Nidal Achkar: women should come out of their shells and venture out on their own

The Daily Star newspaper published today an interview with Nidal Achkar, the woman credited with pioneering the modern theater movement in Lebanon back in the 1960s. Achkar is also the woman behind the Beirut Theater Workshop, the Arab Actors theater company and the cultural institute Masrah al-Madina.
Achkar attributed her radical approach to her upbringing, saying that she was lucky because her parents were very open and believed that girls and boys were the same. She indicated that upbringing has a big effect on a young girl’s morale, self-confidence, and ambition, adding that: “All that has to do with the future become different when your parents encourage you”.
As for the fate of women in Lebanon, Achkar admitted that she is not entirely positive about it, saying that: “Lebanese women’s situation is difficult”, adding that as long as women continue to live in a closed society in which their lives are dictated for them, it will be difficult to change the situation. She also stressed the need for the introduction of civil laws that would protect women, and that women should come out of their shells, leave behind their confessional bias and their political allegiances, and venture out on their own, saying: “I imposed myself on the Arab world. Nobody was able to deter me, not in the arts, not in politics, not in anything.”
Source: The Daily Star 23 June 2014