Ancient Egypt: Gender Differences Between Men And Women

Egypt is one of the world’s top rated countries for gender inequality. These roles are related to the traditional Islamic family composition. The women’s roles are associated to the domestic sphere, while the men’s role are associated to the public sphere. Domestic sphere is when the woman’s role is to take care of home, and public sphere is when the man’s role is influenced by political action. Because of the differences between men and women, individuals have several of different life experiences and opportunities. The women of Egypt have many disadvantages compared to the men. This go back way to the Ancient days when men looked at women as being beneath them. Women always were at lower position than men in the Egyptian hierarchy. There
were no contact between any man and woman who were not kin because the women had to avoid it and were expected to veil themselves while in public. When a couple became married, the wife fully depended on their husband to make all decisions, while the husband depended on the wife to do all household chores.
When married couples had children, they were expected to keep producing until they bear at least two sons. If women could not produce a male offspring, then it would be considered as a misfortune for the married women. Having sons will give certainty for the family to have decent security. The only power an Egyptian woman had was when her son got married because she will automatically receive control over the newly developing families of her sons. Still to this day, Egyptian women undergo the same problems, but dealing with more modern day issues. Like many other countries, women in Egypt suffer from gender inequality in education, jobs, and, political
participation. Education for Egyptian woman is more complicated than a male. Female education is viewed as a secondary importance. As of today, women are struggling for their right of education. There are double the amount than boy of females that are not in school. In the rural areas, the rates of illiteracy is really high among the females because of the negative constitutional accommodation. Daughters are more affected because if the family is poor and cannot afford the cost of education, the sons will continue attending school while the daughter will have to stop attending school. It is insufficient for girls to be prepared for employment by vocational education. It is more likely for boys to contain more vocational training opportunities which cause a result of schools being divided by sex. Instead of being prepared for their career, in vocational training, girls generally learn female type of things such as child care, dressmaking, ceramics, and art. This has left them to be in a weak position especially when it comes to labor market. Although some women in Egypt have poor education, there are some women with higher education. These women are liable to study humanities, social sciences, education and medicine, which is a result of them being the most progressive social changes in Egyptian society.
Employment for women in Egypt is critically crucial.
Almost all of women’s work is extremely ignored by the economic policies. Employment is socially labeled as “women's work” and “men's work”. This is a result of social values and the division of labor inside and outside a family’s household. As of Ancient Egypt, women are still expected to only have responsibility for their household. Men in Egypt have way more opportunities when it comes to employment and careers. Female in Egypt face a longer period of unemployment than males. The typical duration of unemployment among females is 141 weeks, while men unemployment duration is 109 weeks. The longest unemployment duration that a female undergo is 173 weeks even while obtaining a secondary vocational degree. The unemployment rate for females in Egypt is 13.4 percent more than unemployed
males.
Females are very deprived when it comes to job searching methods. Females are more likely to apply in a government office, which is a disadvantage because of the social gender gap in the Egyptian’s government. Women are disproportionately engaged in non-standard forms of work, such as informal, temporary or casual employment, part-time jobs or home-based work. These economic liberalization began in 1970s, which had an effect of pushing women out their formal jobs. In Egypt, construction is a growing factor in employments, but with only no women. Another growing sector is industrial, with only 6 percent of women. Informality reflects the endurance of traditional gender segregation of labor, which women are expected to seek jobs that are relatable to their domestic role. Egyptian women are looked down upon in political participation. Women are not as present in parliament. There were only 12 percent of women in parliamentary seats during the final years of Hosni Mubarak's leadership, which is now their new law. Although that is a low portion of women included, it is also the highest level of women participation in Egypt’s politic aspect. Unfortunately, the number women in office decreased after Mubarak’s term. Now, the Egyptian government is only 2.2 percent of women. Egyptian women have been active in the revolutions of the Arab Spring. The first female political party leader, Hala Shukrallah, was elected in February 2014 to represent the Constitution Party. In the 1956 Constitution, women were allowed citizenship and full political rights, yet the county’s social and economic environment have worked against women participating their political rights.