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| Anti: Logo and naming by Tarek Chemaly |
“White people in this country will have quite enough to do in learning how to accept and love themselves and each other, and when they have achieved this—which will not be tomorrow and may well be never—the Negro problem will no longer exist, for it will no longer be needed.” James Baldwin
If I am starting this post with a quote by James Baldwin (American author and playwright), it is because if you replace "white" with men and "negro" with women, this in itself would explain why a party like Anti is needed in Lebanon. In short: When men stop hating themselves, the women problem "will no longer exist, for it will no longer be needed."But first things first: Yes, I am the one who came up with the name, and the logo. Anti is how a female is addressed in the Arabic language and "anti" means "against". So voila! When I came up with it, I was so convinced I came to the Anti people with no other option. Something I had never done in my career prior.
So writing this post makes me biased, but I have always been biased towards women, or minorities (I am not saying women are minorities, please do not twist my words because demographically they stand at 49,6% of the world population, so technically - they're not just equal but superior! How come? Well, to begin with, they get pregnant and we, as men, do not!). But I am digressing here.
Which bring us back to Anti.
A few days back, I posted the logo on my social media - I was not prepared for the storm that ensued. Women were bombarding me with emails about the details (which will come shortly - but since I am not involved in the management aspect I shall leave it to those who are), here is one sample of the exchanges:
"(Lady emailing me):Ok , but may A certain lady have a leadership role
(Me):
That IS the point!!! For ladies to have the leadership role!
(Lady):
I meant where in the hierarchy
(Me):
Top-down, front and center :)"
That IS the point!!! For ladies to have the leadership role!
(Lady):
I meant where in the hierarchy
(Me):
Top-down, front and center :)"
Well, as I said I tried not to be involved in details which I did not wish to follow up (such as objectives, plan, etc...) but think about it people. Women are super-competent at multitasking, they can handle household finances much better than men, in managerial roles they work twice as hard for (statistically) 30% less of the pay, and the list goes on. So can you imagine what they can do when there is a framework that is pushing towards more of their employment, so that as they assume more leadership roles, there would be better results, fairer and more humane management, and less corruption?
Now can you see why this is needed in today's Lebanon?
Interestingly a man answered my post saying:
"Let the most qualified take the job, regardless of the gender"To which I replied:
""Regardless of gender" - interesting only men seem to say that :)"
So why is it that men only say "regardless of gender"? Because women have their genders intrinsicly held against them, as some sort of a curse, or a liability they need to carry in their lives. Only men would say "regardless of their genders" because their gender has been socially on the winning side. Or to quote that Calvin and Hobbes (dated July 29, 1991 by Bill Watterson) comic strip when Calvin's father tells him "the world isn't fair Calvin": "I know, but why isn't it ever unfair in my favor?"
Except that, instead of talking about a six-year-old boy, we are speaking about women at large. Who are in a world that is not "unfair in their favor" - hence: Anti.