Rose Shahfa
Rose Shahfa (1890–6 August 1955) was a Lebanese writer and women's rights activist.
Shahfa joined the Syrian-Lebanese Women's Union in the 1920s as one of many women promoting the role of women in society.[1] After women's journals began to decline in the 1930s, Shahfa continued to work in women's journalism as a prominent writer for several journals.[2] This change limited her ability to write freely about women's topics to the same extent as previous women's writers. When writing for the fascist journal al-Amali, she described motherhood as a prominent role in the lives of women and a means through which women could increase their influence in society.[3] In November 1943, Shahfa was one of the leaders of protests against the paternalist Kataeb Party.[4]
On 11 December 1944, Shahfa led the Lebanese delegation to the first Arab Women's Conference.[5][6] At this conference, she argued strongly in favor of women's participation in politics, arguing "that the educated woman has more right to political privileges than the ignorant man who enjoys these rights".[5] Syrian women were first allowed universal suffrage in 1953.[7] In particular, she supported women's involvement in the peace process of World War II.[8] Shahfa lobbied Lebanese Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Karami to accept the resolutions proposed at the conference, convincing him to organize a committee to address the issue.[9]
References
- Thompson 2000, p. 98.
- Thompson 2000, p. 217.
- Thompson 2000, pp. 217–218.
- Thompson 2000, p. 256.
- Thompson 2000, p. 273.
- Badran 1996, p. 239.
- MacLeavy, Julie (December 2009). "Women, politics and power: a global perspective – By Pamela Paxton and Melanie M Hughes". Area. 41 (4): 480–481. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4762.2009.00916_5.x. ISSN 0004-0894.
- D'Itri 1999, p. 185.
- Thompson 2000, p. 275.
Sources
- Badran, Margot (1996). Feminists, Islam, and Nation: Gender and the Making of Modern Egypt. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400821433.
- D'Itri, Patricia Ward (1999). Cross Currents in the International Women's Movement, 1848-1948. Bowling Green State University Popular Press. ISBN 9780879727826.
- Thompson, Elizabeth (2000). Colonial Citizens: Republican Rights, Paternal Privilege, and Gender in French Syria and Lebanon. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231106603.