If you could put anyone’s face on your country’s currency, who would it be? There is a campaign taking place in the US, called Women On 20s, that calls for a female face on the 20 dollar bill, replacing Andrew Jackson, a controversial figure for his role in the forced removal of Native Americans from their lands and for being a vocal opponent of a central bank.
The campaign is asking the public to vote from a list of 15 inspiring American women heroes, that includes everyone from the 19th century abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth to Clara Barton, a pioneer nurse who founded the American Red Cross, to former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
I like this campaign as I feel it would be an important step to include others who contributed to the formation of a nation outside the “white men’s club”. An interesting fact I learnt when reading about women on money is that the first first lady, Martha Washington, actually appeared on a US currency note. Wearing a hat and a light veil, she was on the face of the one “silver” dollar bill (Silver Certificate) in 1886 and 1891, and the back of the $1 Silver Certificate of 1896.
This call to honour women got me thinking about which Arab female heroes might end up being printed on their country’s money. After asking my group of friends, I was surprised to find that many of us couldn’t think of amazing women to honour, except those who we currently hear about in the media.
While UAE money doesn’t feature faces, opting to representing important national landmarks and symbols such as the falcon, landscapes and buildings, some Emiratis mentioned honouring Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the Minister of International Cooperation and Development. She has many achievements under her belt, and is a hero to Emirati and Arab women.
But who else? A quick review of other Arab nation’s money, I found that Syria had put Queen Zenobia on its 500 Lira note, in a crown with curled back hair. The warrior queen of the Roman colony of Palmyra, in what is now Syria, Zenobia ruled from about AD 267 to 274 and claimed Cleopatra as an ancestor. I once saw a rare coin bearing the name of Absh Khatun, who was a queen of Persia from 1263 to 1287 and the last sovereign of the Atabek dynasty.
Some of the recent Turkish, Iranian and Arab soap operas remind us of some very powerful women rulers that we simply skimmed over in school. It would be interesting to dig into our past and pull out important Arab female figures and then have a public vote on who should appear on our currency.
Queen Elizabeth, who is head of state of the UK and 15 other Commonwealth realms, appears on the money of many of those countries. She even appeared on a Canadian $20 note in 1935, when she was just 8 years old. The Queen, who will be 89 in April and will become Britain’s longest-reigning monarch in September, has been captured on banknotes and coins at various stages of her life.
I understand that, given the cultural and religious restrictions, it will be difficult to ever actually put women’s faces on money in the Middle East, especially if they are still living. But nonetheless, to do so would be a good reminder of our history and women’s role in it, and how often we forget about their many important contributions.
rghazal@thenational.ae
Twitter:@Arabianmau
