Topic > The Role of Women and Women's Rights in Egypt

For centuries, Egyptian women have remained independent and individual from their male counterparts, thus allowing the progression of the Egyptian women's rights movement. Prominent key figures in this campaign range from Cleopatra to Hoda Shaarawi, and these influential women have faced the adversary of political instability in their efforts to further advance women's rights for Egyptian women. For example, Cleopatra engaged in political circus in an effort to remain Egypt's sole ruler, and her romantic ties and military alliances with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony solidified her status in Egyptian history. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay However, the involvement of both historical icons in Cleopatra's life reflected the external pressures that the Egyptian women's rights movement faced. These external pressures also highlight the strength behind the internationalization of the women's rights movement. Specifically, the combination of the internationalization of women's rights with Egypt's political turmoil has caused Egypt's national women's rights movement to regress. Throughout its history, Egypt has gone through three periods of political instability: colonization by the British Empire, the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and finally its involvement in the Arab Spring, a period of anti-government protests across the Middle East, and each period of political upheaval symbolizes the effect of international women's rights on the Egyptian national women's rights movement. From 1882 to 1952, the British Empire controlled Egypt and this imperialist giant imposed their customs and beliefs on their new conquest. The tumultuous relationship began because Britain desperately needed a link to the Asian trading market. Specifically, Egypt's location allowed this colonialist empire to further plunder new environments for resources. However, the relationship between Egypt and the UK depended on its imperialist narrative, for example with their interest in the Suez Canal. With the opening of the Suez Canal, life for the English improved dramatically. From changes in their maps to faster navigation to Bombay, the British remained determined to become the majority shareholder of the Suez Canal, thus they managed to defeat the French. From that point on, the imperialist empire's interest grew exponentially, and eventually, the British controlled the country's Egyptian government personnel, finances, and military, thus reflecting the complete dominance the British displayed over the people. Egyptian. At one point, the French and English came to an agreement in which the English would gain Egypt while France would gain control of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. For a moment, due to the First World War, the British increased their imperial control over Egypt, but after the Great War, the period of peace led to an exponential increase in nationalism. Rather than attempt to resist promising Egyptian opposition, Britain slowly began to relinquish control; however, they left their mark on Egypt through altering Egypt's beliefs, economic structure, and political climate. The conquest of Egypt by the British not only had a profound impact on the Egyptian women's rights movement through a myriad of different ways, but they also reflect the impact of the international women's rights movement on Egypt.Throughout his period of control, the British continually imposed their ideals on Egypt and made decisions on its behalf without its consent, similar to the international campaign for women's rights. By comparison, this global women's rights movement has provided definitive guidelines, in documents such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, that countries have strived to achieve. For example, Article 5 states: “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures: (a) To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary practices, and of all other practices based on the idea of ​​the inferiority or superiority of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women". Within this international document, the "modification" of the social models of each respective country is called for, reflecting the lack of sympathy towards other cultures. The internationalization of women's rights has maintained a rigid and rigid viewpoint that many countries fail to achieve. Specifically, the CEDAW Foundation attempted to eradicate gender roles in countries like Egypt, but in reality it simultaneously advanced and regressed the Egyptian women's rights movement. Egypt faced another political upheaval with the 1952 revolution, which symbolized the ambiguity of the effects of the international women's rights movement on the Egyptian women's rights campaign. This uprising began with the Free Officers Movement, a group of army officers led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser, who sought to overthrow the current regime, King Farouk. However, as the revolution progressed, new aspirations, such as the abolition of the monarchy, emerged exponentially. King Farouk reluctantly abdicated the throne and handed over power to General Muhammad Naguib, the leading figure of the coup. Keeping their promises, the revolutionaries redistributed land, tried politicians for corruption and, in 1953, proceeded to eradicate the monarchy. Furthermore, following the revolution Nasser emerged as prime minister with the removal of Naguib. His usurpation of power reflected a desire for stability after a period of uncertainty throughout Egypt, and this political upheaval led to the progression and regression of Egyptian society. Specifically, with the revolution Egypt received the ability to reconstruct its governmental struggle to respond to the needs of the people, rather than allowing the continued poor distribution of wealth and resources within Egypt. The internationalization of women's rights has simultaneously progressed and regressed. , similar to the effects of the 1952 revolution in Egypt. The advancement of women's rights in Egypt began around the 1940s, when a large number of women's organizations were founded. For example, Madame Hoda Shaarawi founded the Egyptian Feminist Union (EFU), and the creation of the EFU enabled her participation in international feminist conferences. This iconic Egyptian feminist leader has especially inspired a vast number of women to reveal themselves across Egypt; to be clear, Sharaawi sparked mass outrage especially among the Egyptian authorities for her action of throwing herself into the sea with her headscarf. The simple act of a woman removing her veil reflects the perpetual struggle for the Egyptian women's rights movement; this means that women were progressively liberated, but at the same time they were oppressed by social norms. This idea can also be present in International Women's Year 1975: The Egyptian Woman in Twodecades, as he states: “Great efforts have been made in the last two decades to achieve great results. women many of their privileges, equating them with me in all political, social, financial and cultural spheres of life".[4] The idea behind the words “great efforts” can be divided into two components, the legalization of women's rights and the real reality of women in Egypt. Under pressure from the international women's rights movement, the Egyptian government not only gave women better access to education and healthcare but also increased employment opportunities. International Women's Year 1975: The Egyptian woman in two decades highlights the evidence of this progress through statistics such as: “As can be seen in Table (9), there is a rapid increase in maternity and child care centers 'childhood. In urban areas, these centers increased from 79 in 1951/52 to 201 in 1970/71."[5] These advances dramatically helped women's rights in urban areas, but in rural areas women saw progress at a slower pace, simply because of their environment. Overall, the internationalization of women's rights has advanced the national women's rights movement, but social norms and gender roles have acted as restrictions on comprehensive progress. the most recent period of political turmoil for Egypt, reflects the lasting impacts that decades of political uncertainty has had on Egypt, similar to the lasting impact that the international women's rights movement has had on the Egyptian national movement for women's rights. Specifically, the Arab Spring was a period of anti-government protests across the Middle East in early 2011. At its core, this movement highlighted a “deeply rooted resentment towards aging Arab dictatorships, anger due to the brutality of the security apparatus, unemployment, rising prices and the corruption resulting from the privatization of state assets.”[6] The Arab Spring demonstrated the deeply rooted desire for change felt throughout the Middle East. Rather than outline a definitive conclusion to the Arab Spring, most people would say that its consequences have yet to be seen. However, the Arab Spring is labeled a failure for those who believed that immediate change would come. People believed that removing corrupt leaders across the Middle East would lead to improved living standards, but the region's chronic instability has added further strains to local economies. However, change never happens overnight, and sometimes the alteration of social or governmental structure does not happen in the way expected. Although the Arab Spring reflects the status of contemporary Egypt, the issues surrounding the Arab Spring correlate with the full effect of the international crisis. women's rights movement on the national women's rights movement in countries like Egypt. Specifically, the international women's rights community has become committed to the idea of ​​continued progress for women's rights, and many countries, typically Western countries, have begun to adopt new goals for their countries. For example, countries like the United States gravitated towards ideas like the wage gap or equal employment opportunities, while other countries struggled to help girls enjoy their right to education. Furthermore, Egypt has made significant changes to improve women's rights in their country, but has continually faced obstacles such as gender roles within Egyptian society. The gender roles that subjugate the.