When I first heard about Jackie Chamoun's leaked video and the criticism that made her apologize, I was offended. Why should she? If Lebanon was indeed a conservative society, then we shouldn't be subjected to the political porn we have to endure on a daily basis. Of course, I also wholeheartedly believe that a woman (or man) has the right to do whatever they want with their bodies and no one has the right to dictate their moral standards on them. The incident soon snowballed resulting in hundreds of blog posts and tweets and hashtags and creepy dude pics, all in support of Jackie's right to strip and represent Lebanon in the Olympics. Good for them. Good for us (I also did my share of tweeting and FB sharing).
But looking at the extent of the supportive response (to be honest I barely saw any negative comments about Jackie), I wonder where all this energy and indignation is coming from. I didn't see any of it when Roula Yacoub's husband was found not guilty of murdering her, under extremely murky legal proceedings. Why hasn't there been any outrage at the refusal of the police to intervene in a domestic violence incident that lead to the murder of another woman? I don't see any hashtags or Instagram photos calling for justice and rule of law, and for adopting progressive domestic violence legislation in Lebanon.
So I do want to ask, how "modern" are we as a society? And is it freedom and human rights that we are advocating, or just the image that comes with it?
Just food for thought.
But looking at the extent of the supportive response (to be honest I barely saw any negative comments about Jackie), I wonder where all this energy and indignation is coming from. I didn't see any of it when Roula Yacoub's husband was found not guilty of murdering her, under extremely murky legal proceedings. Why hasn't there been any outrage at the refusal of the police to intervene in a domestic violence incident that lead to the murder of another woman? I don't see any hashtags or Instagram photos calling for justice and rule of law, and for adopting progressive domestic violence legislation in Lebanon.
So I do want to ask, how "modern" are we as a society? And is it freedom and human rights that we are advocating, or just the image that comes with it?
Just food for thought.
4 comments:
Very true. Were it not for her breasts and/or Karami noticing them, no one would have given a hoot about her ski skills or Lebanon's Olympics in general. Talk about hypocrisy.
I'd be interested in your take on my post: http://www.beirutreport.com/2014/02/boobs-over-sport-is-jacky-really-hero.html
I suppose it's because the protests were quite focused and directed towards the minister himself (even if indirectly). It seems to me that it's the minister - a heavily unpopular one to add - who started it all. I would also add that it was all insignificant and simple: you like a page, you take picture, you add a hashtag ergo you become a supporter
Thank you Habib I will definitely get back to you on your post.
conjure1 (nice blog btw - have marked it for future reading). I agree with the Minister theory, but I think you can create a hashtag and picture theme for any cause and I'm sure the Lebanese of all people are capable of doing that. But I think that the majority do not believe that issues like domestic violence concern them. Like it's happening to a different group of people who are alien to them. Ma ba3ref.
Ah thank you :) I will be looking forward to your feedback. My name is Nino Frewat, but it seems my nickname was wrongly registered. Anyways, I hope that this is not the case, that people do not care about such serious issues.. but if I take my case, I read the articles about women's violence, I shared them on Facebook & Twitter but else could I do online? With Jackie, it felt more like a game, you know?
Post a Comment