I posted a comment by Daniel a few days ago. Sondra Ghosn, mentioned in the article, wrote to me a response, and I post: ""Dear Mr. Daniel and Mr. Asaad Abu Khalil,
I suppose you got your truncated information from the brazilian
magazine Folha de S.Paulo who interviewed me as well as
three arab fellows from other countries. You can find the page where the
information is taken on my blog here :
this
is the text next to my drawing in Portugese :
"
Sandra Ghosn, 28, publica na revista coletiva de
vanguarda “Samandal”. Na ilustração para a Folha, ela representou o
comportamento de sua geração, “mais liberal que a anterior”. A proporção de
libanesas entre 20 e 24 anos casadas aos 18 está entre as menores nos países
árabes – cerca de 10%. No Iêmen, são mais de 35%"
If you translate it
CORRECTLY, it reads :
" Sandra Ghosn, 28, published in the cutting-edge magazine "Samandal."In this illustration, she represented the behavior of her generation,"more liberal than the one before." The proportion of Lebanese between 20 and 24 years married at 18 is among the lowest in the Arab
countries -
about 10%. In Yemen, more than 35%"
As you can
read, I was only quoted on the fact i find my own generation to be more liberal
than the one before, not that "My generation is liberated!" as i think
this concept does not exist worldwide. The rest of the info published in this
text is not my own and I cannot be held responsible for it.
Other
facts:
I don't claim to represent in my drawing the whole social
stance of women in Lebanon.
I sometimes use photography in my work but i'm not a
photographer.
I did not say "This is how my generation behaves
today".
Now regarding Samandal, I don't know why anyone shouldn't
"categorize Samandal as a lebanese magazine", not only it is "published here"
but it's the product of lebanese artists and graphic designers who had the idea
of publishing any person who likes to draw comics with just the format and the
greyscale mode as editorial constraints.
It's not only a non lucrative magazine (5000l.l. merely
to cover the printing costs) but also quite democratic since anyone can send a
comics proposal and get published in it which makes it possible for frustrated
illustrators like myself who don't have the means to publish their personnal
work to get some exposure. I think it's a pretty nice initiative, maybe inspired
by the west but isn't everything inspired by something somewhere?
Please get your facts right before posting. You, like all
published journalists, have a big responsability."
Thank you,
Sandra Ghosn"
