The protagonist of our story today is a "flower of the desert" whose name is Wallis Deary. Born in the Somali desert to a shepherdess, she is also a superstar who shines in the ranks of the world's top models.
She was sexually assaulted at the age of 4 and circumcised at the age of 5, but after becoming famous, she shot many big-name advertisements and was sought after by many designers and photographers.
But she was so fond of the women of her hometown that she gave up her modeling job to protect young children and women, fight against female circumcision, and became the first anti-circumcision ambassador of the United Nations.
Life since childhood has given her many unimaginable sufferings, and in the end, these sufferings not only did not defeat her, but also became her nourishment, making her face life more courageously.
Warris's childhood
In 1965, Wallis was born into a poor herder tribe in the Somali desert of Africa. Since then, her difficult childhood life began. But poverty was only the smallest misery of her childhood.
When Wallis was four years old, a man came to her house as a guest. At that time, the young Wallis didn't think about anything, only felt happy. She didn't expect that it was this man who became a nightmare that she couldn't look back on in her childhood.
The man saw that only Wallis was alone at home, and he actually became colorful, and he attacked Wallis, who was only four years old. Wallis only felt a huge black shadow swoop up, and then lost the girl's most precious thing.
But when she told her father about it, the angry father blamed everything on her fault, believing that she was not ruly and did not perform "circumcision" and impurity.
Perhaps, some friends have heard of the word "circumcision", but they should not understand it deeply. Why did anti-female circumcision end up being Wallisse's lifelong pursuit? First, we have to talk about what circumcision is.
It is a ritual that originated in Judaism and has a long history, popular among Muslims, Jews, and indigenous Australians, and is very popular in Africa, where most countries and regions in Africa have this tradition.
This is a very cruel custom. Although it is cruel to say, most people only have a vague impression of it, and do not know what it is, so what is circumcision?
Circumcision is a sign of maturity for children in these areas, a covenant with God, and permission to enter into marriage. It may sound like just an ordinary feudal ceremony. But it's not that simple.
circumcision
Circumcision is divided into male circumcision and female circumcision, male circumcision may seem relatively harmless, and in other countries, many adult men will undergo this procedure for health reasons, (of course, science has now confirmed that circumcision is not very beneficial). But in Africa, male circumcision is often performed in dimly lit rooms using unsterilized blades or any other tool, and a large number of children are hospitalized and even die due to surgical infections.
Female circumcision is less harmless than male circumcision. Even reading the text is shocking.
Usually, female circumcision, like male circumcision, uses unsterilized equipment and places, and you can imagine how high the mortality rate of this procedure is. However, the popularity of this procedure in Africa is still extremely high.
What is the purpose of female circumcision? You guessed it, to guarantee the purity of the girl before marriage. As a result, the daily life of women who have undergone circumcision is very painful, and the mortality rate of African women during childbirth is also extremely high.
When Wallis was only five years old, his father circumcised her. Wallisse's two sisters died from circumcision or the sequelae of circumcision. Fortunately, after several struggles, Wallis was lucky enough to survive the terrible postoperative infection.
flee
As Wallis grew bigger and bigger, the more beautiful she became, just as her name means in the Masok language, she became a "flower of the desert". As she grew older, she became more independent and sober, less and less obedient to her authoritarian father's control, and her thinking became more critical and mature. She started to grow. In her autobiography, she said she was "stubborn, willful, constantly questioning, doubting everything." ”
Finally, when her father sold her for five camels to an old man in his sixties as his fourth wife, she made her first act of rebellion against her parents and ran away from marriage.
Desperate, she ran into the endless desert with the food and water she had accumulated. She walked alone in the desert for two days and one night. In this escape to defend freedom, she was always very afraid in her heart, afraid of being caught up, and did not dare to relax the slightest.
In fact, her mother knew that she had escaped, but her mother silently let her go.
Because she walked in a hurry, she even ran barefoot into the desert. Wading barefoot in the sand left a deep mark on her feet and a scar that would accompany her for life.
But more terrifying than the desert she was already familiar with, the snakes, insects and beasts in the desert, these creatures could easily take her life.
On her way to escape, she once met a majestic lion, the lion stared at her tightly, got closer and closer, and even came over to smell her, but maybe thought she was not delicious or whatever, and finally turned around and walked away, which made her save a life, and she was also very surprised. She recalled: "At that moment I felt God's will, and I had an unfinished mission in my life. ”
Yes, if the great difficulty does not die, there will be a blessing, and living has laid the foundation for her brilliant life in the future.
But Wallis's escape was not so "easy", and she still had a hurdle to pass.
When Wallis stumbled out of the desert, she began to find a way to get there.
