The announcement of Mohamed Morsi as the new President of Egypt has finally severed the link with Mubarak who was ousted from power more than a year ago. However, the focus since Morsi’s election success has been on what he can’t do. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, who have been in control since Mubarak’s downfall, pushed through a decree that limits the President’s remit. This means that Morsi’s powers to act during his term as President will be curtailed compared to the Mubarak years.
It will be a long, rocky road to stabilise Egypt again and Morsi’s role as leader is full of event risk, but his election is remarkable for a couple of reasons. Not only is he the first member of the Muslim Brotherhood to hold the Presidency, but early reports suggest that Morsi is planning on electing five deputies that represent all sections of Egyptian community, including Christians and women.
There have been some horrifying stories of how women, particularly foreign women journalists, have been treated by some sections of Egyptian male society, thus the prospect of a female vice-president seems like a massive step forward for the country. It is also a bold step from Morsi. Obviously we need to get confirmation of who the woman will be, what her background is and what her remit of power is, but, if it is managed correctly, Morsi could radically change women’s’ rights in Egypt and the way females are treated by men, whether they are foreign or nationals.
It also reminded me of an article I read recently in the American magazine The Atlantic, written by Anne-Marie Slaughter. She is the former director of policy planning at the Sate Department in Washington (the first female to hold the position) who gave up her high-powered job after 2-years as she felt she couldn’t have a career in the top flight of US politics and be an adequate mother to two teenage sons. She still has a full-time career, but she is now an academic at Princeton. She believes that women can have it all (both a career and a family) but not at the same time and not in the way that America’s economy and society are currently structured.
She argues that in the US women have to adapt to a man’s way of working: including putting in long hours in the office keeping them away from their families. She argues that women need to think differently about their careers – rather than think of career development as a linear structure where you continually build upon your achievements each year, instead you should think of it as a long journey and push our your career goals forward to give you room to fit in a family life. This may include passing on promotions if it doesn’t fit with your family life and deciding that you may not peak in your career until your late 50’s rather than the your late 40’s, as by that time your children should be fully grown.
Slaughter finishes the article with an important message: it may take a woman to hold the top position in the White House before female working conditions are changed. That is good advice, after all someone in the top political spot who also had a family, could have more empathy with the plight of many career women in the US caught between progressing in their chosen field and having a family.
This is where Egypt may be able to make strides that the West can follow. The job of Egypt’s vice-presidents will be tough regardless of whether a man or a woman holds the job. They need to steer the country to a post-Mubarak, freer, fairer society. And rightly, Morsi has noticed the power and influence women have on this journey. Thus, his bold move to make his cabinet inclusive of women and the various religions that make up Egyptian society could have important consequences.
A female vice-President of Egypt has a lot on her plate to ensure the country moves in the right direction over the coming years, but one of the first duties should be to change the attitudes of some Egyptian men towards women so that a healthy respect for all citizens is adopted. By protecting and championing the position of women in Egypt she could help avoid the dangers later on that talented women feel disassociated from professional life.
While the focus is likely to remain on the battle between Morsi and the Security Council for a while yet, a female vice president could quietly take her place at the top flight of government and start enacting changes that help the position of women in Egypt for this generation and for women of the future.
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