Congratulations your baby is a boy

On Monday 22nd October 2018, the second session of “Alternative Views” organized by the Basement Cultural Foundation and supported by The Prince Claus Fond was held.

The second group (consisting of 15 males & females participants) has selected a case (the preference of male births) the group considered a priority for discussion, gave diverted perspective of the issue and what considered crucial to the issue, and the participants gave their recommendations of the issue.

The most eminent recommendation was to raise-awareness about the subject impact on the female child, and to change parents’ perspective.

Is there a preference for having boys in Yemen? What causes it? Is there a inferior view of women in our society? Does society see that males are more useful than females? Can women change this view or should society change their view of women? Is women harmed by this view and deprived of their rights? Does this idea affect the organization of the family when the society waits for a woman to have a male even if this leads to the birth of many girls before him or polygamy? Does this outlook affect women’s self-confidence and their role in society?

The participants discussed the various aspects of this phenomenon, and varied their views on the causes and impact on society. At the end of the session, the participants presented suggestions to solve the problem, the most important of which was to raise awareness of the problem.

The project consists of 60 young men and women of different intellectual orientations and Yemeni regions. They are divided into four groups, each with 15 participants. Each group will hold three sessions to discuss various topics of interest to the community selected by the participants. Which are discussed. At a later stage of the project, these visions will be transformed into works of art and drama that will be presented to the public at a public event organized by the Foundation.

Alternative Views project holds 60 participants from diverse cultural\intellectual backgrounds and Yemeni provinces; distributed in four groups each holds 15 participants (gender-balanced), each group holds 3 sessions each discusses an issue society-related selected by participants, in the end of the session, the group generates recommendations for each discussed issue; to transform them into painting artworks, theatre, and to be displayed in a public event.

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