A justified rant: Are you kidding me with this citizenship thing?

This seriously cannot go on. How retarded are we? Did you know this:

Palestine was the first Arab country to give women the right to pass on their citizenship, in 2003, followed by Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Yemen, Tunisia and Libya. Last year, the UAE announced that children of Emirati women married to foreigners could apply for citizenship once they turn 18. And in January 2012, the Council of Ministers in Saudi Arabia announced it would grant citizenship to children of Saudi women married to non-Saudi men, on the condition that they meet other citizenship requirements.

Saudi Arabia people. Where women can't drive. Saudi Arabia, the most backward country in the world when it comes to women's rights, doesn't think that granting women the right to pass on their nationality will turn their country upside down and ruin life for everyone else.

But in Lebanon, it's a different story. In Lebanon, we form an all-male committee to review the possibility of granting women full citizenship. We not only leave it to the "men" to decide, we do it at the most patronizing timing: On Mother's Day. You know, as a "gift" to mothers, not an inherent right to all women. Of course the committee found that this "gift" was not a good idea after all, because despite the constitution, human rights and international treaties that Lebanon is committed to, granting this priceless gift may unhinge the delicate sectarian balance of the nation. And God forbid this sectarian balance, that for all I can see only guarantees government positions for the country's warlords, should be unhinged. Meanwhile, Americans of Lebanese male ancestry from 1921 have every right to that coveted nationality. I wonder how many actually claimed it.

I don't know why we expected anything different from such a cynical committee. Everybody knows that on Mother's Day, the Lebanese buy their mothers toasters.

Women in the constitutional amendment

We are, supposedly, living historic times in the Arab world. Democracy is peeking its head everywhere we look, but a full presence has not yet been secured, at least in my opinion. Let's for a minute turn our eyes to the "democratic" state at work: the Republic of Egypt. It is indeed an important achievement. Egypt is now debating its new constitution, and the discussion is public. How much of the public discussion will be taken into account for the draft constitution, I don't know. But it's a definitely a step forward.

As part of the discussion (yes I am aware that I am not Egyptian but I'm putting my 2 cents in anyway), let's have a look at one of the proposed articles on offer, Article 36. Here's a quick translation I made:

The State commits to to all legal and executive measures to enshrine the principle of women equalling men in political, cultural, economic and social life and other aspects, that does not go against Islamic Shari'a. The State will provide free maternity and child care and will guarantee for women protection and social, economic and health welfare, the right to inheritance and ensure agreement between her duties towards her family and her work in society.

Anyone with a basic knowledge of gender issues can clearly see that equality is not really at the heart of this article, but the appearance of it is. I will not venture to argue whether Islamic Sharia' does allow for equality between men and women because I am clearly not an expert on the subject. I will just make a few remarks from my own reading of the article.

The phrasing "the principle of women equalling men" is obviously problematic. It's not "equality between women and men", as if to say that somehow men are superior and they will advocate that women equal them as much as possible.

The mention of women and her role as a mother in the same article that is meant to advocate equality is more evidence that gender equality was not really taken seriously when drafting this text. Social, political and economic rights is not the same topic as caring for a family. The family should be the responsibility of both parents, but the writers here do not seem to agree.

Which brings me to my last point: how is it the state's responsibility to interfere in the woman's decision to juggle work and family? I am referring to the statement "ensure agreement between her duties towards her family and work in society".

No. They are not serious. This article is a joke. And judging from the feedback on it, it will probably pass.

What's a little beating between spouses?

It is statements like this that keep me optimistic about the future of the human race:

“We do not support violence against women, but God allowed a certain form of beating,”

This gem was uttered by Salafist preacher Yasser Borhamy, aka "godfather" of El-Nour Party in Egypt. To be fair, he did argue that even though the husband is permitted to beat his wife, no physical damage or scar should result from the beating.

God bless him.

How to design a female quota to fail

I am not a big fan of female quotas in general. I find it devalues a woman's achievement and in most cases is mainly cosmetic, allowing for unqualified females to attain certain positions and proving counterproductive in the long run. I am more in support of drastic solutions like as an overhaul of the education system, because how else will you change citizens' perceptions and behaviors? Legal instruments addressing gender discrimination in the work place and elsewhere that are properly enforced is another long term but effective tool. But of course these approaches are too difficult and controversial to implement by politicians seeking quick returns.

Jordan's election law is a prime example of how terrible a female quota can be. Here's an excerpt from a good analysis on 7iber by David Fox:

"Several other features of the electoral system contribute to making it a regressive, unrepresentative body, including – paradoxically – the women’s quota. Each governorate is allotted a quota of one woman for a parliamentary seat. In the rural governorates, these women are vetted through male-dominated tribal patriarchies, with female candidates expected to take the ‘tribal line’ on issues, including support for honor crimes and other forms of institutionalized gender discrimination. If we consider the women elected to parliament as the voice for women in their respective governorates, than the modern, socially and economically empowered women of Amman face severe discrimination in comparison to women from the rural governorates. The women of Amman are, for example 27 times less represented in Parliament than Jordan’s least populated governorate, Tafileh."

