In Egypt, women were the ones leading the way in the
protests that ousted Hosni Mubarak. However, Islamists and the military have
reasserted strong ideas of sexism. Bothaina Kamel is the only woman running for
Egypt's presidency even though she has no chance of winning. But she wants to
create a culture shock as she wants to set a trend and open up a door for
women. Yet women have yet to gain any significant influence in the new Egypt. The
army that replaced Mubarak's regime has only been harsh as they subject women
to virginity tests in order to intimidate them and they even beat them and rip
off their clothes. Genital excision and sexual harassment are also still very common
for women. Women face great hardships of poverty as well as 45% of Egyptians
are faced with poverty, women being hit the hardest. But with political power being
in the hands of Islamists, the majority of the seats in Parliament being
controlled by The Muslim Brotherhood and ultraconservative Salafis, creates
concerns for women seeking equality in terms of education, divorce, and other
aspects as these groups are very conservative. Some feel that the revolution
has not yet fulfilled its promise and that the military is trying to lead a counterrevolution.
But "Women want their rights
respected on divorce, maternity issues and custody of children,"
says Ibrahim, a revolutionary socialist (paragraph 14). However, female members
of The Muslim Brotherhood denounce protests by female activists and feel that a
woman's place is not on the front lines of change. Many of the women that
protested in the strikes suffered just as much as the men did yet they still
face restrictions of culture and tradition. Women have faced violence, harassment,
isolation, and poverty. Though Kamel feels that the military, only wanting to
keep their power, do not want the revolution to succeed. Therefore, with all of
the efforts women have made in Egypt through revolutionary protests has thus
far has only allowed for them to have power that was temporary.
Gender
inequality is a problem that many women across the world face. Even within the
US, gender disparities still exist. Therefore, gender inequality is a social
problem that affects many women around the globe and the women fighting for
their rights in Egypt are no exception. However, even though many of these
women have mobilized for action, the government and military have been
mobilizing for counter action and trying to stop any progress that these women
have been seeking through the revolution. Women such as these face gender
stratification as the men are the ones who get more rewards and privileges than
the women. Men have higher positions within gender stratified societies thus
having more overall power, wealth and prestige than women. Also, many of these
women in Egypt facing poverty can be tied to the idea of the feminization of
poverty as women represent disproportionate percentages of the world's
population. Women face many inequalities in several different areas including
economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment , political
attainment, and health and survival. Most of the women in Egypt face
inequalities in all of these areas as they are discriminated against and
abused, suffering from poverty, and suffering from inequalities within their
own government and politics. Kamel is considered by many as someone who shouldn't
even be running for president because she is a woman. Thus, the problems that these women in Egypt
face reflect the power and dominance that men have in society. The gender roles
of men and women and the way that they have been socialized in Egypt and many
other countries is for the men to be dominant and aggressive and for the women
to be passive and submissive. Women are considered to have their specific roles
in life such as serving her husband and taking care of the home and children.
As these roles are changing in some parts of the world, in Egypt, a
conservative role for women is still desired. Many of the women fighting for a
revolution and Kawal running for president are considered to be overstepping
their boundaries as women. Thus, gender inequality and gender stratification is
still a social problem for Egypt and is a continuing social problem for many
women throughout the world.
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