With a sip of coffee, Youssef al-Khal collects what he wants to say about "The Woman's Voice"

Magazine Affairs

Do we write "The Woman's Voice"?

— The Woman's Voice falls short in one important respect .. the reportages on women of social, literary, and educational standing.

Ah, if only Edvick Jureidini Shayboub could say a word! But no! Her eyes gleam, her lips quiver, the word keeps dancing nervously upon them, and when it tires, it sinks into the depths of her silence.

And Samira goes back to the beginning ..

— We have not yet defined for whom and why The Woman's Voice appears, so that we may see where this charge of reportorial shortcoming falls.

It was natural for all eyes to turn toward Youssef al-Khal .. It was an opportunity! And for the first time he lifts the pipe from his mouth to tell the history of The Woman's Voice.

— The Lebanese Women's League was founded to raise the standing of woman .. and to fulfill this mission a magazine had to be issued .. It came out in the form of a newspaper, then turned into a bulletin .. As for the meaning of raising the standing of woman, it was never defined. "Reality" is what defined it.

And Samira said:

— Reality defined it ten years ago; but today it is for us to say our word: The Woman's Voice is on the way to being confined to Lebanon, in its writing and in its distribution alike — is that part of its policy?

And once more Edvick's eyes gleamed, and with much meaning they turned toward Fuad Badr, imploring him to speak of the poverty of means that stands in the way of the magazine's expansion; and the adventurous man laughed .. Is it not strange that Fuad should be called a businessman?

And Maguy said:

— You want the truth .. it is not we who determine the magazine's policy .. The magazine must draw its mission from the readers.

And my chance to speak came .. and it was not hard for me to say:

— That is why we are meeting here .. The issue is that there is a difference of opinion among the readers: some of them consider that it has moved away from woman's social world into the world of literature and poetry, while others see it as a magazine of a purely feminine stamp — and it is an injustice to woman that it should remain so.

And the old campaigner Youssef al-Khal lifted his pipe from his mouth:

— No, madam! The magazine, on its present course, is the best it can possibly be, considering its financial means and the absence of other magazines specializing in the different branches of life .. That is why The Woman's Voice has been all-embracing, and it must go on hoping in its future, and innovating, and winning new conquests.

The Woman's Voice magazine all-embracing! Says who?

There is