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 […]
Category Archives: Women’s Roles and Situations
De l'impensable au pensable
Le Liban est un pays diversifié, mais le Québec l’est encore plus, du moins en ce qui concerne les diversités religieuse et ethnique, des croyances et des pratiques. C’est à Montréal que je rencontrais pour la première fois des féministes de toutes tendances et approches : juives, musulmanes, hindoues, bouddhistes, bahaïes, vodouisantes, sorcières, agnostiques, athées, etc. ; […]
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 […]
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 […]
Womanhood in Ancient Western Asia (Middle East): why is it important to study the past?
This is an excerpt of my book’s introduction ‘Womanhood in Western Asia: a Journey to the Past’, recently published in Arabic by Dar el-Machreq, Beirut, Lebanon. Book signing: December 13, 2013, 7 p.m., International Arab Book Fair (Biel, Beirut), Librairie Orientale stand. [hr] “In the nineteenth century, the central moral challenge was slavery. In the twentieth century, it […]
Looking for Love ladies? Love yourselves first…
“Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit” (Khalil Gibran) Women in the Arab world are usually rushed into arranged marriage, forbidden to love and be loved; or soaked in the culture of prince charming who will rescue the princess and live with her happily ever after, only to wake up from […]
La cause des droits des femmes au Liban : un état des lieux
Mon article publié par l’Orient-le-Jour (Liban, 21-11-2013) À première vue, l’on peut affirmer qu’une partie des Libanaises jouissent d’une marge de liberté introuvable dans certains pays avoisinants, qu’elles peuvent conduire une voiture, enseigner dans des classes mixtes à l’école et à l’université, avoir accès aux soins de santé comme les hommes, boire un kir […]
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 […]
Au royaume des aveugles, le borgne est roi…
Dans le cadre d’un projet de travail, j’ai été emmenée à passer quelques jours en Arabie Saoudite, a Dhahran pour être plus précise, la région la plus ouverte du pays. De l’Arabie Saoudite, je ne connaissais que les dates, le pétrole, le livre de Sultana et les racontars. Essentiellement, toutes mes connaissances qui y vivent/ont […]
Why Gender Equality is important? My opinion
Gender Discrimination has always been a rather pressing and important matter which has been discussed by many around the world but was never given the care and true value it deserved in the Middle East for example. While it is true that in some countries—mainly developed countries—women have become equal to men (and they fight […]