The Culture Of Honor At Play Between Antoun Sehnaoui and Mazen elZein

The dynamics and specific mechanisms inherent to the culture of honor is an important topic to study in light of the Maison Blanche night club shooting that took place February 25th between a Mazen el-Zein and Antoun Sehnaoui, CEO of SGBL. What happened on that hot Saturday at the White House Club in Beirut helps us understand something about the etiology of 'manhood' in Arab societies and in similar cultures of honor.

In fact, Antoun Sehnaoui's bodyguards' act falls within what anthropologists have righteously identified and dubbed a "culture of honor", in which even small disputes become contests for reputation and social status."

Honor in a society like Lebanon means a pride of manhood in masculine courage, physical strength, and warrior virtue. It was somehow of no surprise to see the bodyguards of Antoun Sehnaoui, defend the young CEO's honor without a moment's hesitation-lashing out against their challengers.

Indeed, defense of honor can and must be understood within a larger social context of reputations, relative social status, and enduring relationships.

The shooting provided strong additional evidence that defamatory insults are crucially important in such cultures. A male who is insulted but does not retaliate risks having his masculine reputation diminished. When a challenging or highly status-relevant situation is encountered, the person may lash out with violent or aggressive behavior to reassert himself.

Moreover, The Maison Blanche incident provides a suggestion about how culture-of-honor norms might be enforced by one's peers. Insulted Arab men see themselves as shamed before people who witnessed their diminishment. The importance of the public versus private nature of the insult is a major element here that should be examined and taken into consideration. Has anyone thought or predicted that the insults' effects would be greater when carried out publicly.

A male, specially an Arab, who is publicly affronted may be expected to respond with violence because otherwise, he will be seen as "not much of a man" if he does not.

As such, and from that perspective, it is not hard to see how this led to violence. Rather, we believe the insult-aggression that took place in front of Sehnaoui's acquaintances, friends, and members of the Lebanese jet-set maximized the public nature of the affront. Arguments that start over petty matters can quickly escalate into deadly conflicts once a challenge or insult has been issued. At that point, backing down marks one as a "wimp," and standing up for oneself becomes a matter of honor. The clash escalated and became quite serious for both sides because their status, reputation, and masculinity were on the line.

Furthermore, bodyguards are the sort of people who cannot be pushed around, the sort who won't take any shit without exhibiting their muscles. Once the flow of insults released and the challenge was offered, the affronted party couldn't but redeem itself by a display of toughness, dominance, and aggression.

Sehnaoui's bodyguards were realistic in their fears as many witnesses have regarded the episode as a serious put-down requiring a response from the reputed and successful entrepreneur who runs some of the best clubs and businesses in town (Central; Oceana; Zinc, to name but a few).

The participants, in what started as a 'trivial altercations', behaved as if a great deal more is at issue than small vexation over access to a table at the club.

I guess if the story would have occurred in another set up, it would have taken another shape and would have had a less bloody flavour.