ABSTRACT
This research has attempted to invite its readers behind closed doors, inside Lebanese households. It has revealed how women — Madames and housemaids — still have a long way to go before relieving themselves of traditional expectations and responsibilities. It has explained how racism, despite all indicators, is not at the core of the abusive treatment of housemaids. It has given a detailed ‘aperçu’ of the living and working conditions of Sri Lankan housemaids in Lebanon, and has shown how ‘symbolic violence’ is used by Lebanese employers to control their Sri Lankan housemaids. It also unveiled the way housemaids resisted this violence with the only means available to them and the limited (and at times negative) consequences.
