Empowering women through migration : portrayal of the effects in Albi Dak series

Abstract

Adults aged between 15 and 29 years old usually migrate from rural to urban areas because of the educational gap between their villages and the cites (CDR, 2016). This study examines the portrayal of this phenomenon of migration from urban to rural areas in televised series. It compares the empowerment that Carine Rizkallah, writer and lead woman character in “Albi Dak” series, demonstrated in the series to the lives of women in real life, and whether or not that empowerment portrays reality. In order to direct the thesis statement, this study conducts some research on a few subjects: Cultural Educational Gap between Rural and Urban Lebanon, Rural Women’s Escape to Urban Areas, & the Effects of Migration on Women in different countries. This part of the paper investigates the Empowerment theory, and its diverse concepts. Defining the concepts of this theory -Patriarchy, Effects of migration on women, Types of women empowerment- will help investigate the research problem, and develop its framework. Following the non-probability snowball sampling, 176 women were asked to answer a set of questions related to their migration experiences. Findings: In analyzing the data, it was proven that women at 18 tend to migrate more than women in their 30s. Results proved that these women also identify themselves with Carine from “Albi Dak”, her relatives, their traditions, her migration, and her empowerment post-migration. Results also demonstrate that there is no relation between the migration of Lebanese women and the patriarchy of their rural areas.