Category Archives: balance de la vie

Alice’s Pearls

I was interviewed few hours ago for a documentary and one of the directors’ questions was about my pearls. My answer had nothing to do with eclectic styles mixing and matching old and new, luxury and humbleness, ‘East’ and ‘West’, or the importance of filling one’s neck with necklaces that strike me fancy. Even if […]

Addiction to Words

It falls on our shoulders to start writing and speaking truths that we have come to know and understand about our region. Even though we live miles apart, our hearts still beat the same song and our longing for peace is always present. Words can divide. They build walls of judgment and misconceptions. They imprison […]

Real Change will come from Humane Individuals and Societies

Nothing sounds better to me than to live in a world without conflict, where people of different ideologies, origins and preferences live side by side accepting one another or, at the very least, not getting in the ways of each other. That would be a better world but I am no fool, I do know […]

Perceptions du corps de la femme au Liban

Bien que les définitions de l’être femme soient diverses au Liban, il en est une qui constitue la norme et qui reste difficilement détrônable, quelles que soient les appartenances confessionnelles, politiques, socio-économiques et générationnelles : afin d’être acceptée par l’autre (individuel et collectif), de préserver son honneur et son intégrité (et l’honneur de la famille) et […]

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 […]

On Motherhood and Womanhood

Numerous are the times when I – and other women intellectuals and activists in Lebanon – am criticized for being a woman who ‘thinks’ (meaning challenges mainstream and traditional mindset and system) and ‘works’… ‘Why bother?’, ‘Women should only be sluts, housewives and mothers’, ‘Thinking gives bad ideas, like abandoning your husband and children’, ‘Working […]

Etre, Avoir, Penser, Vivre

Le Liban est en crise, une crise multiforme, et surtout,  philosophique et spirituelle. Celle-ci renvoie à des interrogations universelles : qu’est-ce qui peut être considéré comme un progrès véritable ? L’être humain peut-il/elle être heureux/se et vivre en harmonie avec autrui dans une civilisation construite autour de l’idéal de l’avoir ? Sans doute pas… Nous traversons une période […]