Editorial: Under pressure

By Gamal Nkrumah

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Women should stand up and be counted. The participation of women in the cultural life of the country is of paramount importance -- especially at this critical historical juncture.

The women of the developing world are collectively the most oppressed group of people. Statistics indicate that there are millions of women-headed households and that women are emerging as the main breadwinners. And, yet women's participation in the political arena is minuscule. Why the discrepancies?

Worse, there are those who are bent on seeing women in the niqab. They insist that the female physique is a wicked temptation and so the female form must be covered up completely. Moreover, they argue that this cruel and crippling habit is religiously sanctioned. This set-piece battle for the hearts and minds of contemporary Egyptian women has begun in earnest.

The pioneering champion of women's rights in Egypt, Qassim Amin -- ironically a man -- had advanced and far-sighted ideas about the role and potential of women in the political domain. Nowadays not many support his views. The country has become far more conservative socially and that has impacted negatively the manner in which women in Egypt are regarded. The women of the country are provoked into action. Yet there are those who refuse to budge. Women are often their own worst enemies. There are many women in the country who advocate male hegemony and believe that a woman's place is the home. These women believe that child rearing and house- keeping are the two single most important tasks of women. They want to confine women to the house and the raising of children. These reactionary men and women want to turn the clock backwards. They want to erode the significant gains won by women in the 20th century. There are people who are today wavering on the pivotal question of women's rights.

Women are made to look as if they are playing a childish game of catching up with men. The sexual harassment and molestation of Eid Al-Adha in downtown Cairo are symbolic of the general state of contempt that women are held in. They have plenty of other provocations. The Egyptian society at large has become dominated by male chauvinists -- and many women themselves are their own worst enemies politically and socially supporting those that work against women's rights.

Women need to work in a framework free from political interference. However, political pressure is no longer subtle. And, it is about time that women took matters in their own hands.