“International Women’s Day” (March 8) will be celebrated this year in many countries around the world, including Lebanon and Western Asia. This Day recognizes women for their achievements, their struggles and their diversity. It is also an occasion for looking ahead to the untapped potential and opportunities that await future generations of women, while diligently reminding […]
Author Archives: Red Lips High Heels
A New Feminist Wave in Lebanon or the Path to Democratization
The study of Feminist/Women’s movements not only contributes to our understanding of women’s experiences of political and social change, but also helps to bridge the gaps between local activism and feminist theory. Feminist claims and organizations in Lebanon and most Western Asian countries are not new, and credit for the growth of new Feminisms must […]
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 […]
It is about time to start working for Peace
Shocking as it was and is these news of explosions by suicide bombers in Lebanon, fear creeps into the hearts even of those who live way far outside this country. The possibility of dying at any minute, in any place, with no possibility of sheltering oneself goes beyond imagination. During war times, with its own […]
Suicide Bombings in Lebanon: My opinion
Few hours before a suicide bomber blew himself up in a minibus in Southern Beirut yesterday afternoon, I was thinking of Marcus Aurelius famous quote “Do every act of your life as if it were your last” while drawing a ‘local dehumanized human bomb’, as the images of previous blasts were shown on TV. We […]
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 […]
Et si c'était moi Roula Yaacoub…
Et si c’était moi Roula Yaacoub? Et si c’était toi? Ta fille? Ta mère? Ta soeur? Ta cousine? Ta tante?… Battues à mort… Roula Yaacoub était une femme dite ‘ordinaire’, qui vivait dans une maison ‘anodine’ et qui menait une vie simple qu’elle sacrifiait pour le bien-être des ses cinq filles. Evidemment, Roula n’était pas […]
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 […]
We cannot give up!
In the last decades, religious fundamentalism was on the move in several countries, but so were mainstream interfaith dialogue, dynamic encounters among ethnic origins, sexual identities and social classes, and secular ideas/practices/movements. In counterpoint to tidal waves of authoritarianism, terrorism, extremism, exclusivism and absolutism, there were (and still are) individuals and groups of people breaking […]