Egypt's Women

Sheila Lindell

Dr. Brown

GWS 220W

7 February 2012

Egypt’s Women:

From Princesses to Rape Victims



It’s hard to imagine that a country once so far ahead of its time with the regards to the rights of women of their country has been taken leaps backwards into a repressive state where women are afraid of going in public alone for fear of being raped. The Ancient Egyptian women have long been regarded by the world and especially by the men of Egypt as powerful, strong women with the beauty of Cleopatra. Now, this modern and extremely patriarchal society holds its women hostage, afraid to speak out loud for their rights, afraid if found protesting they will certainly be arrested and stripped searched and be given a virginity test, a lousy way around what it is, sexually victimizing. A country that once gave its women the right to marry, and divorce without hardship, even own land, has now become a country that allows polygamy, the right to land ownership is scrutinized and divorce is almost unheard of. Women must be aware of this repression in order to not let it go on; we must help and be their voices.

Geographically Egypt is the most populated country in the Middle East it is on the African Continent and most of the population lives along the banks of the Nile River. The male to female ratio it about equal and the median age is under the age of thirty. So it seems to be a fairly young country in regard to years of age in proportion to the overall population. In this country that seems to be equal in age and demographically equal the truly upsetting facts must be brought to our attention. The illiteracy rate of women in this country is a staggering, 62% (Guenena,32), this is the country’s highest illiteracy rate ever, in comparison with the fact that in 1925 the total illiteracy rate was 96% and 78% of that being male illiteracy. The families of a newer Egypt have no profit by having their daughters go to any more school than the primary levels. Most will drop out or become minor brides, and by minor there have been records that show an eleven year old being married. While it is illegal it is not uncommon, a fact that most of us cannot fully comprehend. Without the basic reading skills her future might look hopeless to the young woman, split shifts and low pay with all the benefits of a daily harassment just to earn money for her family.

We cannot go forward without looking at the employment of Egyptian women. It was custom for women to be stay at home moms and raise the children, however since 1981 a law that brought forth the right for women to work outside the home allows women to work at night, (Guenena, 35). The catch in this law, most women were not given the same labor union privileges men were afforded. One can conclude that from the fact that women can only work at night that they are not going to be given the same rights as men. Needless to say, we all know what happens without fair working environments, a sort of modern day slavery against women.

In ancient Egypt, women were equal and allowed to divorce or hold property rights, the only non-equality of life was the wealth classes however, women and men were equal within their class. In modern Egypt the family unit is where women are the most oppressed (Guenena, 20). Once again because of a patriarchal society men can take as many wives as he likes or feels he needs up to the maximum of four. The woman has no way of knowing about the other marriages, so the government gives the women a 30 day grace to divorce her husband should he take another wife, and if she is fortunate enough to find out sooner in the marriage but, after those 30 days are over, she is now in a sister wife marriage and has no recourse. This was not a common practice in ancient days, marriage was a union and the man and woman could come and go if things did not work. Woman can try to bring up divorce however, the courts will decide if a woman can divorce her man. The divorce will not be granted for the most part, because the judge who will decide is usually a man. The good old boys club remains intact.

Women’s rights when it comes to her children are even more outlandish, should she be divorced, and at any time remarry while her children are growing, she will lose custody automatically. With regards to union of marriage a women is her man’s object. Should he want her sexually at any time, she must perform, no, is not an option, and with 46% of the men believing in this is ok to do to their partner. She should not fight her man; she should allow him to have her at his will according to an anonymous interview held by Nemat Guenena,(Guenena 29). Violence in a woman’s own home which is supposed to be her place of refuge from the world is not even safe for her. In Egypt, 47% of “honor killing”, that being a killing that is legally ok because the woman has brought disgraced the honor of the family, is at the hands of her husband,(Seager). It seems a disgraceful that a man can beat his wife to punish her if she is disobedient to the point as he doesn’t cause “permanent damage”(Guenena, 37) and can kill her if she has had an affair, and suffer only a minor penalty of up to 3 years if convicted. A woman under the same conviction would be sentenced to hard labor.

