"The Stoning of Soraya M." is one of the most upsetting films I have ever seen. And if you know me, you are aware of my knack to find the most depressing film, book or place in the world.
I've been having a hard time coping with having so much free time on my hands. In the 7 weeks since we've been back in Southern California, I've read a couple books, been to the beach a bunch, made new friends, and have been job hunting like crazy. Now you may be thinking to yourself "um that sounds awesome, wish I could spend my days at the beach reading, or doing nothing.." and I would gladly trade places with you. But my Father (that's Heavenly Father...) knows me well, and He knew that I needed this "down time" to give Him all the heartache and grief that I've compressed and hidden away. So now that I know I need to grieve the loss and pain that I've gone through in the year previous to these 'awesome' 7 weeks, I've been fighting it.
So, knowing that crying is probably a good place for me to start, I turned to Hollywood. I tried to find a title that would be sure to bring the tears flowing, and having Netflix instant it was an easy search (I guess I could have just watched Glue Boys...). And there it was, "The Stoning of Soraya M." The description reads:
"Set in 1986 Iran at the start of Khomeini's reign, director Cyrus Nowrasteh's drama tells the true story of Soraya (Mozhan Marnò), whose husband plots to have her falsely accused of adultery so he can divorce her and marry a young girl. French journalist Freidoune (Jim Caviezel) is pulled into Soraya's tragic story when he meets a desperate woman named Zahra (Shohreh Aghdashloo)."
Perfect.
And did the tears come pouring down or what. But now after finishing the film I'm mostly filled with anger and rage, which may be part of the 'grieving process' but not exactly what I was going for in my planned process.
Okay, so watch the film.
After reading the plot about a husband who wanted out of a marriage to marry another and the only way was to have his wife violently murdered, one has to think something like "are you kidding me". Watching the stoning scenes I was actually cursing the husband, calling him names such as "pig" while shaking my head in disbelief and blowing my nose, trying not to hyperventilate through the tears. Sure this film was set in 1986 Iran, but Shariah Law (or Islamic Law) still permits the stoning of women today. The film mentions that in an acusation, the woman has to prove her innocence, while a man has to prove her guilt (never mind that he was having an affair outside of the marriage, but men don't get stoned).
How do we celebrate "Women's Equality Day" then if every women is not equal? My white skin gives me more equality to men in a lot of countries, but how is that fair? If man and women were created equal and need each other to survive, why is one considered insignificant and treated worse than wild dogs?
Women's injustice is one of the greatest social injustices of our era, and will continue to be for generations to come. In all the work that we do with the poor and forgotten, its the women that are often left out. Most of the street kids we work with are in fact boys, and we've shared on here before that its because the girls are taken in as sex slaves or house servants - which is neither better or worse than life on the streets. Modern day slavery is comprised mostly of women and young girls. For the most part, women in the modern age are treated as a commodity and not as people, and there is evidence of that from the commercial sex industry to Hollywood to who receives foreign aid.
There has been a sudden influx of humanitarian organizations focusing on women's rights, such as Kiva, that gives micro loans to empower the poor. This is wonderful! I only wish it was their own families and communities lifting and empowering women, not solely the distanced foreigners who believe in women.
Watching "The Stoning of Soraya M." didn't really help me process my "stuff", but it did empower me to keep fighting for the voiceless. I know that is the calling on my life, to advocate for the forgotten, and somehow my personal pain ties into that. It's highly unlikely that you or I will ever be stoned, but we owe those who could be our allegiance to fight for them.
So on this "Women's Equality Day", this woman is continuing to fight for true women's equality, no matter what.
Will you join me? Go watch that movie, it's a sure motivator (get some tissues).
Ever Hopeful,
Dalene