At this time, the driver of a truck stopped the car and beckoned her to get in. Wallis, who was full of joy, happily got into the car, and when she thought she had met a kind person.
When she finally settled down to rest, this man actually pounced on her with a bad intention. Wallis struggled desperately for a long time, struggling fruitlessly, she casually touched the stone next to her, she picked up the stone and smashed it towards this villain, he fainted.
This time, she was lucky enough to escape the clutches.
After many hardships, she managed to reach her destination, the capital Mogadishu, at her grandmother's house.
London, London
Grandma accepted her lovingly, considering her lucky, forgiving her hardships during the journey, and telling her that Allah was blessing her. But Grandma was worried that Wallisse's father would find and capture Wallis, so Grandma introduced her to her aunt and uncle as a maid.
Gradually, the hardworking and capable Waris gradually impressed her uncle and aunt, who were diplomats at the Somali embassy in Britain, and the uncle and aunt decided to take her to England. Wallis was pleasantly surprised.
After coming to the UK, Wallis lived in a basement and had to do a lot of work every day, but it was a good day compared to the days when she had no autonomy and personal rights, hunger and cold in Somalia.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, a civil war broke out in Somalia, the original government was overthrown, and all the personnel of the Somali embassy abroad were recalled to Somalia. Wallis didn't want to go back to that place full of nightmares, so she hid her passport, sneaked out, and lived on the streets of London, but she was willing.
Fortunately, soon she was lucky enough to meet a kind girl, Marilyn. Marilyn is a cabinet sister in a shopping mall in the UK, at first the meeting between the two was not pleasant, she suspected that Wallis was stealing, but in the relationship, Marilyn was gradually moved by Wallis's sincerity, and finally decided to take her in for one night, and also recommended a job to Wallis who did not work - working in a fast food restaurant.
Wallis has been working in this fast-food restaurant for more than two years, and one day, the famous photographer Terence Donovan came to eat at the restaurant where she worked, but was unexpectedly attracted by her unique wild appearance on the way to dinner. Terence Donovan wanted to take a set of pictures for Wallis, so he gave Wallis his business card and invited her to participate in his shoot.
At this time, Wallis, who still didn't know anything, hesitated, thinking about it, the salary of being a model is much higher than working in a fast food restaurant, she wants to live better, so she finally wants to try this opportunity.
At this time, she did not know that it was this decision that changed her future life.
Self-redemption
Female circumcision has many terrible sequelae, such as infections, severe menstrual cramps, and a higher chance of developing various gynecological diseases. In addition, it takes a long time to go to the toilet every time, so she is afraid to drink water or eat foods with high water content every time she shoots.
After seeing the world, Doris gradually discovered that normal girls in the wider world do not need to be circumcised, and circumcision is not a "sacred ritual", but just a kind of destruction of girls by ignorance.
Under the physical discomfort, she finally plucked up the courage to face herself and face the nightmares she had had. She decided to go for surgery to cut her rights as a woman.
When she came to the hospital, the doctor who treated her did not speak Somali, invited a male Somali nurse to communicate with her. The doctor's words to her were meant to comfort her, but the Somali male nurse translated indiscriminately, and the nurse said to her in Somali, "They can't control our traditions, aren't you shy?" Show your body to a white male doctor? Does your mother know that you are so shameful? ”
Hearing these words, Wallis broke down, she jumped out of her hospital bed and escaped from the hospital.
Wallis wandered the street, and suddenly, she remembered the past.
No one could have imagined that Wallis's mother family was actually very prominent. Wallis's mother, Yali, has a beautiful face and thick lips like Wallis. But as a teenager she fell in love with Wallisse's father, a poor shepherd. This love was opposed by everyone in the Yafiali family. So Yafiari resolutely followed her lover and eloped into the barren desert to graze her cattle.
At that time, the idea of many children and blessings in Africa was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the customs were very backward, and a man could take many wives. When Wallis's mother gave birth to a dozen children, she told her husband she wanted a break. Who knows, not long after, Wallisse's father brought back a girl no older than Wallis and introduced it to them. Since then, Wallis has had an additional "little mother".
Grandma said, "These sufferings must be for something worthwhile." ”
Looking back on these past events, she deeply felt that women were so imprisoned. She wants to go after something worthwhile. She has fled, she wants to completely escape the confinement of the backward world that once held her, she is not willing to be trapped in meaningless and ugly chains, she returns to the hospital, determined to have surgery.
Since then, Wallis has begun to completely transform, getting rid of all kinds of constraints given to her by her native family, and beginning to be herself, the girl who "dares to question". “
With her own strength, she began to rebel against this terrible habit that had been passed down for thousands of years.
