Real men are millionaires

byHabib Battah
Feb 25, 2014

Like many new towers going up in Beirut, Trillium sells its flats for millions of dollars. Does this mean only millionaires are “real men”?

How does one become a millionaire in Lebanon anyway? The minimum wage is less than $500 and even college-educated young professionals make between $1,000-$2,000 month.

Also what home does a “real woman” buy? Or do “real women” not buy homes? Does a real woman just wait for a man to give her one?

This ad was for Valentine’s day. I can’t imagine what a ‘real man’ would buy her for Christmas.

Habib Battah

Habib Battah is an investigative journalist and founder of the news site beirutreport.com. Battah has covered Lebanon and the Middle East for over 15 years and teaches journalism and media studies at the American University of Beirut. He is a contributor to Monocle, The Guardian, BBC World, Al Jazeera and others, a former fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University and two-time recipient of the Samir Kassir Press Freedom Award. Battah's investigative work was recently recognized for outstanding local reporting by the Columbia University Oakes Award for Environmental Reporting. Battah earned a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. in Near East Studies and Journalism from New York University.

2 comments

Anonymous says:

Feb 26, 2014 at 5:38 am

Stupid Lebanese marketing. I hate those fuckers, and that whole “I’m better than you” society we live in.

Reply
1. Rana says:
  
  Feb 26, 2014 at 4:17 pm
  
  How else would these sorts of people feel better about themselves, besides attempting to give others (what they deem as) an inferiority complex? Its not like they have commendable (honest) accomplishments of their own
  
  Reply