Name: Reine Kanj

ID#: 1710187

Subject: IDT205 Homework 2

Part A:

The above quote is mentioned in the second paragraph of article 16 in the Universal Declaration

of Human Rights. The aim of this vital principle is to ensure that marriage should be freely

enrolled and also to avoid marriages taking place under force, duress or threat. The main word in

this phrase is “free” because it shows the importance of having a complete consent in the case of

marriage without any forces or obligations. Therefore, using the word "free" is to reject the

pressure that might be coming from the people around you, whether they were parents,

authorities, the other spouse, or anyone else trying to affect your convictions.

Part B:

Briefly the story of the girl named Apple shows how majority of the Arab women spent their

lives waiting for a spouse. The girl Apple lives in Oasis and there it is known that if a girl

doesn’t get married, she is considered a scandal. Also, they use flags of 3 colors (according to the

girl’s age) which each color holds a specific message; but all indicate that a maiden living in this

house is ready for marriage. However, apple was strictly against this phenomena, and she

insisted that no flag should be hanged. She is a rebellious girl that wants to change the traditional

way of marriage but actually doesn’t know how. The only way she knew was to refuse to do

what everybody else does. And this obviously show that she would have reacted positively on

the above quotation. Moreover, apple needs others to value her and appreciate her worth as an

individual. Also, she refused to prevent her right from being treated like others equally. She is
afraid of the fact of being a commodity or an object of exchange or a transaction. However, she

wants to be valued as herself.

The girl named Apple had fears like the marketing of marriageable girls and the fear of growing

up as well as the fear of rejection. At the end of Apple’s story, she placed the yellow flag that

shows that she is old, dead and infertile. She waited a knock at the door as well. However, if the

above mentioned quote was respected and applied in Oasis, Apple would have found her match

mate in an untraditional way. She wouldn’t have raised the yellow flag that takes away a

woman’s major right which is the right to marry whoever she wants. The writer of Apple’s story

which is the Lebanese journalist Hanan el Sheikh embodies existentialism in the way Apple tries

to prove her existence, rather than just being labelled by people.

Part C:

Simon de Beauvoir, a French intellectual writer and existentialist philosopher, also known by her

feminine approach. Her book the second sex was a founding text of modern feminism which

clarified the worth of women and their equality to men. However, she scorned the idea that

inequality and abuse are women’s fault. Moreover, she added that human beings are creatures

who are free, and they have an existentialist freedom of choice. Unlike Nietzsche, she believes

that women have the right to create themselves and to make themselves by their own. Which will

definitely collapse in agreement with the above mentioned quote. Also, she assured that women

should be equipped with a great economic independence and so good education. She added and

described the academic background of a woman as a weapon she will hold, in order to prevent

any threat that may oblige her to get married directly after reaching a specific age. Plus, if she

chooses to do something else other than staying at home, then she has choices and she can
decide. Beauvoir talked about Equality indifference, and therefore she showed that women are in

the process of always achieving, developing, improving, and growing. Therefore, they can

always make a positive change and have a good job other than moderate handcrafts and house

work. All the quotes and saying said and written by her leads to her cooperation of giving a

woman the full freedom and consent of choosing her spouse. Hence, a woman should be

educated and a working woman in order to be financially stable, which will make her able to find

and choose her couple freely, without any pressure from her surroundings or from the society.

Part D:

Gebran Khalil Gebran discussed in his book The Prophet important matters such as: Love,

Marriage, Children, Friendship, Freedom, Work.

When questioned about marriage, his book the prophet goes away from the true way of thinking

about marriage, that it includes two individuals getting one. However according to Gebran a

right and true marriage enables the couple with space to develop and build up their distinction

and their individuality. So, he definitely concentrated on having a fruitful and complete marriage

in which each spouse will complete the other. Moreover, Gebran in his book concerning

marriage he valued the importance of completing one another and he highlighted the idea of

getting married. He also mentioned” love one another but do not make a bond of this love” and

this shows that according to him love is essential. But of course this love shouldn’t make the

couple committed in a way that will neglect the freedom of one of the spouses. And also this is

clearly showed when he gave the example of drinking from a cup, eating bread or even in the
example of dancing together. Hence, he gave a priority for everyone’s freedom and personal

rights and distance as a separate individual.

Part E:

Me, as one of the Lebanese citizens, I am proud enough to be born in such a beautiful and

ancient country that is enriched with traditions and customs. And I would be honored to

implement my country’s tradition and spread it all over the world. On the other hand, Lebanon is

well known to be ranked on the top list of countries that provide the best quality of education and

medical treatment. But despite all the positives this small country holds, however there are still

some complications concerning marriage. The first point of article 16 of Human Rights says that

“Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the

right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during

marriage and at its dissolution”. And this definitely shows that human being should have full

freedom to choose his or her couple without any threats that might take place. However, in

Lebanon unfortunately my personal opinion is that marriage is still not taking place with full

freedom and total consent. Because there are several forces that affect one’s opinion coming

from relatives, society and old traditions. For example, Lebanon has 18 different sects and each

individual in each of these sects mainly has a priority to get married to another from the same

religion and sect. Reaching the 21st century still didn’t change the fact of the religious and

sectarian intolerance that is one of the main purposes that prevent people from getting married

without this type of discrimination. Also, unfortunately illegal underage marriage do still exist in

my country. Which is a violation of children’s human rights and will definitely deny girl’s right
to make vital decisions about their sexual health and wellbeing. Also this will force them to be

uneducated and will lead them into a life of poor prospects, with an increased risk of abuse and

bad health. Plus, there are still some families that oblige their girls to get married in the old

traditional way like getting married to her relative without even getting the chance to know him

first. Also, other cases still take place, for example rejecting the girl to get married from someone

she loved secretly because of his low income or moderate financial status.

Personally, I feel sorry for such a beautiful country to be polluted by such acts coming from

uneducated citizens which are completely ruing lives of two generations ahead. Hoping that the

girl’s priority will be to get educated and have a good job, flourish her personality and mindset

and after that she will be able to choose her couple freely.