Best Of: Begum Rokeya

Published Sep 3, 2024, 7:00 AM

This back to school season, we're bringing back some of our favorite Womanica episodes you might have missed. Today's Womanican is Begum Rokeya (c. 1880-1932). She spent her life fighting for women’s rights in India and Bangladesh. She opened the first school for Muslim girls in her region and advocated for women’s education. She dreamed of a world where women could reach their full potential — a world she brought to life in her revolutionary feminist utopian short story “Sultana’s Dream.”

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This month, we’re heading back to school – and we’re taking you along with us! For all of September, we’ll be bringing back some of our favorite Womanica episodes you might have missed. You’ll hear me – and some talented guest hosts – share both iconic and under-appreciated stories. But there’s a twist... each week is dedicated to a different school subject. This week: Women you should be learning about in literature classes!

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Hannah Bottum, Lauren Willams, and Adrien Behn. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.

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Hey listeners, it's Jenny. This month, we're heading back to school, and we're taking you along with us. For all of September, we're bringing back some of our favorite Womanica episodes you might have missed. You'll hear me and some talented guest hosts share both iconic and underappreciated stories, and there's a twist. Each week is dedicated to a different school subject. This week we're sharing women you should be learning about in literature classes. Their words created impactful stories, changed minds and preserved cultures. And their stories go beyond the same people you remember from the standard literary canon. So onto the show. Hello for Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica. This month, we're talking about women of science fiction. These women inspire us to imagine impossible worlds, alien creatures, and fantastical inventions, revealing our deepest fears and hopes for the future. In the short stories Sultana's Dream, an impossible fantastic world awaits beautiful flowers in lush greenery line every street. Scientists harness the sun to power technology, people get around in flying cars, and women control it all. This is Ladyland, free from sin, and harm virtue herself reigns here. At the turn of the twentieth century, the idea of educating Indian women and allowing them the freedom to become leaders in science and government was utopian. Today we're talking about the woman from Bengal who dedicated her life to bringing that dream world closer to reality. Please welcome bagum Rikaya Rikaya Sakawat Hussin was born to a Muslim family around eighteen eighty in Rangpur, Rahankors in modern day Bangladesh, but back then the land was still part of India. Rikaia's father was a traditional man. The women and his family were not allowed to receive a formal education. They also had to follow per day, a practice that dictates women's day secluded in different parts of the home called zenana's, or wear veils to cover themselves. But Rakaia was smart and she wanted to bend those strict rules. Her older brother Ibrahim would stay up late with Rakiya and their sister Kaie Munisa, giving them a patchwork informal education. Rakiah would often study all night, only pausing for the morning prayer. Ibrahim also encouraged their father to marry Rikaia off to a more liberal and westernized man, though he was more than twice her age. Rakaia's husband supported her education though, helping improve her English and providing her with countless books. He also encouraged Rakiya to write. Rakia was most interested in advocating for Indian women's rights in her stories, especially their right to an equal education. She began her career submitting stories to literary magazines. In nineteen oh five, Rikaya published her most popular work, Sultana's Dream, in the Indian Lady's magazine. It follows an Indian woman who drifts off in an armchair and enters a surreal dream of a place called Ladyland. It's a beautiful, peaceful, and efficient society run completely by women. They've figured out how to harness the clouds to irrigate crops and can control when it rains. They use high tech machines to work the land, leaving everyone with more leisure time and in a gender reversal, men are the ones kept secluded and hidden at home. When the protagonist asks how women were allowed to take control of the country given that men are physically bigger and stronger, her Ladyland guide explains quote a lion is stronger than a man, but it does not enable him to dominate the human race. Sultana's Dream was a groundbreaking feminist utopia story when it was published. It was a vision of the future that Rakaya wanted to make a reality. She said, quote, we constitute one half of the society, and if we are left behind, how can the society progress? Polish other fiction and nonfiction stories promoting women's rights, including attacking some of the more extreme practices of perda. She also published several novels, and her activism extended beyond the page. When her husband died, he left Rakaya a large sum of money. She used it to open the first school for Muslim girls in her region in nineteen oh nine. Rakaia would go door to door trying to persuade families to allow their daughters to learn. She also launched an educational program for poor women in Kolkata, teaching them to read and write. In nineteen sixteen, Rakaya founded the Muslim Women's Society in Bengal to advocate for women's legal and political rights. The organization helped pay for women to attend school, provided shelter for orphans, and offered financial and legal services to widows. About ten years later, she spoke at the Bengal Women's Education Conference. The conference was one of the earliest attempts in the country's history to organize women around educational rights. Rakiya passed away on December ninth, nineteen thirty two. She was fifty two years old. After her death, she became known as Begum Rakaia Begam, meaning a Muslim moment of high rank on the anniversary of her death. She's still celebrated as part of Rakaiya Day every year in Bangladesh, and the Bangladeshi government created an award in her honor, given to women who follow in Rakaia's footsteps by promoting women's rights. Thanks for listening to this best of episode of Womanica. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast Special Thanks to lose Kaplan, my favorite sister and co creator, join us tomorrow for another one of our favorite episodes, honoring the back to school season. Talk to you then,

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