Lux supports women empowerment with Lynn Acra (by way of graffiti)

For someone who has been interested in the graffiti movement for a long time - let me tell you a secret: Graffiti crews would "ornament" their teams with women because police would not harass women, or fine them or what not. Not for their artistic prouesse or anything or the sort.

Lux, however, has joined the women empowerment movement precisely by finding a wonderful graffiti artist by the name of Lynn Acra. The issue? Miss Acra did not want anyone to judge her by merit of her gender - but rather by her artistic talents (which overflow aplenty!). 

I know there is a long way to go, but if Miss Acra is any indicator, she can hold her own next to any male graffiti artist. What's her superpower she asks in the ad? Well, she's a woman obviously. Lux hits the mark here and major props to the copy which suavely integrates "tamiyiz" (differentiation/discrimination) with "tamayoz" (brilliance/excellence).

Apparently there are 7 influencers on board of the campaign and opinion leaders (in the Arab world at large) will bring in their own experiences of sexism. Please watch the segment (here). Another brilliant move from Pimo (after their great jobs here and here)

Helem trans study and Lebanese entrenched values

I shall begin this post by a parallel story. When men's fashion bible, GQ, set out to elect the decade's most stylish men, it came out with some incredibly stylish men: A$AP Rocky, Kanye West, Justin Bieber, LeBron James... But the winner was... Roger Federer. Yes, the boringly suited, with the occasional limited edition watch Federer. If I am relaying this story, it is because - for all GQ's gutsiness - the people who voted this represent its readers: A chunk of the male audience which remains quite conservative.

Which brings me to the Helem statistics about trans people in the Lebanese society. Lebanon has always been touted as some sort of progressive beacon in the Middle East. With our women's rights' laws still lagging, with issues of homosexuality still up in the air, with our pseudo-feudal system still deeply intrenched with religious authority figures (I really, really, wanted to know the reaction of the local clergy about Pope Francis declaration about him endorsing same-sex civil unions), with youth still quasi-indoctrinated by either their parents, their peers, or the religious upbringing (recently a meeting for "Thawra" factions ended in blows with the participants still not able to agree about civil unions in Lebanon). 

And to go back to the said statistics: Only 21% of the people who participated in the survey were able to complete their desired level of education (a misleading figure to be honest as it does not say if the transition happened before or after completing the said level of education - what if they finished their education prior to transitioning?). 

Apparently 50 trans people participated in the survey of whom 46 consider immigrating or requesting asylum, and 38 of whom corelated that to difficulty of finding employment. 25 out of the 33 employed trans people (in what sectors? with what salary brackets? can their employment rate equal the national level of unemployment?) say they encountered physical abuse (32%), verbal abuse (72%), bullying (68%), financial exploitation (44%). 

Again, without trivializing the numbers financial exploitation is rampant - specifically these days with the advent of the notion of "fresh Dollar" where international companies are recruiting people at ridiculous salaries. Bullying is the bread and butter of the advertising industry, trust me I know and I paid dearly for standing up and basically not having it (once more this does not make it right, but again, how does this compare to national averages if there are any - LinkedIn is full of stories of bullying at work).

88% said that discrimination was the cause they did not find work. Ask any qualified actor, and they would tell you that their years of training at college has come to naught after being replaced by the beauty queen/model du jour. Once more, not trying to shade the numbers, but this is not some isolated case - it is known statistically that thin people make more money than people who are fatter for the same positions, same applies to women (who are estimated to earn 81% of men's salaries for the same positions).

Now here is my two cents: I am an extremely liberal person, I would not give a toss about your sexual identity (I clearly recall an incident which happened in class where one of my students was married and already had a child, at the end of the course she approached me and said: "ever since I got married, I became "wife of", when I had a child I became "mother of", in your class this is the the first instance where I felt I was simply a human being), how you present yourself socially (though to be honest, I voted for Federer in the GQ survey), and all that.

But I also realize that in a society like Lebanon to be trans is to threaten people in their masculinity or femininity (Helem is mainly composed of queer men and women, and even such people can feel under attack - I am not inventing this: Antonella, who at one point was Lebanon's most visible trans (who is currently residing in Canada) said so on television long ago on NTV with presenter Rania Baroud). But let us be honest, is Lebanon really the forward-thinking country that people like to think of? Can you see a trans person in the customer care department of a bank? Would a Lebanese feel emotionally safe if the marketing director or welcome desk attendant of a hotel was trans? And the list continues.

As I said, I am too liberal to give a toss. But again, perhaps our country is not as progressive as we think it might be. And not just our country, the US elections gave us a very clear idea that more than 70 million voters still thought Donald Trump deserved a second mandate of four more years - and the idea of having Harry Styles in a dress on the cover of Vogue sent conservatives into a frenzy (as if David Bowie or Marc Bolan never happened before, or the video for "I want to break free" by Queen was never broadcasted).

People still revert to classical and stereotypical gender assignments. It makes them safe you know.

Oh here are two shocking facts before I go:

High heels were invented for men to better be able to position their foot on the stirrup of their horse.

Up until the 50s any respectable man had a pink shirt in his closet - that pink became color coded came later.

Carrefour and gender stereotyping

Carrefour supermarket has jumped on the wagon of celebrating "heroes" - you know the medical staff and all then reaching their employees. The film is neither exceptional nor bad. The problem? It falls into a terrible gender stereotyping. It starts with (somewhere there is) "a nurse or a doctor caring for a patient". Nothing wrong. Except there is! In Arabic "moumarida" is female nurse and "tabib" is male doctor. Florence Nightingale must be rolling in her grave! People, there are male nurses and female doctors and many institutions (I think of Marvel as an example) who portrayed them as such to indicate inclusivity and changing standards in today's world. Carrefour should live in today's world!

Fifty Fifty says "let's hit women"

How about that for a smart ad. Fifty Fifty an organization focused on women's right, and who is now talking about the taboo of domestic violence (apparently cases increased by 86% year on year between March 2019 and March 2020 - no idea if these are reported or estimated or actual cases though), by saying outright "let's hit women". Except they want women to be hit with legal rights, equality and a "full protective law for violence against women" (my eternal point of contention - should the law come first or should the mentality be changed?). Still, a provocative and interesting ad. It makes you look and think!

Abaad sharing number against domestic violence #حجر_مش_حجز

So what happens when you are part of a couple where there is a case of domestic violence? When you had a respite where he was at work but are now on lockdown with him at all hours of the day? Where you have no more break and desperately need an emotional refuge. Abaad is launching an initiative where people are encouraged to share its hotline on April 16 at 6 PM (the line is 81788178). A lot of women do not know this number or are aware of its existence. Well, we certainly live in challenging times and any such initiative helps. The tag is #حجر_مش_حجز which roughly translates into "lockdown not lock up".

Hershey's Women's Day - a tailor-made campaign

Let's face it, no other brand could do this. Why? Because it is tailor-made to the name of Hershey's. Her/She bars were released withe name of trailblazing women to honor Women's Day. There you go - so specific to the brand it cannot be duplicated. Smart! This was done done in Brazil by the way...