More Than Just a Day

By: Hanya Captan
@HanyaCaptan
Editor-in-Chief

It’s not unusual that over the years one begins to get a bit jaded with all the different holidays celebrating and recognizing different causes and commemorations. Oftentimes, they range from the ridiculous (e.g. National Pizza Day) to the tone deaf – the latter  celebrating causes that are generally not mentioned much throughout the rest of the year. 

I think what this comes down to is that a holiday is ultimately a symbolic gesture. It’s the decorations and hashtags (and maybe even a day off work or school), that will promptly be forgotten when the day ends.

But then earlier this week, I had a moment in class that changed all that for me.

As part of an in-class activity we were tasked with creating a timeline with all the breakthroughs women have achieved, and all the setbacks they’ve come up against in the last ten years.

Being a lifelong cynic, I could’ve rattled off dozens of examples of the latter. The controversy surrounding abortion laws in the US, the suicide of Passant Khaled after being harassed and blackmailed, the WhatsApp group dedicated to denigrating female students … the list goes on.

Luckily, the rest of my group opted for a more optimistic approach and we started listing the recent breakthroughs for women in recent years.

Working in reverse order, the first item we listed was the recent appointment of Radwa Helmi as Egypt’s first female judge who made history to sit on the bench of the State Council, a top court in the country.

Meanwhile, Ketanjii Brown Jackson is set to make history as the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

We also celebrated the social media page Assault Police, which led the recent MeToo Movement in Egypt and was started by AUCian Nadeen Ashraf.

After that class, I started rethinking these holidays.

Thinking that a holiday is of less importance because it’s cause isn’t completely fixed, is unfair. 

Securing the success of a movement relies on a constant give and take, a series of breakthroughs and setbacks, as it were. The fight is long and exhausting. But it’s nice every once in a while to stop and celebrate the progress we’re making.

So, today, I celebrate all the women in my life.

All the exceptional young women I have the privilege of working with here at The Caravan, the insightful young women in my classes, my professors, my friends, and of course my mom, sisters, aunts, and cousins. You all inspire me each and every day and deserve to be celebrated on a day like today.