The Egyptian People 79town or village, this man made her pregnant. The woman’s
reputation could then be ruined over nothing more than a
casual conversation. Although this extreme example is less
likely among the upper-class, more Westernised in Cairo,
most communities even in Cairo continue to be quite closed
and subject to this kind of concern.
Another example, which may seem quite innocent in the
eyes of foreigners, involves men and women being alone in
a room. A man should not be in a closed room alone with
a woman who is not his wife because this could give the
appearance of compromising the woman’s respectability.
If you (a male) drop by a friend’s house without an
appointment, you might find the woman of the house (if
her husband is out) either will not answer the door or will
yell through the door that no one is home. This is because
it would not give the proper appearance, would not seem
appropriate, for a woman to invite you into her house without
her husband or other relatives present.
Protecting Our Reputations
I learned this very quickly when inviting a male Egyptian friend to
join some of my colleagues in a discussion in my hotel room one
afternoon. He would not come into the room, but placed a chair just
outside the door in order not to give the wrong appearance and risk
compromising our reputations.Incidents of ‘honour killings’, the murder of women
for reasons of family honour, have been given a lot of
international press in the past few years. The prevalence
of ‘honour killings’ is quite low in Egypt. In the event they
occur, punishments tend to be less stringent than in the case
of murders for other reasons.
Education
Education is highly valued among upper- and middle-class
Egyptians as well as among the Nubians. Primary education,
though technically required for all children, is not enforced
uniformly throughout the country. Education is often still seen
as a luxury to poor Egyptians since children are often needed