Although from a Western perspective Bedouin women may seem oppressed, Awlad ‘Ali Bedouin women of the Egyptian Western Desert have lives that are fulfilling in many respects.
Bedouin
women live in communities generally separate from men. The communities
are not autonomous economically, nor are they self-contained. The communities
have no formal political presence or representation, nor do they have informal
ways of acting as interest groups.
Kinship
forms the primary ties in the Bedouin communities. Women are economically
dependent on their kin or husband. Marriages are arranged by senior kinsmen.
The
separate women’s communities are the primary arena of women’s social life.
Sexuality
is de-emphasized as an orientation of social life, but this allows the
development of the cultural ideals of pride and independence. Modesty is
cultivated as a virtue and, in encounters with (male) status superiors,
is the path to honor for the socially weak.
Neither
sexuality nor hierarchy is relevant among the women in their own communities.
The qualities that are rewarded among the women are energy, industry, enterprise,
and emotional and physical toughness. Wisdom, intelligence, and verbal
skill—in storytelling and singing—are much admired. Slenderness, weakness,
and sickliness are abhorred.
The
opportunity to develop one’s personality within women’s communities helps
to soften the impact of the economic and political dependence of the communities
themselves. “Women enthusiastically support the segregation that allows
them to carve out significant fields for autonomous action in their relatively
unsupervised and egalitarian world.”