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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 12 - 18 October 2000 Issue No. 503 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 12 - 18 October 2000 Issue No. 503
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Palestine International Economy Opinion Culture Books Interview Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Plain Talk
By Mursi Saad El-Din
I have been a great supporter of women's rights. Maybe it is the fact that I was brought up in a home where women were not only respected, but played a distinctive role. My father was a physicist who pursued further education in England, perhaps the reason behind his respect for women. A liberal man, he allowed both my sisters to fully pursue an education. One went on to become a painter, the other a fashion designer. My mother was an active member of the Wafd Women's Association and wrote political poems.
I recall clearly how, after the death of the leading statesman Saad Zaghlul, I would accompany her to his grave where, as a child, I would sit at the foot of his widow, Safiya Hanim. This gave me a chance to listen in on all that was going on among the wives of political figures and young women with political leanings. I must have imbibed the fundamentals of the feminist movement, Egyptian women's aspirations and their yearning to play a part in society seeping into me as if by osmosis.
My next involvement in the feminist movement comprises a rather strange set of coincidences. While working as a cultural attaché in London, my wife and I were asked to participate in a meeting of the International Alliance of Women, representing the Bint Al-Nil (Daughter of the Nile) and Hoda Sha'rawi societies, respectively, the latter being, at that time, the official representative organ. I believe I was the only man present. My belief in equality for women had yet to reach a further apex, however, when I was appointed chairman of the State Information Service. Taking the initiative to do so, I settled on two women as our cultural attachés in Bonne and San Francisco, setting a precedent that has since, happily, become a tradition, and of which I remain very proud.
Now women in Egypt have realised the objectives for which their predecessors fought for so long. They have occupied almost all professions, they have become ministers and possess not only the right to vote, but to nominate themselves for elections. Their efforts were finally crowned with the establishment of the National Council for Women, presided over by Mrs Mubarak and boasting Mervat El-Tallawi as secretary-general.
I have just received the first issue of the Council's beautifully produced magazine, Women United, which includes a number of interesting stories with an emphasis on women's active participation in the political process. Without such participation, the magazine claims, "women's interests will never be seriously taken into account." The article goes on to point out that "throughout Egyptian history, women have reached powerful decision-making positions. However, the events were often random and far between. Continuous female participation remains a far-off dream."
I could not agree more myself. A cursory look at the lists of political party candidates for the upcoming elections reveals how meagre the percentage of women actually is, which emphasises the fact that we remain a male-dominated society. And, women's past struggles notwithstanding, there is still a lot to be done. The questions at stake concern how to do it, in what way and at what pace. Many subjects, I feel, might offer a clue.
The UNESCO constitution, for one party, states that, in the same way that war was born in the minds of people, people should start looking for peace in their own minds. By the same token, since a male-dominated society is born in men's minds, it is in men's minds that the search for women's equality should begin.
