Egyptian Feminism: History, Achievements and Problems

Abstract

The article discusses the expansion of women’s rights in Egypt. The author notes that Egypt, concerning the status of women in society, has traditions that differ from those in other countries where Islam is the predominant religion. This is because the state has experienced various periods throughout its history, including the Pharaonic era, the Greco-Roman period, the era of Islamic dominance, and periods of revolutionary reformers. The author pays much attention to the fact that Egypt has strong class divisions and property stratification. People in different areas of the country live differently. What concerns educated urban feminists in Cairo and Alexandria is often alien to poor women in the rural regions of Upper Egypt. The definitions of “women’s equality” and “feminism” themselves in a country with nationalist and Muslim traditions often have different meanings than in Western countries. On the one hand, Egyptian women have historically been considered the heads of their households as wives and mothers, and many women have consented to this role. A small percentage of Egyptian women worked outside the home, and their involvement in political life was limited. However, “state feminism” became the policy of all successive authoritarian regimes. The author also highlights the “Islamic feminism” as an interesting recent phenomenon.