“Kherr Berr” is a media monitor that specializes in overseeing the different types of gender discrimination, including biases based on color, race, religion, appearance, sexual orientation, and social class. Kherr Berr also regulates “social transgressions” found in the media and advertising worlds, like the encouragement of violence against fellow humans in general, and women in specific, and the promotion of a fixed template-like image of men, women, and their families in stereotypical moulds when it comes to their appearance, personality, and lifestyles. Last but not least, Kherr Berr also exposes the objectification of women and their use as “items” to promote products and services.

Knowing what an important role media and advertising outlets play in forming social structure as well as public and individual opinions, the Kherr Berr Monitor will also follow up on and regulate different types of media and advertising dispersed within our society, like songs/lyrics, video clips, commercials, billboards, television programs, statements, websites and social media, newspapers, magazines, etc…

The idea to launch Kherr Berr surfaced in the spring of 2010, after a significant wave of advertisements and songs depicting women in a very negative light was met with social silence and acceptance by both people and the media, which encouraged an increase in this offensive portrayal and use of women. Suddenly, we were alerted to extent of damage the messages in these songs and advertisements can cause in the individual subconscious and in the formation of ideas and social trends concerning a woman’s image and role in her own eyes, and those of society. We also noticed the essential role these messages play in the upbringing of children and adolescents and in shaping the images of men and women in their developing minds. This ascertained the necessity of such a monitor, and we received substantial media and social interest in the actions we organized, and the debates they instigated.

In a country like Lebanon, women do not even enjoy the most basic rights. There is a continued absence of laws that protect them from family violence and laws that allow them to pass on their Lebanese nationality to their husbands and children. They also remain prisoners of stereotypical looks and gender roles. The last thing women in Lebanon need is additional insults and further diminishment. Thus, a group of independent activists, not affiliated with any organizations, associations, or private or governmental fronts, launched the Kherr Berr initiative in order to raise awareness about both controlling and socially monitoring the messages conveyed by the media and advertisements.

The main goal of the Kherr Berr monitor is to urge the Lebanese government to develop laws that penalize transgressions, and to push advertising agencies to adopt a new discourse and more progressive concepts that cease the usage of violent and irresponsible messages that demean, objectify and stereotype women and their roles.

The Kherr Berr issue is released biweekly on Tuesdays, and it logs offensive content that our team worked on collecting through video segments, pictures, audio clips, or other forms of media. Since we aim to create a new, more responsible discourse that is more sensitive to human and women’s rights in the media and in advertising, we have set aside a page entitled “Bravo,” where we commend advertisements and media segments that responsibly portray and support individual freedoms, by way of breaking the usual sexist and racist discourse.

While the Kherr Berr team will always keep an eye out for offensive content, contribution of such material is open, and anyone can contribute transgressions (s)he comes across. So, get out your cameras and phones, and help us find all the different offenses against human and women’s rights in the media. We are always open to submissions.

• www.kherrberr.org
• Kherr Berr on Facebook

Kherr Berr is supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation Middle East.