Rise to fame and stay in London
Terence Donovan, the man who gave Wallis her business card, was one of the best photographers of the sixties, and he was the photographer of Princess Diana. How many models want to get the opportunity to be photographed by him, but can't. Being photographed by him may be the culmination of a model's career, but it is only the starting point for Wallis.
Wallis meets a nobleman.
Donovan gave her a lot of help and help, and under the lens of Terence Donovan, she showed unparalleled brilliance.
Soon, with Donovan's help, the starting point of her career take-off and the turning point of her difficult life came.
Pirelli is a car brand that invites the world's top photographers and best models to take calendar photos every year, and it is a very precious opportunity to be invited by Pirelli to shoot. In 1987, Wallis appeared on the cover of that year's Pirelli calendar.
Thereafter. Wallis became famous, and many luxury brands such as Chanel and Revlon voted for her olive branches, inviting her to be a model, participate in the catwalks of major brands, and shoot advertisements and fashion blockbusters.
Soon, Wallis became a very famous supermodel at the time. In the same year, her career also developed into the entertainment industry, and she participated in the filming of the James Bond series "007 Series: Dead by Daylight" and became a Bond girl. In addition, her modeling career went smoothly, and she became the first black woman to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine.
In 1995, while her modeling career was in full swing, she faced the threat of an expired passport. The only way to stay in London is to get permanent residency. In order to stay in London and not be deported to Somalia, she had to find a man to marry.
But the end result was good, and she managed to stay.
Save more girls
Wallis was unfortunate and fortunate that two years after the surgery, she gave birth to a healthy child. She has achieved happiness personally. But she felt that this was not enough, she had to fight for the happiness of all the women in her hometown.
In 1997, Wallis decided to retire from the runway, and before retiring from the catwalk, she was interviewed by Marie Claire, the magazine Grace. She told the interviewer: "I have told the model set countless times, and if this magazine will indeed be published, then I will tell you a true story." She calmly opened her wounds and recalled to reporters the process of her circumcision when she was 5 years old.
By the time Wallis's story was finished, interviewer Lauraziv was already in tears. She said, "It's terrible, I never dreamed that there would be such a thing in the world today!" ”
Soon after, a story titled "The Tragedy of Female Circumcision" appeared in Marie Claire. As soon as the report was published, it aroused great repercussions among the masses, and it can be said that a stone stirred up a thousand waves. No one expected that the terrible ritual of circumcision still exists in this world. The European fashion community was the first to stand up for her and jointly called for the government to intervene in the holding of circumcision ceremonies.
The United Nations followed suit, and in the same year, the United Nations invited Wallis to become the first anti-female circumcision ambassador to promote anti-circumcision around the world.
After the interview, Wallis officially retired from the runway to shift her career focus to anti-female circumcision. She began to give speeches everywhere about the backwardness, ugliness and dangers of circumcision, and she has always pushed for the abolition of circumcision and the protection of women and children.
Speaking on the UN podium, Wallis said: "When I was a child, I said I didn't want to be a woman, why should being a woman be so painful and so unhappy? Now that I'm older, I'm honored to be a woman. But for the sake of all women, let's try to change. ”
She no longer suffers for being a woman, but instead she is proud of herself as a woman, and not only that, but she also loves her hometown and all women. To this end, she gave up the gorgeous luxury of modeling life and tried to change the world with her own strength, to save the vast number of children and women in the shadow of circumcision.
In the course of her anti-circumcision campaign, she also published her own autobiography, "Flowers of the Desert," which describes her brilliant first half of life and the cruel female circumcision she encountered. In 2019, "Desert Flower" was also adapted into a movie, which once again caused a violent response around the world.
She tried to change the world in all kinds of ways. In addition to writing her autobiography, she joined friends in forming a foundation dedicated to helping women and girls who have undergone female circumcision and are still struggling with pain.
Her efforts were not in vain. First of all, in Africa, since 1979, African women's organizations, with the help of WHO, have passed a resolution to gradually abolish female circumcision throughout Africa, but there are still many places that are reluctant to implement this resolution, and Warris's movement is helping to gradually advance this resolution.
In Germany, in 2014, a German court ruled that a child's right to remain physically intact trumped the right of parents to perform religious ceremonies, which is effectively abolished circumcision.
Wallis Diary is a benchmark for women's consciousness awakening and a role model for all women.
Resources
[1] Baidu Encyclopedia "Wallis Diri"
[2] News Network "Wallis Deary: Circumcision Fighter"
[3] International News Network, "UN Ambassador Against Female Circumcision: Wallis Deary"