Female Motorcycle Drivers In Beirut: This Is What They Have To Say

Less than 5 years ago, one would almost never see a woman riding a motorcycle, with the exception of some professional riders who were in groups.
Today, women are slowly taking over the streets, making their way through traffic on their motorcycles and defying the gendered roles of the streets of Lebanon, specifically Beirut.

This is what they have to say.

“It really gives you freedom,” says Lara, a 20-year-old exchange student from AUB who has been riding her motorcycle for a year and a half. “It doesn’t only save me time coursing through Hamra’s traffic, but I also feel like I can go anywhere at any time, I control my time and can function outside the constraints of being in a taxi with someone who’s moody and grumpy, as they usually are…”

Mouna, a 25-year-old hairstylist living in Hazmieh says, “they see the street as their zone, and the house as our zone. We shouldn’t be in the street except in a cab, or sitting behind a driver. Even when women drive cars, they are always harassed by insults or told how to drive or park by men. They just don’t want us on the street.

“With motorcycles, we’ve taken over even more space, and we’re even more visible, so they’re even more vocal about their distaste. They call me names like “hasan sabeh”, or shout inappropriate sentences at me. I go by too fast on my motorcycle though, and I know they’re just scared of us, so it doesn’t really matter.”

For 30-year-old Steph, riding is a political stance. “I can’t describe the sense of sisterhood and empowerment that you get when you’re riding your motorcycle. You see young girls pointing at you and looking in awe, women nodding at you in traffic and random people smiling at you in the streets, wherever you go. There is some backlash, as there always is when someone steps out of the roles that society wants them to play, but the personal benefits and the effects that people like me have on society is so much more important.”

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