Eight Examples of Inequity Between Men and Women in the Egyptian Community

As examples are the best presentation of a given phenomenon, I chose this way to express my opinion, also due to the attractive title. Here we go.

A man can refuse to marry a girl because she is not up to the standards of beauty in the time he is ugly.
A man can be accepted by his community if he loves another woman while he's married and just because he FEELS his wife does not take good care of him, if a woman did the same, no one will listen.

A man can stay unmarried, a woman can not.


It is usually acceptable that mother in law criticises her son's wife rather than her daughter's husband.

It is usually acceptable to announce that the wife is unable to conceive, and she is undergoing some kind of treatment, however, it's shameful to say that it's the man who is unable.

It is always the man who is tired and needs rest, as if household work and raising children is the easiest job in the world.

The wife should always stand her husband to keep the family intact, however, the husband shouldn't.

The wife should take care of the house and the children even if she is a working woman because this is her first and main task. However, the husband can escape doing any task even if he's not working because he's a man.

Egyptian Maidens' movie review, Benten men Masr'

Challenges, obstacles, depression, and pain, these are the most important life experiences for Egyptian unmarried women as shown in the recent movie, Egyptian Maidens, ‘Benten men Masr’.

In a community in which women often pay the price, many girls find themselves obliged to compromise to find an opportunity to marry.

Searching for this opportunity at work, among her colleagues, and in marriage specialized offices, Hanan (Zena) gives an example of the positive one who tries to create a chance instead of cursing her conditions. However, she couldn’t make it, why?

This what the movie is about, the way of thinking of men and the whole community in Egypt.

In a very touchy scene, Hanan is lying in a gynaecologist clinic opening and closing her legs, in a very painful moment in her life physically and emotionally. She was literally asked by her fiancée to undergo a virginity test! To make it even worse, her fiancée didn’t appreciate the painful moment he put her through, he simply told her that even after the test proved she’s virgin, yet he cannot trust women!

This scene among other scenes throughout the movie, highlights new values emerging in the Egyptian community that had never been there before, values that always find an excuse for men with no vice versa.

Men can marry girls who are much younger than they are, men can have extramarital affairs because they’ll get unnoticed, at last they won’t undergo a virginity test.

Using a powerful and sad music the movie is asking for these girls’ rights, the right to have someone to care, someone to love, someone to make them able to have children. It expresses all the frustration they experience longing for this man.

Although the movie sounds bitter and sad, it touched upon cases of maidens of the middle class in a very honest and realistic way.

Looking forward to a similar one talking about challenges facing married women.