"The Woman's Voice" Asks Mrs. Eva Malik

Eva Badr Malik is a women's personality of our own, with a weight that commands notice. In addition to her university education — a degree in the science of history — she has acquired rich experience over ten years as the wife of Dr. Charles Malik, Lebanon's ambassador in Washington and his country's permanent delegate to the United Nations. In Washington, Eva was no less active than the cleverest women of the world's diplomats; she raised the brow of the Lebanese woman and commanded the respect of the most refined circles.

To her alone goes the credit for founding the "Lebanese House in Washington," which became a model of taste and art. She is one of the founders of the Lebanese Women's League and one of those laboring for the flourishing of its projects.

At the beginning of last month she returned to Lebanon with her husband and their only child, Habib — here where the field is favorable for fruitful production and constructive work.

Welcome...

Q — Which of the two roles is the more important in a woman's life: the role of "the ambassador's wife," or the role of "the mother"?

A — Before my child Habib came, I devoted all my time to the duties of the embassy, but matters changed greatly after I became a mother. I value the role of motherhood at its true worth, and I know for certain that a newborn child in Washington demands of his mother all her time and attention. Hence it was not easy to reconcile the two great tasks without one of them suffering neglect...

In my opinion, for the ambassador's wife to master her role as she should, it is necessary that material means be at her disposal — something lacking at the Lebanese embassy in Washington for many reasons... How many times did I break off nursing my child to answer the telephone after the maid had gone! As for the nurse, her minutes are all counted!

Q — Was your return to Lebanon entirely by your own desire, or would you have preferred to remain as the lady of the Lebanese House in Washington?

A — I am very happy at my return to Lebanon and at being reunited with family and with the roots that bind us to this beloved land. There is nothing in this that diminishes my pride in the honor I gained as lady of the Lebanese House in Washington, serving my country's cause as best I could...

It is in the nature of diplomatic posts that they do not last long — and if they last, they harm either the interest or the person. Our lot was "the work of founding," and perhaps ten years is enough! It was an opportunity granted to us, and upon the foundation we laid, whoever comes after us will build.

Q — Speculation has multiplied about "the way" in which your husband, Dr. Charles Malik, will employ his intellectual energy in Lebanon — what do you know on that score?

A — I prefer that Charles answer this question himself. What I do know is that he is returning to the intellectual, scholarly life — he longs to devote himself to writing and to teaching at the American University of Beirut.

Q — There are those who affirm your indirect contribution to the world fame your husband has attained — how much truth is there in that?

A — It would be more accurate to say that in our work we were "a team"... Charles needed no help of any kind in his work. As for me, my province was the social and family field and official invitations; my task was to preserve harmony, and I worked by the inspiration of the higher interest. Given how short time usually was, each of us managed his own field independently without referring back to his companion — for we understand one another; we work in solidarity, on a basis of respect and trust, so that neither of us trespasses on the rights of the other...

Q — Now that you have settled in Lebanon, do you intend to resume your activity in the social field?

A — I long very much to return to the field of social service alongside my sister woman, but that is out of the question at present, given my absorption in establishing our home and preparing the atmosphere necessary for organized work — an operation that will take months, during which I shall study the existing situation in Lebanon. Then I shall be happy to offer my services wherever I find myself able to serve...

Q — Are you satisfied with the Lebanese woman's activity at present? Have you noticed any progress over what came before?

A — My distance during these last ten years from women's circles in Lebanon has removed me from the reality of what activity is under way, apart from the news of congresses I used to read in "The Woman's Voice." But I can affirm the excellent reputation the Lebanese woman has won abroad through those who represented her at the embassy, at congresses, and in United Nations circles — and her reputation rests on her being an excellent wife and a housewife without equal! What I hope is that this reputation will remain an expression of the truth!

Q — In your view, did the American woman gain or lose by obtaining most of her civil rights?

A — In my view the American woman gained. It is enough that she gave proof of her ability to bear responsibilities like the man, surpassing him in some fields. The American woman went to extremes of her own accord in exercising her civil rights, and she has now felt the extremity of her step. She has been asking herself whether, in her leaving the home and competing with the man at work, she was the party chiefly responsible for the breaking up of the family — and whether it would be better for her to return to her domestic paradise and tend her children, now that it has become plain to her that there is no human being or jinn in the world who can take her place in that. This problem exists in America, no doubt — though without the exaggeration the newspapers practice deliberately to sell their wares!

Yet whether the American woman gained or lost by obtaining her civil rights, I do not believe it is permissible for us to stop short of demanding our own civil rights.

Q — In the light of your wide experience — ten years in world circles — how can the Arab woman profit from what her Western sister has attained?

A — What the Arab woman can borrow from the Western woman as a condition of her success is her discipline, her order, her banding together, and her respect and obedience toward the leader. In an election the parties struggle and contend with all enthusiasm and freedom; yet the moment the result is announced, all fall into line in good order under the banner of the winner, and the contention and turmoil that obstruct work and sow discord — and thus failure — cease at once. Their theory in the West is "all for the sake of the project," not for the sake of the leadership of one individual over another... And woman, once she unites her efforts, is able to move mountains... That is a lesson I would love my sister the Arab woman to learn...

Q — Where does "The Woman's Voice" stand on the plane of women's journalism in the world?

A — I have followed "The Woman's Voice" with interest these last ten years, and in my estimation it has traveled far compared with how it began. I can state with certainty that it now stands on a plane equal to the best women's magazines in the world — especially as it is the only women's magazine of its kind in the Arab world. There are many areas for improvement, and I am confident the magazine will reach them in time.