Sexists. Sexists everywhere.

Hello reader, I'm here to tell you about how lebanese university students in general classified masculinity or femininity when i asked them to define it with 5 simple traits. To my surprise almost all the people i asked could not differentiate between what being masculine is and being a guy was. I had to constantly remind them that being masculine or feminine has nothing to do with whether or not a person was a guy or a girl l, girls can be masculine and guys can be feminine! Anyway many if the answers i received from guys were very different than what i got from the ladies. In other words guys were way more immature than the women. Women generally described masculinity as being courageous, noble, loyal, kind etc. but i mean seriously, kind? So if a girl is kind she’s masculine?? I honestly don't know what they were thinking. But the guy’s responses were actually worse believe it or not. Guys basically portrayed femininity as being well dressed/groomed, being classy, respectable, vulnerable and weak i even had someone tell me that a feminine person is one who sits at home doing house work! Unbelievable right? Men view women as fragile emotional people who are supposed to be inferior to men, who in turn are viewed as powerful and in control.

Even some women told me that men should be more dominant and have more power. Honestly i had no idea how our generation was still to a major degree, sexist, i mean it says a lot about our society, and clearly gender roles are so explicitly well defined. I mean, who classified long hair for girls and short hair for guys? I'm sorry but i think a girl with short hair can be just as feminine as any other girl. And i don't know who invented the concept of making colors gender based but pink and blue SHOULD NOT classify whether the baby is a boy or a girl. It’s a really sexist world we live in, and not only is it sexist but it’s very judgmental as well.

On the "Role of the New Media in the Arab Spring"

As the revolutionary tensions rise, one cannot ignore the vital role of the new media and the tools it presents society. These tools are seen as either tools of repression or tools for democratic openness. I for one see the new media as a means of democratic openness, after all it is a free world, and we should be free to express whatever we want. Social websites such as facebook and twitter have stretched the lengths of this freedom, supporting the rise of revolutions in the arab world. They have allowed the people to tell stories of oppression and injustice happening in the arab countries where dictators have seized control over the conventional media. But the new media isnt the spark that lit the fire of the arab revolutions, but more of the kindling that helped the fire grow. So one should not exaggerate the role of the social media because the rebellion wasnt caused by the media, but rather it was a result of poverty and oppression.