The Age of Neo-Illiteracy

Quantitative studies can be boring, and often are misleading. However, I always use statistics to define the level of my university classrooms in Lebanon. Recurrent questions I ask concern reading. Strange how in few years, the average percentage of readers in three different private universities drastically dropped: 40% in 2007… 1% in 2013. In fact, […]

IDLE NO MORE in Lebanon!

University classrooms are known to be the root of knowledge. University classrooms stimulate the mind, stretch the limits and allow young people to think outside the box, to simply think for themselves. How true is this? During a class led by Dr. Pamela Chrabieh I occupied an observer’s seat. It was a session of movie […]

All-Men Societies? The End of Humanity…

Will there be a sex war in the upcoming years of the 21st century? Has it already started? When parents are able to choose the sex of their child using in vitro fertilization (IVF) and artificial insemination (AI), and world statistics show that boys are preferred, especially in conservative and highly patriarchal societies – such […]

Ania Lisewska… "Not in Lebanon!"

Ita��s been on national television for a couple of days now. Shea��s become what everybody talks about: the girl who wants to have sex with a 100 000 men. People dona��t bother to remember her name; shea��s just that girl that is sex crazed. Ania Lisewska. She is 21 years old, in a long term […]

What is Empowerment and what does Feminism have to do with it?

Empowering Women makes for empowered Men, creating empowered Children, producing empowered Communities and builds empowered Societies. Empowerment is a concept used extensively in a wide range of applications and human interaction. To understand empowerment, first power dynamics need to be understood, which is an area too intensive for this piece. The basics of power dynamics […]

What is Obscenity?

I am sharing a message i received this morning without mentioning its source: “Isn’t it obscene to talk about sexuality, i mean mentioning and studying words like ‘vagina’ and ‘phallus’? Do you really need to do it, you feminists? Can’t you just talk about beauty, kids, cooking and shopping like other normal women would do?” […]

Pourquoi s'exprimer? Why express oneself?

Question on ne peut plus pertinente que je souhaite poser : pourquoi s’exprimer ? Est-ce pour revendiquer ? Alors au nom de qui ou de quoi ? L’expression doit-elle se réduire à une colère ? A un cri de détresse ? Ou doit-elle aller bien plus loin ? Pour qu’une expression puisse prétendre à une […]

Courage…

Courage… It’s this inner voice… Talking to you every morning while drinking your coffee and wondering about the rest of your day, and every night before sleeping: ‘try again tomorrow’, Asking you to be patient while driving for hours to your work, stuck in Beirut traffic, noise and air pollution, Giving you strength to look […]

Amad & Eva

Dans ce paradis lointain, paradis des couleurs Vivait Amad le noir Entouré d’animaux Fleurs et fruits tropicaux Une nature exotique s’y trouvait Verdure, sur le sol, tapissée Un soleil jaune, parfois orange Un ciel bleu où régnaient les anges Des cascades, des rivières En été, comme en hiver Tout était en couleur.     Apparut […]

Elle obéit…

Par Davina Maria Silence Obéissance Il crie Elle se tait Un coup de fouet Elle prie Malheur Douleur Orage à l’interieur Plaies et ecchymoses Visage blessé et regard morose Elle aimerait bien s’échapper et partir loin Mais elle n’avait pas le choix et ne possédait rien Et elle risquait de souffrir en martyr s’il retrouvait […]