Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Women in Egypt in the Post Revolutionary Period

احتجاجات ضد الحكومة البحرينية بالمنامة
Bahraini protester helps her daughter hold a slogan

Dear readers 

This blog has been outspoken about its support for women, Egyptian women of all races creeds and colors. Folks, there is a lot of work to do.

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro of NPR reported in January that "one group suffered a shocking disappointment in Egypt's parliamentary election-women." In Egypt's New Parliament Women will be Scarce (January 19, 2012).

As you know, I did my own counting of the women in Egypt's Parliament, and I predicted that it was not going to be pretty. (See e.g. Names of Women in Egypt's Parliament and see also No Women Elected to Egypt's Parliament in First Round)

So, now that it is all over but the shouting, NPR reported that there were only likely to be about eight women elected out of the 508 seats, which is less than two percent of the seats in Parliament. As I wrote about in previous posts, women were generally placed far enough down the lists, that it reduced their probability of being elected.

This is just one symptom of the difficulties facing women in Egypt.  I have written several posts on the myriad challenges in Egypt facing women including pervasive sexual harassment pervasive sexual harassment, violence against women,  the role of women under shariah law. A new topic has just made waves in the blogosphere. Mona Eltahawy, herself an activist who was brutally beaten sexually assaulted and detained by the Egyptian Interior Ministry, has written a compelling piece in Foreign Policy recently, Why Do They Hate Us?   I guess the first question that I ask myself when reading the title is who is "they."?

Although the article is not written at the level typical of FP pieces, Mona Eltahawy made some arguments that really resonated with me. First of all, she highlights the fact that  as many of 90 percent of ever-married women in Egypt have experienced female genital mutilation. One of my students in Egypt did a presentation on that, and it is a statistic that is hard to believe. It is also very difficult to verify. That being said, a young woman who lived below me in my building was only 17 and had experienced the cut. She was worried about how to protect her sisters. In my personal tribal tradition, the Kikuyu, women were circumcised. My grandfather protected my mother and her sisters from the cut, and educated them. Those decisions helped make me who I am. Thus, Mona, whose family went through a similar process, and I have much in common as African women, though countries apart.

When we talk about the "they" in Mona's article, I believe that it must be said that women are part of the they. Women, after all, perform the circumcision which so brutally erases women's femaleness, and often leads to horrible medical problems. Women parliamentarians, such as the woman who heads the womens' committee of the Muslim Brotherhood said that women should let their husbands and brothers march for them, it is more "dignified." Women choose to follow and enforce the rules regarding gender behavior which in a country like Egypt are somewhat optional.

Mona writes that a quarter of the parliamentary seats in Egypt are held by Salafis, a fairly radical Islamic sect that is very strict, very fundamentalist, and unfortunately, anti-woman. Women are not to be seen or heard, writes Eltahawy. When I visited a Salafi neighborhood, I saw something I had never witnessed before. A woman wore a burka, covering her whole body in Black. Her head was covered, and her face as well, by a garment called a nekab, which only allows one's eyes to show. But over that covering, the woman wore yet another veil, so that her view of the world was obscured by a layer of thin cloth. Surely this dress leads one to never leave the house, lest one lose ones step. Further, it feels like a kind of self-disappearance, as though one is making oneself invisible through numerous shrouds.

I heard an interview with Mona on the radio with Steve Inskeep. Mona Eltahawy Explains Why Women are hated in the Middle East.  Ha ha. He asked the question that I had in my mind, who are "they"?

Mona states that "they" are the misogynists and partriarchs in the middle east. Some argue that Mona is playing into right wing stereotypes that lead to armed invasions of Middle Eastern countries.  Do Arabs Really Hate Women?   (I might add that I think Monica Mark's comments that marginalize Mona Eltahawy as a mere "native informant" strike me as very arrogant, and situated in Western privilege.)

But, I believe Eltahawy has a compelling counter to this point. I like Mona's point that "we are going through a revolution. This is the time to shake everything." She also notes that she is fighting against both the Western right wing, and the Muslim right wing. She characterizes the Muslim Brotherhood as part of that Muslim Right Wing.

I love her point "that women are the vectors of religion and culture. Our wombs are the future, and if you don't control that future by controlling women's bodies, you've lost control generally." This point really resonates with me in the American context, where we face personhood amendments. I also love her point that we have to speak honestly about this. We really do. So let us start speaking about women's rights in Egypt, and keep speaking, and never, ever stop. . .

P.S. Great followup article in Jaadaliya yesterday, check it out. Lets Talk About Sex

5 comments:

  1. The word I really like is "WHY THEY HATE US??" as I am keep saying it to myself may be everyday. Sometimes I feel that the problem would be in the women themselves. I feel that if they love and respect themselves these all will not happen. To prove my point of view I will remind you about the member of the Parliament Aza Al Garaf, she challenges herself in insulting women. I do not really know is the problem in women because they have been raised not to respect themselves or there is another problem that I did not figure it out. To be clear I am a feminist and I really hope to live in a society in which respects women but we really need the help not from the people who are oppressing women but from the women themselves.

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  2. Years ago, women in the Middle East were brought up to find man is the one responsible for providing housing, food and clothing. Consequently, they see that man is the protector and the strong side in the whole society. Nowadays, these ideas are changed. In fact, the role of women in life has become greater than men. It has been expanded to be inside and outside home as well. So, as being a woman, I feel proud and honored.

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  3. Step by step, the society will value the woman more. It might take time, but things will change. May be the names of women in 2012 parliament list are not a real reflection of the Egyptian woman, however, later on Egypt will have more respectable and more valuable women members representing every woman in our society.

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  4. Dear Nouran and Basma, I am so happy to hear your perspectives. It is so important to hear your voices. Thank you for speaking out! This topic has been so controversial. Let me know what you think of these articles.


    http://muslimreverie.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/responses-to-mona-eltahawys-why-do-they-hate-us/
    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/in-response-to-mona-eltahawys-ha.html

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  5. Good blog for readers http://read-book-online-free.blogspot.in

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