I have studied this question at various times with many friends of both sexes, and I have read much of what certain great thinkers have said on the subject. Often I imagined that I had formed an opinion of my own which deserved to be brought before others. Yet I held back from writing anything on the matter for two reasons that were, in my eyes, essential: first, because until recently I had taken no serious interest in the question; and second, because I feared to enter upon so grave a subject, dreading to commit an error or to declare an opinion that might stir up public opinion in certain circles. Now, however, that the idea has ripened in me and my views on the subject have crystallized, I see no objection to expressing my own opinion, hoping that it may meet with approval and acceptance among the honored readers of 'The Woman's Voice.'
The Lebanese country in particular, and the Arab lands in general, are witnessing great developments following one upon another with speed in the various departments of life — political, social, and economic. Some of them have a special local character that does not pass beyond the bounds of the Arab East; others are broader and more general, embracing the whole of human society in all its differing environments and conditions.
Perhaps the women's movement, which has begun to show itself with new vitality and activity in most of the Arab lands since the Second World War, is among the most important social developments in this part of the world — if we except the political developments, which hold the first place in importance. Women's associations have been founded in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq; women's congresses have been held here and there; and the Arab woman has taken a real part in them, proving in them her capacity and her understanding of political and social affairs — all of which shows plainly what great importance this development of hers holds for the Arab world, touching directly upon the development of its various countries in the other fields of activity.
But before the scope of this blessed activity widens, it is incumbent upon the responsible men
— and in the first degree the responsible women — to lay down the main lines to which the Arab woman ought to devote the greater part of her attention, so as to direct her activity toward what will bring good upon her country. I am not now in a position to go into the subject at length so as to cover all the necessary main lines; I confine my talk, or my inquiry, to the treatment of the question with which I opened these words of mine.
Some believe — above all in our dear Arab lands — that the married woman may not, absolutely and without exception, give herself to work lying outside the sphere of her home, because this leads her to neglect her household affairs and to neglect her small children, who stand in the most urgent need of her care and watchfulness. Some go further still, and say that woman was created to tend her household affairs and nothing else, and that nature has marked her with special bodily characteristics that prevent her from performing the work that man performs outside the home. Yes, this is sound — up to a certain point. For the experiences that many have undergone have taught us that if a woman wishes to be a wife in the full meaning of the word, and a tender mother to her children, she must devote all her time to accomplishing this in the most perfect way — but on condition that there be secured to her, from her tenderest years, the necessary means of sound and wise guidance in matrimonial affairs, by way of the home and the school, and by way of the women's associations, the cultural clubs, and reading, during her new life after marriage. Her material circumstances in her married home must likewise be assured in a manner that guarantees her needs and the needs of her children. If all these conditions are fulfilled, then she must devote all her efforts to attending to her many household affairs and watch over them with her wisdom; for they demand it of necessity, if family happiness is to be complete, and if the growth is to be assured of a new generation fit to carry its country forward upon the ascents of progress and prosperity.
But there are exceptional cases in which a woman may — nay, must — work outside her home: as