Women trained to uphold the patriarchy

We are Rising

Hi all,

Thank you for joining me for this week’s song, We are Rising.

If you’d like to hear the song before you read the background, I’ve included a YouTube video below the article. The Closed Captions (CC) are accurate, but you can also find the complete lyrics at:

https://www.onebillionrising.org/45088/we-are-rising-a-new-liberation-song-by-taina-asili-released-today/

Below, you’ll find my interpretation of the lyrics. I’ve written the lyrics in italics. If you have any questions or comments, just tap the little comments icon at the end.

For Japanese students, vocabulary words in bold are provided in Japanese below.

Background

We need to see how nefarious the “training” that women have had over the years [has been]. It is so engrained in our upbringing that we don’t even know we are being trained in a system of behaviors to uphold the patriarchy.

[私たちは、女性たちが長年にわたって受けてきた「訓練」がいかに悪質なものであるかを知る必要がある。 それは私たちの育ちの中に深く根付いているため、私たちは家父長制を擁護するための行動体系の中で訓練されていることにさえ気づいていません。]

A powerful statement by Liza Donnelly, cartoonist for The New Yorker magazine. (Read the entire article at https://lizadonnelly.substack.com/p/carrolls-day-in-court @Liza Donnelly)

Liza Donnelly has been following the court case against Donald Trump. On May 9, a jury found him guilty of sexually abusing columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1995 or 1996.

She is one of many, many women who experience this. In fact, 1 in 3 women across the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. That’s ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS*.

Women are no longer silent about the abuse they receive, and they are standing up.

From Valentine’s Day, 2012, the One Billion Rising Project began. It invites women and men all over the world to stand up to and help end the violence that women and girls experience.

Each year, the project focuses on a specific theme such as Rising for Justice, Rising in Solidarity, and in 2023, Rise for Freedom.

In 2019, Taína Asili wrote and sang the song We are Rising. We’ll look at that song in this article.

The song

(602 words)

We are Rising begins by saying that even though we are living in difficult times, a powerful change is coming. There is a growing movement of women who know the history of violence against them.

We are those who are rising from Manila to Miami, in other words, women all over the world. Building trust and solidarity, love is our bond because without trust, you cannot have a feeling of working together for a united purpose.

And in the streets we are marching to end the rape and the suffering, to stop the fascist tyranny. These women are marching in demonstrations around the world to raise awareness of the problem of violence against women and transgender people.

However, it isn’t only this issue that women are angry about. There are many other issues that have a direct impact on women and girls:

warriors who work to open the prisons bars because there are many women in prisons who have been unfairly accused or who have stepped outside the traditional role of women and then are arrested

valiant souls who stand up against the unjust wars because women and girls are at higher risk of being raped or tortured in conflict areas

multitudes who defy the walls along the border because building walls will not solve the issues that force people to leave their country in search for safer places for their families.

masses who unify to protect our water because access to clean water is a human right, not a resource to be controlled by companies for a profit.

rebel minds who unionize for worker’s rights because without the strength of unions, workers have to put up with any treatment by their bosses.

fearless hearts who fight to defend trans lives because trans people do not fit social expectations of what males/females “should be” and that is another form of gender discrimination.

those who take back their land and their health because around the world, there are indigenous people whose lands have been taken. They also are at higher risk of not receiving quality health care.

those who seek to redistribute the wealth because the richest 1% of people on the planet own almost twice as much as the bottom 99% of the world’s population [Oxfam, 2023].

youth who demand a right to education because in many countries, especially in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa, fewer girls are in school compared with boys.

those who reclaim political power in their nation because in many countries, women are a tiny percentage of the members of their governments.

We cry out “say her name” because the names of most African American women who are killed by police are rarely broadcast in the news. The #sayhername movement is trying to raise awareness of the issue.

we chant “love trumps hate” because the One Billion Rising movement believes that love is more powerful (trumps - play on words with the name Trump)

And “we will not be erased” because women’s history and women’s demands will not go away quietly

“It’s we who decide our fate” because women are in control of their destiny.

The second verse of the song is a list of the types of violence that women have experienced. I will include the Japanese translations below.

The chorus of the song made me wonder. Taína Asili wrote:

We are, we are rising tonight and in this life

I thought about why she added “and in this life.” Perhaps she meant that women are standing up now so that their daughters and granddaughters won’t have to experience this pain.

What do you think?

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Vocabulary

solidarity 連帯

warrior 武士

valiant 勇敢な

multitudes who defy 反抗する群衆

masses 大衆

unionize 労働組合を結成する

Trans トランスジェンダーの人々

discrimination 差別

redistribute 再配布する

demand 要求

reclaim 取り戻す

Verse 2

violence 暴力

degradation 劣化

slavery 奴隷制

trafficking 人身売買

mutilation 切断

rape レイプ

abuse 虐待

racism 人種差別

labor exploitation 労働搾取

colonization 植民地化

gentrification 高級化

imprisonment 投獄

emigration 移住

militarization 軍事化

homophobia 同性愛嫌悪と

transphobic agression トランスフォビックな攻撃性 (transphobia:トランスジェンダーの人々に対する不合理な恐怖または憎悪）**

police violence 警察による暴力

reproductive repression 生殖抑圧

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* From https://www.onebillionrising.org/about/campaign/one-billion-rising/

** For more information about homophobia, transphobia, and gender-based violence in Japan, see https://www.voiceupjapan.org/ja/

Read more about the One Billion Rising 2023 campaign at https://www.onebillionrising.org/about/campaign/ and the coordinator in Japan, Chikako Hama at https://www.onebillionrising.org/48020/chikako-hama-japan/

You can legally download this and other songs from One Billion Rising at:

https://www.onebillionrising.org/resources/music-video-resource-page/

Source:

Oxfam International. Richest 1% bag nearly twice as much wealth as the rest of the world put together over the past two years. (2023, February 1). https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/richest-1-bag-nearly-twice-much-wealth-rest-world-put-together-over-past-two-years

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