Lebanese society is very modern and similar to certain cultures of

Southern Europe Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Alba ...

as the country is "linked ideologically and culturally to Europe through

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and its uniquely diverse religious composition

reate Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...

a rare environment that sat once Arab and European". It is often considered as Europe's gateway to Western Asia as well as Asia's gateway to the Western World. The Lebanese system is parliamentary democracy, which implements a special system known as confessionalism. This system is intended to deter sectarian conflict and attempts to fairly represent the demographic distribution of the 18 recognized religious groups in government. High-ranking offices are reserved for members of specific religious groups. The President, for example, has to be a

Maronite Christian Lebanese Maronite Christians ( ar, المسيحية المارونية في لبنان; syc, ܡܫܝܚܝ̈ܐ ܡܪ̈ܘܢܝܐ ܕܠܒܢܢ) are adherents of the Maronite Church in Lebanon, which is the largest Christian denomination in the country ...

, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim, the Speaker of the Parliament a Shi’a Muslim, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament Eastern Orthodox Christian.

Family life

Family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

life is very important in the Lebanese culture. Family functioning is associated with the values of

collectivism Collectivism may refer to: * Bureaucratic collectivism, a theory of class society whichto describe the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin * Collectivist anarchism, a socialist doctrine in which the workers own and manage the production * Collectivis ...

in the Lebanese society. One person's family functioning is indicative of their individual status and identity. The average household size ranges between 3.9 and 4.9.

Kinship

Patrilineal Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritan ...

kin group is another major unit of identity for the Lebanese. The actual extent of

identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...

through kin groups varies. Large clans are typically more traditional and have political and economic ties to its unit. Instead, extended families are generally the boundaries of which these kin groups separate. The Lebanese household serves as the center of these kin groups. There are little variations in kinship patterns in the rural and urban areas of Lebanon. The value of family loyalty is heavily emphasized within these kin groups. One important expectation of family loyalty is nepotism, where family members are expected to find employment for each other, in order for its family unit to function and survive.

Children and parenting

Child-rearing Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical fitness, physical, emotional, Social change, social, spiritual and intellectual development of a child from infant, infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raisi ...

practices are characterized by abundant protection imposed on children by parents. Unlike Western societies, parental control does not stop at the age of 18; instead, it continues for as long as the child lives in the father's residence or until the child marries. When the first boy has been given birth to, the married couple is no longer addressed by their given names alone but is also called by the name of their son – “father of x” and “mother of x”.Collelo, Thomas. "Lebanon's Culture: Society." (1987): n. page. Web. 4 May. 2012.

Gender roles

Notwithstanding the persistence of traditional attitudes regarding the role of women, Lebanese women enjoy equal

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

and attend institutions of higher education in large numbers (for example, women constituted 41 percent of the student body at the American University of Beirut in 1983). Although women in Lebanon have their own organizations, most exist as subordinate branches of the political parties. The illiteracy rate for females in 2007 was 14%, compared to 6.6% among males. The economic activity rate for the age group 15 years and above is 68.9% for males, but only 20.4% for females. The proportion of seats held by women in parliament in 2009 was 3.1%.

References

External links

Describing the Lebanese Youth: A National and Psycho-Social Survey
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