Feminist and Peace Activist

A student of mine, studying Theology, future clerk, asked me a while ago: ‘‘Why, a woman ‘like you’ (describing me as ‘young trendy secular woman’), not attached to any religious function, is interested in religions, cultures, philosophy, politics, etc. in a country like Lebanon where the production of knowledge – if it exists – on […]

Au Liban, «le meilleur pays au monde», le viol reste un acte «banal» !

En novembre j’ai reçu pour mon anniversaire (célébré à Montréal où j’habite) un super cadeau de la part de mes ami(e)s et de ma famille : un voyage de presque 40 jours en Inde… Arrivée au Liban, et à l’annonce de ce voyage et des préparatifs qui en découlent, un commentaire commun est resté « […]

I am a Heel Wearer and my Footwear is Feminist !!

One of the questions many women ask me when they look at me or when they read ‘Red Lips High Heels’ is: how can you say you are feminist when you wear red lipstick and high heels? Strange how I have to defend my feminism within a movement fighting for women’s rights. True we do […]

I am sick and tired of conforming!

I am sick and tired of being an exploited objectified woman and citizen. I am Lebanese and in my society, beauty standards changed in the last 10-15 years. We were busy with war until the early 1990s, not paying attention to physical characteristics. When we stopped killing each other with weapons, we started a devastating competition, […]

Les femmes sont au coeur du renouvellement dans l'authentique!

Penser au rôle des femmes en relation au renouvellement des mentalités, des moeurs et des systèmes socio-politiques, me renvoie à penser en premier lieu aux changements qui ont eu lieu suite aux décennies de guerre physique au Liban et l’impact de celle-ci sur la situation des femmes et ‘ce qui a changé’  ou non… Le […]

About Femen… My opinion!

With the article on Red Lips High Heels about the Egyptian activist and her affiliation with the FEMEN group came a lot of prolonged thoughts and debates. What is FEMEN? FEMEN is a feminist group, in Kiev, known for its topless protests. Theya��ve taken part in protests against religious institutions, international marriage agencies, sexism, sex […]

Who’s afraid of Aliaa el Mahdy?

October 2011: a young nineteen-year-old Egyptian woman blogs a naked picture of herself. What could have been but a mundane act in the west was about to stir a passionate debate around feminism religion and nudity in the Arab world. Two years later, after having been harassed, threatened and kidnapped in her home country, Aliaa […]

Presumed Incompetent! It can be tiring being a Woman in Academia!

This is one of the latest books I have been reading: Presumed Incompetent. The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia (Edited by Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Yolanda Flores Niemann, Carmen G. González, Angela P. Harris). Highly interesting work, especially for my case as a university professor having to deal with sexism while […]

Pamela Chrabieh, militante pour un féminisme décloisonné

Elle, c’est le Dr Pamela Chrabieh, professeure en sciences des religions à la faculté de théologie de l’USEK. Son rêve ? Insuffler du modernisme « aux féminismes arabes ». Comment ? Il suffit de s’emparer de son rouge à lèvres, porter des talons hauts et partir en croisade contre les tabous de nos sociétés phallocrates. Ayant quitté […]