Few other topics rile me up as much as this one. Sexual harassment and gender discrimination are serious issues in Egypt, rooted in the cultural and religious norms of this society- one in which women are marginalized, discriminated against, objectified and made to feel inferior or worthless.
What this means for me is I am patronized or completely ignored in parent conferences by male parents...simply because I am a woman. It means that at times when I am in a store, a male employee will speak to my male friend, but not to me. Or, a male employee will refuse to acknowledge my presence entirely. More seriously, it also means that I cannot run a simple five minute errand without some man ogling me, whistling, making nasty noises or comments about me. It also means that men frequently grab at or follow me. If you remember my tale last year, one man even tried to force his way through my apartment gate. Sexual harassment is so deep-seated in this culture that- as the 6th grade chair- I am even having to handle several serious offenses committed by 10 and 11 year old males toward their female counterparts in our "American" school.
Over time I have developed an enormous chip on my shoulder, sometimes directed toward all men, but particularly toward Egyptian men. I tend to lump them all into the molester category. I am recognizing that I have some pent up anger and hostility centered around this issue that has built up over time. I often allow myself to be overcome by anger which then erupts on the offender when I am mistreated or perceive that I am mistreated. I was not ignorant as to these issues before I moved to Egypt. However, nothing could have prepared me for the reality of encountering such harassment on a daily basis.
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2 comments:
Whew! That treatment gets old fast. You being young and gorgeous doesn't help, I'm sure. Don't let them get to you. Do you know enough Arabic to do anything about it?
It still disturbs me to see women marginalized and treated as second-class citizens, even in big cities in the United States. The other day an elderly gentleman was walking up one of my friend's sidewalks. We were having a garage sale that day. There were 4 women standing out front, and one man, who was married to one of the ladies. The gentleman ignored all of the women, proceeded up the driveway to the man, and asked if he was the man of the household because he wanted to talk to him about his relationship with God and the direction he was leading his family in.
My male friend was very polite and said he was not interested in discussing either religion or politics, and proceeded to chat with the elderly gentleman. Needless to say, I was rather perturbed, to say the least, that in the United States of America, in the year 2010, there are STILL men (and women) out there who believe that women are second class citizens, and still marginalize women. Women are still being paid 75% to 80% less for the same jobs. Prejudices of all kinds still exist in every country and every ethnicity and in every culture.
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