Battered …Still Undefeated

To wear your love… Thorns that crown my head and glide your ring… A noose around my neck To bear your seed… A burden in my womb To carve your name… A curse upon my tomb.   To share your faith But demonize your God And quench this thirst That I have long begot.   […]

Voir Milène – la femme souillée

Milène J’effacerai le sang qu’ils esquivaient à ta naissance Je ferai de leurs jours le miracle de ton défi Je t’ouvrirai les fleurs noircies par l’été Et tu entreras dans la manne des folies Milène sarclée de déni Nous marcherons ce soir sur tous leurs néants Nous chanterons à la manière des cygnes Et chaque […]

My 10 points to the Lebanese Political ‘Intelligentsia’: This is the Time to wear you Gender Equality Hat!

1-      Lebanon is not “one of the best places for a woman to be” – in fact, it is “one of the worst”. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2013, Lebanon’s rank is 123 out of 136 countries. Discrimination against women and girls – including gender-based violence, domestic violence, economic (in the labor market, women […]

Oh dear Jackie what have you done?

Let me start by saying that as a Middle Eastern 22-year-old I always take a bit of pride being from a country that is more liberated and open than its counterparts. Some name(d) it the Switzerland of the Middle East, others the Paris of the Middle East. Well, for me, Lebanon is just Lebanon. I […]

Voile (à Shaima Jastaina)

Oh toi, tourbillon insoutenable sous les couches sublimes Que la marque de la bête dessine Autour de tes forces liquides Où la vérité se donne en murmures fous de joie. Ma peau se fait l’histoire de ta folie Qui ébranle leur monde à chaque instant du texte Et étrangle l’Un au pied du logos repris […]

Je ne suis personne (Manne 7adan)

Je ne suis personne (Manne 7adan)… Je ne suis pas l’enfant d’un zaim, d’un chef de tribu, ni d’un politicien ou d’un homme religieux. Je ne suis pas une actrice ou une chanteuse, une romancière ou une femme de ‘haute société’. Je ne suis pas un homme d’affaires, un journaliste de renom ou un lauréat […]

Double Standards

When did weight become a national conversation? I have been living in Canada for the past 10 years, having left Lebanon when I was 25. Three months ago I decided to come back and give Lebanon another try. Ever since the first day I arrived in Lebanon, I was shocked to realize that all that […]

Mon histoire avec l'excision du clitoris

Je suis Leyla et je suis égyptienne. Je vous écris mon histoire en espérant que vous la publierez. Je vis actuellement au Québec où j’ai eu vent de votre projet extraordinaire qu’est ce blog et la page Facebook. Briser le silence, déconstruire les stéréotypes, offrir un savoir alternatif sur les femmes au Moyen-Orient, et varié! […]

Learning from the Past, Understanding the Present, Fighting for a better Future

The incomplete yet revealing journey to the past of Western Asia with a particular focus on womanhood made me realize the importance of pursuing the investigative process of the past at all levels, including the not so obvious ones, the unthought and unthinkable, in order to build constructive memories thus histories and identities. Most Western […]

Living in Hell

Him: ‘Go to hell!’ – While hitting my face… Me: Screaming – ‘I am already in hell!!!!” My name is Catharina (obviously not my real name for security reasons). I am Lebanese and I live in a quite fancy environment, with everything one can imagine possessing – mansion, maids, gardener, driver, luxurious cars, yacht … […]