Gender-role attitudes among Egyptian adolescents
Author: Mensch BS, Ibrahim BL, Lee SM, el Gibaly O
Source:
Studies in family planning, 34(1), 8-18.
Using nationally representative survey data, this study explores gender-role
attitudes among unmarried adolescents aged 16-19 in Egypt, a society
characterized by distinct and often segregated roles for men and women.
Adolescents' views about desirable qualities in a spouse as well as more direct
indicators of gender-role attitudes are examined, including opinions about
whether wives should defer to their husbands, share in household decision making,
and have the responsibility for performing domestic tasks. The findings regarding
spousal characteristics reflect strong gender differentiation. Girls and boys
provide divergent profiles of an ideal spouse, profiles that reflect traditional
gender roles. Girls are significantly less likely than boys to favor educational
inequality between spouses, however. Neither boys nor girls have egalitarian
gender-role attitudes, although girls are significantly more likely to express
less traditional attitudes. Multivariate analyses indicate that girls' and boys'
attitudes do not vary consistently and significantly by socioeconomic background;
in particular, increased schooling does not always promote egalitarian attitudes.
The implications of these findings are discussed.