Mariam Garikuli (Tateshvili), 1883-1960 / writer, actor

“I calling on you, my fellow women. I am calling on you for the cause of the women’s rights. I am calling on those who are heartbroken because they don’t have any rights. And by “rights” I don’t necessarily mean the right to being a Member of the Parliament. So, let us be more specific – I am addressing to those who have been hurt within your own family, by your own husband, by your own father, by your own brother; who have not had equal right in the families they have contributed all their life to, where they did not have their own space to shed a tear over their ill fate of being a female; I call on you to join the cause of equal rights for women…

No one is talking about ridding men of the public affairs. The times of Amazons is long past, turned into a myth, a tale. However, as long as we are treated differently by the law and justice our interests will be different from theirs.

Let us not be fooled by their lip service and the fact that we have recently been involved in some trivial matters because the country needs us right now. The time will come when we are no longer needed and will be returned to our kitchens to do what they think we are supposed to do – cook!

Remember, that owing to some malfunction of history, today’s man is so egocentric that he will not willingly see you as his equal. Dear women, remember that physical nourishment is not enough, we need spiritual nourishment too – something we have all been devoid of, both middle and working class women. This is what we have in common! Let the willingness to restore our dignity unite us despite our social and other differences.

Photo: G. Leonidze State Museum of Literature
Source:https://www.facebook.com/50womenfromGeorgia/photos/a.164432727071387.1073741826.164429140405079/164514740396519/?type=3&theater