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Why Lebanese Icon Sabah is an Arab Feminist Icon

November 19, 2022
Lebanese singer and actress Sabah poses for a picture, in Beirut, Lebanon (Credit: AFP).

“To hear her voice is to make life liveable,” Egyptian theatre director, Hassan el-Gueretly, once said of the iconic Lebanese singer and actress Sabah. “It makes you think she has a lot more life than many people who are living.” Sabah, meaning ‘morning’ in Arabic, was the one of the Arab world’s feminist icons. She commanded attention wherever she went, and spread her wings beyond ballads to become a beloved icon for reasons outside of the world of music. Like most female entertainers, however, her cultural status was treated akin to red roses in a glass vase; it was deemed as a decorative accessory for the region, but not valued for its power and meaning. As fashion researcher Aya Elsa Yassine notes, there are no writings on Sabah through the lens of culture or gender, but usually through political standpoints. Born Jeannette Gerges Feghali (1927) in the Christian Lebanese mountain village of Bdadoun, Sabah’s unique singing talent, dubbed the mountain folk style, was discovered at a young age. Soon after, she would release her first song at age 13. She later caught the eye of Egypt-based Lebanese film director and…


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