Lebanon’s first women’s affairs minister is… a man

Lebanon got a new government this week, including for the first time a women’s affairs minister. But Lebanese feminist groups are protesting the move — because he’s a man.

The choice of Jean Ogasapian as the first minister has drawn wide-spread criticism, the Guardian reported.

Nasri Atallah, a Lebanese writer, described it as “the ultimate act of mansplaining,” the Guardian said, adding that KAFA, a prominent women’s rights organization, called for protests under the slogan, “No women, no legitimacy”.

“The government that has been announced is a clear indictment to all the politicians who took part in creating it,” the organization said in a statement. “It is an insult to all women.”

The 30-minister government is led by Saad Hariri, bringing together the entire political spectrum except for the Christian Phalangist party that rejected the portfolio it was offered.

The other new portfolio is an anti-corruption post.