Women and War in Lebanon

"This work is totally original; indeed, it pioneers a new field. . . . A remarkable account of a dimension of war that is much neglected. . . . It is deeply passionate yet non-judgmental. It raises profound questions about the pacific 'nature' of women as they find themselves in the painful circumstance of contradiction and crisis. This book truly becomes an historical record of these tragic years."--Richard A. Lobban, Jr., Rhode Island College

These authors examine the impact on women of the 1975-90 civil war in Lebanon, the lengthiest and bloodiest in its recent history. While they describe war as a more potent oppressor of women than of men, they also credit it with offering women liberation from all forms of social strictures. The authors also refute the assumption that women are pacifists by nature, contending that women are as aggressive and militarily active as men, given the same conditions.

I. Introduction

1. Introduction

2. History of the War

3. Women before the War

II. The Public Sphere

4. Women in the Public Sphere, by Lamia Rustum Shehadeh

III. Creative Women

5. Mapping Peace, by Miriam Cooke

6. A Panorama of Lebanese Women Writers, 1975-1995, by Mona Takieddine Amyuni

7. Lebanon Mythologized or Lebanon Deconstructed: Two Narratives of National Consciousness, by Elise Salem Manganaro

8. Art, the Chemistry of Life, by Lamia Rustum Shehadeh

IV. Women at War

9. Women in the Lebanese Militias, by Lamia Rustum Shehadeh

10. Lebanese Shii Women and Islamism: A Response to War, by Maria Holt

11. Maman Aida--A Lebanese Godmother of the Combatants, by Kari H. Karame

12. From Gunpowder to Incense, by Jocelyn Khweiri

V. Foreign Women

13. Profiles of Foreign Women in Lebanon during the Civil War, by Mary Bentley Abu Saba

VI. Psychological Sequelae

14. War Trauma and Women, by Leila Farhood

15. Women and the Lebanon Wars: Depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, by Elie G. Karam

16. Gender Dual Diagnosis of Psychiatric Illness and Substance Abuse, by P. Yabroudi, E. G. Karam, A. Chami, A. Karam, M. Majdalani, and V. Zebouni

VII. Conclusion

A War of Survival, by E. G. Karam, N. Melhem and S. Saliba



Lamia Rustum Shehadeh is associate professor of cultural studies at the American University of Beirut. She is the editor of several collections of writings of the Arab historian Asad J. Rustum and has published articles in International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Al-Raida, and Feminist Issues.