Seif On The Prostitution And Exploitation Of Beirut?

Beirut?

What makes a prostitute? Well, to my understanding, it is a woman (or man) who “sells” him/herself to a man (or woman), usually to make a living, meet his/her basic needs, and survive. Sounds familiar? Yes. It sounds like Beirut… or at least to me it does. I always envision Beirut to be a strong and extremely beautiful woman. Wanted and loved by so many. Strong enough to keep itself from death, but not strong enough to meet all of it’s needs for survival. It’s a suffering woman, who fears death, but has no choice but to be forced into prostitution and exploitation to make it in today’s world. Sad… but true.

Being far from Beirut these days, I have come to realize Beirut is being prostituted and exploited to the highest (and strongest) bidder. Don’t be shocked, because it’s true. Look at Beirut, from outside ofcourse, and you’ll realize it’s true! How so you may ask? To those who can afford it, Beirut is expected to deliver full bliss, wild nights, extremely extravagant parties, and loads of women. In my own words, Beirut is expected to deliver an “orgasmic” amount of fun. Nothing else. To many Westerners, when they hear the word Beirut, they think only of the clubs, drunken nights, and women. But that’s not Beirut’s fault. I mean… look at the videos of Beirut that our Ministry of Tourism throws out to the world. They are repulsive! We only show the “wild side” of Beirut. Never do they show AUB or LAU (Beirut’s educational importance in the Middle East), they don’t show the old streets of Gemmayze, the Beirut Museum, or the fancy Lebanese style restaurants. Instead they display women in mini-skirts, bartenders flipping shakers in the air, and raves. Yeah we get it already… Beirut is wild! Little do they realize that they are showing Beirut to be a hussie instead of an epicenter of culture. I know what I’m going to hear in the comments:  “Tourism is based on the wild side of Beirut”. NO. Westerners, the ones willing to spend in hundreds and even thousands in the country, are the people who look for fun in a more classy and civilized manner. People want to see history, do things they can’t do elsewhere, and try things that will be new to them. But no, we make Beirut look cheap. Beirut is there simply to provide pleasure to the person who is willing to pay the most. Thats prostitution at it’s finest. Beirut is used until it can’t take it any longer, then left to recover and stabilize itself only to be prostituted in May all over again. I’m not against tourism, heck no! It’s so crucial to Lebanon’s economy… nor am I against the side of Beirut that is wild and crazy because I love it just as much as anybody. I’m just against it being the only image of Beirut people have! It’s a sad reality. Beirut is a woman in “need”, with an economy still suffering from a brutal civil war, a series of assassinations, unemployment, and a silly government (with silly political opponents)… it’s basic needs for survival are not met, making it an easy prostitution target for the outside world. Like most prostitutes, Beirut must live, even if it means degrading itself.

But what’s worse is the fact Beirut is “pimped” by it’s own people (governing body mostly). Which leads me to the second part of my post. Exploitation. The definition of exploitation is: “to make use of meanly or unfairly for one’s own advantage.” Good definition, if I do say so myself! Some questions may be coming to mind. 1.) How is Beirut exploited? 2.) Why is it exploited? 3.) To whom is it exploited? Well, Beirut is exploited in the most disgusting and degrading of manner. The control, the internal affairs, the important decisions, all exploited to outside influences and forces who do not have the best interest of Beirut in mind… but instead the best interest of themselves… nothing else. It is exploited by our politicians, who hold their loyalties to themselves, to their pockets, and their comfy seats. They take Beirut’s issues, and put them in the hands of governments who “rape”, and force Beirut to turn into something THEY want… not what Beirut and it’s people want.

This just enrages me. It angers me to the point where I want to blow up! What can one mere blogger do? I think talking about this subject is enough, but will it make any drastic changes? One can only hope. Its sad to sit and watch the prostitution of Beirut… very sad. But even worse not being able to do anything about the exploitation of our beloved capital. Thanks for pimping Beirut. Selfish idiots.