This is what happens when there is no genuine interest in advancing women's involvement in political life.

"Hello! I belong to everybody"

This is one of the most expressive messages I've seen on the hypocrisy of the so-called freedom-loving Americans, caught on camera, advocating... no demanding freedom of choice, except when it comes to women. See it yourself. It's brilliant.

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I know I am not voting in the US elections and these issues shouldn't really concern me, but I do find the parallels with our society striking. As Nadine Moawad put it, this is not a cultural problem, "it's patriarchy everywhere." So when Samantha Bee says that her uterus belongs to "everybody", her sarcasm is more accurate than funny.

An inappropriate question

Is it just me or has the entire world gone ape mad about women's sexual, reproductive and well.. basically human rights? Maybe I've become more sensitized to it but to be honest it's really not that difficult to see. From the Lebanese government's insulting reasoning of their rejection of women quota, despite their being a million other more dignified arguments against it, to Jordan's Minister of Education theory about females outperforming males in national exams. There is also that Neanderthal statement cited by al-Nahda's Ghanoushi that “a woman’s unique features revolve around her sexual functions”, while for a man it is secondary. The argument was used to propose changes to Tunisia's progressive constitution so that the woman's role in the family "complement" that of the man, instead of having equal rights unconditionally.

Of course we shouldn't forget the equally ridiculous arguments made in the US, mainly by middle-aged/old male Republicans, and culminating in the pure ignorance of Todd Akin's: "First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

We are bombarded with insults like that every day, continuously. Some of them may be out of ignorance, but there is a desire for control at the root of it all. There is an insecurity and fear of change, intricately intwined with the complicated sexual and reproductive process, which is why in many cases women are accomplices. And so, from now on, every time I am offended as a woman, you will hear from me. And I start with a personal experience, at the emergency room.

So every time I am admitted into the ER, the first question I am asked by the attending doctor is: "Are you married?" Although I always found it weird, I never thought much of it until one time, and after replying "yes", the doctor said: "Any chance you could be pregnant?" The reason she asked was because she was prescribing me an X-ray and a medication, both of which would clearly be harmful for a fetus. So if the question was only meant to safeguard the fetus, why not just ask if I could be pregnant? (euphemism for "Are you sexually active?") What if someone could be pregnant but she's not married. She will say no to the first question and that's it. No follow up question. Worse, if she did realize that an X-ray can't be good for a fetus, what is she supposed to do? Confess that it is possible that she is pregnant and bear the judgement of the entire hospital?

A doctor's job is to protect life and maintain health, not to make moral judgements. We leave that task to society's hypocritical do-nothings.

Untold tales of courage: Shelters and dyed hair

Our mothers brought us up to be strong, independent and responsible. They did a great job and the proof is the amazing number of wonderful, accomplished and activist women I see around me. The problem is that to do it, they had to pay dearly. Not only did they have to prove that they could juggle a career and family (because at that point, men would not hear of domestic responsibilities), they had to be politically and socially engaged. If they were to maintain that freedom, they had to become super women. At least that's how I saw the mothers and women around me. And one of those exceptional women is Vali. She is the topic of this latest post in the Untold Tales of Courage series I've been working on.

Vali is a pediatrician,

a fearless fighter,

and a mother of 5, one of whom made this post a whole lot more interesting by creating this wonderful comic based on her life (Thanks Lena for giving me permission to use your work: "Mrabba wo Laban, or how my mother became Lebanese").

Oh and she lived through the Lebanese civil war, having to dye her hair brown to avoid the kidnappings that were rampant in Beirut in the 1980s.

Of which she experienced once... in 1979. When stopped at a militia check point (anyone who moved around in Lebanon at the time knows how ubiquitous those were), Vali - and her car - was abducted. But for Vali, as for many other women of her generation, the immediate reaction was not fear and despair. It was anger, anger at the young men who may as well have been her sons, and who were ruining her country with their macho cowardly behavior. She basically shamed them into letting her go. The car, they kept.

Vali says that every time someone close to her passes away, she reads a history book, because history gives her a broader view of her existence. And she overcomes her sadness by comparing it to that of people who's countries faced wars and devastation. She says that the atlas was her greatest breather, as she could travel on the map from city to city.

During the Gaza siege and bombing, Vali was furious and frustrated about the lack of access to health care. "If my eyesight was still OK (she suffers from a condition seriously compromising her sight), I would go to Gaza", she declared. I believe her.

And so, to the super women of that generation, I remain in awe of you. I may never live up to your accomplishments, but it's the challenge that will make it worthwhile.