Egyptian women of all social classes often appear to be surprisingly strong
and self-confident. Widespread male labour migration made many women
temporarily heads of their households. Poor women are often very creative
in inventing means of securing the survival of their families. Many female
university graduates are efficient in their work and play important roles in
their spheres of influence, though they usually refrain from political activity.
However, the present situation, with the introduction of a capitalist economic
system based on an export-oriented rationalized productive sector, undermines
women’s access to economic resources. When formerly husband and wife were
working in the civil service, their incomes were about equal if they had the
same qualifications. Today, however, a man has a better chance of finding a job
in the private sector, where he may receive a salary ten times that of his wife,
who has to remain a civil servant. In the economic crisis that has character-
ized the beginning of the twenty-first century in Egypt, the situation is bad
for all, but worse for the women, since the unemployment rate is particularly
high among them. Not every job they are qualified for is considered accept-
able for women, and generally they are less mobile than the men because of
their greater family obligations. So only few women can work in the tourist
business, especially in the new tourist ghettos on the Red Sea, where many
men find employment today. Christian or Muslim daughters, fiancées or wives
are often not allowed by male family members to work in places where they
may have contact with men, be they colleagues or customers. This limits the
radius of women’s activities. What makes life harder for many women is that,
for economic reasons and because of the dire state of the housing market,
often young families are forced to share a flat with their parents-in-law. At
the same time possibilities for individual recreation outside the house are
not comparable to those enjoyed by women in Europe. Spending a weekend
away from home and from the rest of the extended family is a habit only just
being adopted by the affluent new middle class. The discrepancies between
the lifestyles of women of the different social classes and locations in Egypt
are as great today as they have ever been.