At this point the health of the Egyptian women cannot be overlooked. It is a known all over the world that socioeconomic level will predetermine your overall health. In Egypt that fact is no different, however, at an early age the woman are given a sad start. Female genital mutilation once thought of as a primitive practice according to Nawal Saadawi that continues to this day. A practice that one would think is handled by the men, but it is the grandmothers and midwives performing this hellish practice. The pleasure is for the man, and because of this barbaric mutilation it allows the man to be in charge of the woman’s body. “It diminishes the sexuality of women and forces monogamy” says, Nawal Saadawi, one of the first women to talk about FGM in her novels. Girls can die at young ages due to infections, bleeding and the pure mutilation of it all. The health of a woman who marries at a young age can diminish with each child that is conceived. The younger women are not able to carry babies when they are mere children themselves. There is also a trend that has been noticed, as woman get married younger and younger their years that they are able to conceive goes up and up. This can bring unwanted pregnancies; the only way to stop the pregnancy is through the alley abortion clinics (Guenena, 39).

Is there anyone who is fighting for woman’s rights in Egypt? Thankfully the answer is, yes. As mentioned earlier, Nawal Saadawi, a pioneer when it comes the rights of Arabian Women. By bringing attention to the act FGM it has gotten people’s attention, however, in this patriarchal society there are women who believe in the tradition of FGM, a maddening concept. Right now Egypt is in the news quite frequently and it is those women whom need our attention right now the woman fighting in Tahrir square and voicing their opinions. Take Samiria Ibrahim, (thedailybeast.com) who has stood up and still been raped and given a virginity test by police simply for talking in Tahrir square. While she was arrested she was fingered by a man while many men videotaped her on their phones, this is the virginity test. She has sued the government and with the help of her parents is trying to bring a voice to young women. The sexual violence needs to stop, it seems that the men of this region have feelings of inadequacy amongst their woman because one has to wonder why this is the retaliation for having a voice of change. Scary as it seems many women are being beaten in Tahir Square in Cairo. On CNN.com our latest freedom fighter is shown in the newspapers and on YouTube.com as well. She is the “blue bra girl” She is being dragged by her arms while soldiers kick and stomp her head and belly. They tore off her clothing to reveal a blue bra. She is a reminder of the violence that is happening currently while we are going about our daily activities. So what are these women standing up for? Their right to be heard equally in Parliament and to have rights likes the men of their nation. In the Parliament they were to have 64 seats out of 508, in a recent election they were given 8 seats, eight votes against 500 men, women lost big. Dalia Zaida,(NPR.com) believes men see woman as evil…they are trying to suppress her in every way possible. This society wants to keep woman submissive and scared, Dalia continues to say that a survey was done and not one person said they would vote for a woman. The fear that democracy and woman can be equal must be scary to the Egyptian men; they seem to think they can’t have them both.

The country of Egypt with all the pyramids and Sphinx seem semi-romantic, however it is taking the time to study a group of woman we see those romantic dreams look oppressive and demeaning. Fearing for these women’s life one cannot imagine the horror they feel living daily like they do. Perhaps it in the articles we read all the horror, it is hard to believe a place where your voice must be stifled because your thoughts are not equal to a man’s voice. The woman of Egypt are in trouble and keeping abreast of these topics and keeping people informed is hopefully one small way we can help them to overcome oppression.









Works Cited



Burleigh, Nina. "Egypt's Game Changers, Samira Ibrahim and the Women Who Speak Up About

Sexual Violence." The Daily Beast. 21 Jan. 2012. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. .

Coleman, Isobel. "'Blue Bra Girl' Rallies Egypt's Women vs. Oppression." CNN.com -

Breaking Sexual Violence." The Daily Beast. 21 Jan. 2012. Web. 24 Jan. 2012.

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A Reappraisal of Categories and Legacies." Speech. Institutions, Ideologies and Agencies, Changing Family Life in the Arab Middle East. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Apr. 2003. Web.

Garcia-Navarro, Lourdes. "In Egypt's New Parliment, Women Will Be Scarce." NPR :

National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. 19 Jan. 2012. Web. 08 Feb. 2012. .

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Saadawi, Nawal El. "A Bitter Lot of Women." Interview. Www.ebscohost.com. Freedom