A Small Debate

The other day, while chatting with a group of western friends, I made a comment about Egypt being a male dominated society. One person responded that he felt like the opposite applied and in fact, Egypt was a female dominated society. When he said this, I couldn't help but think of the story of the blind men that stumble upon an elephant. Each describing the Elephant by what they felt. This led to a small, friendly discussion which ended with the conclusion that it is neither male nor female dominated but rather a gender separated society. I have been filtering situations that come to mind this week, through this conclusion to see if it holds true.

In the West there is a predominate stereotype for Middle Eastern Muslim women. Labels such as "oppressed", "weak", and "victims" are passed around without much thought. While I feel like this may be true in some cases for women in general, I can't say it is always the case here in Egypt. I have met some very strong Egyptian Muslim women. In fact, when it comes to their home lives, "ain't no one better be dis'n the Mama".

Now, outside the home, it's a man's world full of public urination and scratching. Men hold the job market in their hands and have certain rights that women do not. This week there is a lot of press about women Judges being barred from influential Egyptian courts based only upon their gender. This could be seen as both Male/Female separated as well as Male dominated.

Two stories have kept me from truly accepting the former over the latter. There was a young woman who was hired to work for a friend of mine. She was very happy for her new opportunity and each day she seemed to arrive at work happier then the day before. It was as if she had found a new meaning on life. On her second week of work, in tears, she had called my friend and told him that she could not work for his company anymore. When my friend pressed further, she confessed to him that she had been sneaking out of the house to work and that her family had found out and refused to allow her to continue with her job.

The second story is of a friend of mine in her early twenties. It had been several weeks since I had heard from her. I found out that there had been a huge family conflict in her home and she had left to spend sometime with her Aunt in another city. Because of the ongoing conflict within her family, as well as her age, her family is ready to marry her off and be done with her. Being a young romantic, however, she is devastated about an arranged marriage and wishes to marry for love. With this in mind I don't know how anyone could even think this isn't a male dominated society, right?

Then I realized...I had been assuming that it was the fathers who were putting the restrictions on these young girls, but after much thought, I realize that most likely it is the mothers controlling and oppressing these young women.

Which leads me to ask, Why do they do this? If I were to guess, I would think it is because of the hardship that they themselves endured during their teens and twenties. Who's to say how long the circle of women oppressing women has been spinning or how long it will continue. Should something be done about this?

In conclusion to this "conclusion", I do believe that Egypt is a gender separated society. However, women's rights aside and looking at my own equal rights/mixed gender culture, I can't help but wonder if this is a pro or con of the Egyptian culture.