The Woman's Corner

From “The Woman's Corner” at the house of Radio Lebanon — presented at half past nine on Friday and Sunday mornings by the editor-in-chief of this magazine, Edvick Jureidini Shayboub — we excerpt here some of the readers' vital problems, together with all the expert suggestions, and we ask our readers to send us their problems, in matters of upbringing, beauty, and health, to feed this section in the future.

Q — I am a girl of seventeen. I got “acne” when I was fourteen and treated it with a certain paste, but it left many black spots on my face which trouble me even more than the “acne.” How can I get rid of them?

Amal — Burj al-Barajneh — Beirut

A — You did not make clear, my dear questioner, whether these black spots are of the “blackhead” kind or of the “dark blotch” kind, and each has its own treatment. If they are blackheads, rub your face morning and evening — after washing it well with lukewarm water and soap — with a simple paste made up of equal quantities of the following: glycerin, white spirit, and ether.

If they are “dark blotches,” then it is essential that you guard against exposure to sunlight, for it seems to me that your skin is sensitive... And here is a paste called “Summer Day,” devised by a specialist physician. Apply it to your face morning and afternoon, after washing with lukewarm water and soap. Have the pharmacist prepare it according to the following instructions:

Two grams of fine sublimed sulfur
One gram of zinc oxide powder
Two grams of lanolin
Two grams of sweet almond oil
A drop of violet perfume

Q — I am a married lady with two children, and I am now nursing. After my first confinement, and then my second, I noticed a swelling of my “stomach,” so that I look as if I were still five months with child — this although I do all the housework without help; but I take no physical exercise. My height is 153 cm and my weight 72 kilograms.

R. A. H. — Beirut

A — Your problem, my dear questioner, appears to be a simple one. It is not confined to your stomach but lies in your stoutness generally, and it is clear to me from your stated height and weight that your attention should be turned to reducing your weight. Once you have brought your weight down to about 53 kilos, as the rule requires, no trace will remain of the stomach you complain of! But I do not advise you to follow any diet now, so long as you are nursing, for there is no food for a baby to equal its mother's milk. So forget your stoutness until you have weaned the little one, and then take up a diet prescribed for you by a doctor. Meanwhile I can enlighten you on the subject:

The general rule for reducing stoutness is to avoid eating fatty and starchy foods and to replace them with boiled vegetables and fruit, then with a slice of lean meat free of fat, or one boiled egg a day, and a glass of laban or milk. The foods that cause stoutness are sweets of every kind, rice, bread, food cooked in animal fat and in butter, and jam. In cases of stoutness it is essential to cut down the salt in one's food as far as possible, and to drink less water.

Q — I am a young woman of twenty-two, in good health and with a smooth complexion, and I never use powders or pastes at all. Two years ago I noticed some small pimples appearing on my forehead and chin, which leave ugly marks behind them after they go, and this sours my temper... I have also noticed that my tongue is coated with a yellow layer. Is there a remedy?

Miss S. R. — Tripoli

A — Your last observation throws light on the matter. The yellow coating on your tongue shows that the small pimples scattered over your forehead and chin come from within, and I suspect you are frequently subject to constipation. I therefore advise you to drink no fewer than eight glasses of water a day, and to eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit, which loosen the stomach. And if your life is sedentary, with little physical exercise, take up whatever exercise you can manage — walking and doing the housework are the simplest of it — for movement is necessary to stimulate the bowels and help them perform their function to perfection... It would also be well for you to make a habit of taking a teaspoon of licorice syrup or of paraffin oil, which eases the stomach naturally and without discomfort. The all-important thing is to attend to your stomach and your food; once that process is regular, the troublesome pimples will vanish from your face and your smooth complexion will come back to you.

Q — I am a girl in love with a young man whose company I have kept for eight years, and in the past two years it has become plain to me that his family does not want me. I cannot bear to be parted from him, and whenever I have tried, a nervous fit has come over me, my fingers cramping and a violent trembling shaking me. What do you advise me to do?

J. M. — Broummana — Lebanon

A — You have said nothing, my dear questioner, about his own attitude toward you — I mean the young man you love. Is he serious in keeping company with you? Does he speak to you of marriage, or is he merely amusing himself with you until he meets his girl?! It is true that the family's opinion on their son's marriage carries its weight in our country; still, the young man's own view comes first. If he loves you with a true love, and the grounds of his family's opposition are not fundamental, then hold fast to your attachment to him and be patient until the two of you are able to marry. But if you feel that he is playing you false and using his family's attitude as a pretext for stalling and drawing back, then you must spur your will to stand against your feelings and part from your beloved, whatever it may cost you in pain and torment and in what you call “nervous fits.” Dignity, my dear, is what we want to crown our future married life; there is never any happiness in a marriage founded on humiliation and abasement.

Q — I have an old friend whose jealousy over me wearies me. She wants me for herself alone: I may not go on an outing without her, nor speak to anyone but her, nor even dress my hair except in the style of her hair — although this friend is older than I and prettier than I, and I have no strength to vex her.

Miss L. Z. — Beirut

A — Your friend's attachment and her conduct toward you are not free of excess, and its cause, most probably, is a certain lack of maturity in her social personality. The removal of such attitudes is not accomplished by talking about them, analyzing them, and magnifying them, as commonly happens; rather they dissolve of their own accord and disappear by way of widening the circle of your friendship to take in girls of your own age and kind — while preserving your own bond, but without excess. What your friend lacks, as I see it, is the development of her social personality; for though she is older than you and prettier, it appears to me that your personality is stronger than hers, and she feels the need to keep you all to herself. So try to widen the circle of your acquaintance, as I have said, mixing with many and varied company, and you will see how her jealousy cools and disappears, and how she returns to her natural footing in her affection, with you and with others.