As I promised Laura:
Manifestations of Beirut Sexism
1. I have never seen a place where people (men and women) so casually speak ill of women. People (men and women) often so casually say that this woman or that woman is a prostitute; and they often mean that literally.
2. It is often explicitly stated that women in middle and upper management (regardless where they work) got to their place by providing "sexual favors" to their bosses. (One female director of a major media outfit, told me: Make no mistake about it. We are only [seen as] a body.)
3. Commercials and billboards are almost exclusively based on the sexual objectification and commodification of women.
4. Wide acceptance of and justification for plastic surgery for women. So much so that you often see women walking around with bandages around their noses. I am told that Syrian plastic surgeons are making very good money by catering to Lebanese clients, and they charge less than their Lebanese counterparts.
5. Lebanon is behind other countries in accepting women in political office.
6. Extreme pressures on women to get married early.
7. Return of traditional family arranged marriages, and thus men excercise more choices than women.
8. Promotion of aesthetic standards for Lebanese women that do not reflect what Lebanese (and Arab women) really look like. (Only this year, after years of promotion of the blonde look, black hair for women is in).
9. Women are supposed to strictly adhere to latest Western fashion trends, no matter what.
10. And then there is Hayfa Wahbah. She is a Lebanese singer who is sexually exploited by the Arab music industry, and by male consumers. There are so many vulgar and obscene jokes about her.
11. It is often stated that female novelists and poets do not produce their own work; and that there husbands or boyfriends write their works.
12. Certain jobs (domestic servants, restaurant restrooms'cleaners, etc) are reserved for women (poor women from poor countries with dark-skinned people).
13. Women are encouraged to marry a rich man (no matter who or what he is) to "rescue their families."
PS. You shall notice that every society shares those manifestions to a degree or another, in one form or another, which only confirms the universality of sexism and misogyny.