Friendship, like family, is a strong institution in Egypt. Men
and women develop intensely close bonds with others that can
last a lifetime. Friends often call each other brothers or sisters. It
is very rare for a man to have a close woman friend, or vice versa.
Gender distance and separation are encouraged or enforced at
every stage of life in Egypt—boys and girls are often educated
separately, and public facilities are often segregated by sex. This
separation is in keeping with the general Islamic sense of honor
and propriety. In recent years, there has been a growing embrace
of fundamental Islamic values. For example, many more women
wear the hijab (headscarf) now than a decade or two ago.