The one thing that Egyptians know for certain is that their next president is not a woman. That is because there are no female candidates contesting the presidential elections.
All of those running for election can be classified into two categories; Islamists or Secularists. But within each camp there are distinctions and gradations.
Throughout the official 21 days of presidential propaganda, we the public have learned that all the candidates "value" women and believe that women are half of the Egyptian society and therefore should be respected and honored. A near century of Egyptian feminism and our candidates can only offer a cloyingly condescending stance on the rights of the voters who will enable one of them to become a president.
This is the sad truth about Egyptian politics.
It is women who attend rallies, who accept trivial bribes of sugar and rice and who stand in the very long queues to vote. Egypt segregates its polling stations, so the remarkable length of women-only queues is evident for all to see. Yet women are ignored as political agents and as citizens in all presidential programs.
To read the complete news story please visit CNN published 23 May 2012.
The one thing that Egyptians know for certain is that their next president is not a woman. That is because there are no female candidates contesting the presidential elections.
All of those running for election can be classified into two categories; Islamists or Secularists. But within each camp there are distinctions and gradations.
Throughout the official 21 days of presidential propaganda, we the public have learned that all the candidates "value" women and believe that women are half of the Egyptian society and therefore should be respected and honored. A near century of Egyptian feminism and our candidates can only offer a cloyingly condescending stance on the rights of the voters who will enable one of them to become a president.
This is the sad truth about Egyptian politics.
It is women who attend rallies, who accept trivial bribes of sugar and rice and who stand in the very long queues to vote. Egypt segregates its polling stations, so the remarkable length of women-only queues is evident for all to see. Yet women are ignored as political agents and as citizens in all presidential programs.
To read the complete news story please visit CNN published 23 May 2012.