Arab masculinity confining women to traditional roles

Al Hayat today highlighted a study published a few days ago in Egypt entitled, ‘the notion of masculinity’. The study was conducted by UN Women in collaboration with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) in four Arab states, namely, Egypt, Palestine, Morocco and Lebanon. Al Hayat said the study has shown ambiguous results on the notion of masculinity, pointing out that the majority of men in the region uphold a wide array of traditional attitudes that perpetuate inequality and violence against women and confine women  to traditional roles. The study also revealed that  men act within these frameworks causing harm to women, children and to themselves. Around two-thirds of men in Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Palestine support the idea  that women’s basic role is to care for their household and the daily life of their families, according to the study, which added that about half of women support the same idea. Furthermore, the majority of men believe their role is to monitor and control the movements of women and girls in their family. However, and despite the fact that some women are dissatisfied with male guardianship role, yet some consider it a moral satisfaction, while the remaining accept the idea. The study has also shown that the conventional masculine role of men in providing for the household is being exposed to major shocks. This could be the result of the tremendous economic turbulences in the wake of so-called Arab Spring which erupted in 2011, which led to an increased pressure on women, but this time out of physical need. (Full the full study, kindly refer to:  https://imagesmena.org/en/). (Al Hayat, December 14, 2017)
 
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