our expectations were fairly met. The stories of women who witnessed the military conflict are too often tied to certain specific ordeals, into which women are forced within the frames of their traditional role in the private sphere of their homes. These stories are full of sincere, emotional confessions about the fear for the safety of the family, but also the trauma from losing the home (whether it was burned or damaged, or they were forced to leave it) – a place which traditionally represents the realm of women. However, some of the stories may surprise you with a specific heroic tone, accompanied by the narrator’s courage, determination and willingness to put aside her traditional female role and to accept the risks of war in the name of higher goals and ideals.  We considered it important to have these intimate confessions and opinions heard, because ignoring them would result in a narrowed specter of perspectives about oneself, but also about the others in society. The stories of women who witnessed the military conflict are a part of a historical research methodology, which focuses on the everyday life and affairs of ordinary people, instead of state affairs, and concentrates much more on the general social experience than on specific political issues.

In this series we managed to collect 32 life stories. The interviews were conducted at the end of 2010 by a team of interviewers from various regions in Macedonia. Thirteen life stories from this series were singled out in “13 Women’s Stories About a War”, a book published in the autumn of 2011 by Peace Action. Public promotions of the book were organized in Kichevo and Tetovo. The scheduled promotions in Skopje and Kumanovo had to be canceled due to the then growing wave of street violence in Western Macedonia. The book was also promoted at various smaller events and this process continues.