New Age, New Time, Same Mentality

As time goes by things progress. It is inevitable that things will change, people will grow and develop and along with this growth there will be changes in the way of thinking and people’s state of mind. But as I think about it more, it seems like even though some things are progressing in Egypt, the role of women seems to be standing still. There is no doubt that women have begun to join the workforce, but the cultural and stereotypical role of women being in charge of the household and taking care of the kids still persists.

In my eyes it is unfair that men get treated by a certain standard, and women are held to a completely different standard. Something may be okay for a man to do, but if a woman did it she would risk shaming her family or she will pretty much be committing social suicide. But nothing infuriates me more than when people see it as something bad or shameful if a woman does not marry young.

Are women not just as capable as men at holding down a job and being successful? Shouldn’t she be able to choose what she wants with her life, and whether or not marriage is right for? I am not generalizing about everyone when I make this statement. I admit that there are people who have grown out of this phase and do not see it as a problem for a woman to marry late. But for some women the social pressure is too much, and they get married just to please everyone.

I know a girl who is in charge of spending for her entire household because they are so poor. She goes and works as a maid and brings home money to support her family. Despite her efforts and despite the fact that she is the only one working in the family, the men in the household and her mother think that there is something wrong with her for not being married. This poor girl is put in a position that whoever comes to propose to her she will accept no matter who he is.

There are lots of changes to be made in our society. Recognizing that women are just as important and independent as men is one of the major things that need to be changed in the mentality of the Egyptians.

Listening Journal 1: Too Poor to Marry

The feature I listened to on World Vision Report was entitled “Too Poor to Marry” and it was by Daniel Estrin. This feature was talking about how people in Egypt were finding themselves too poor to get married, and how this causes not only frustration in their lives but also it makes them lost motivation and let go of their goals. This piece was very interesting through its presentation, its content, and the reporter’s voice and choice of language.

The feature was close to 5 minutes which could have made it boring but in fact all of the elements in it combined to make it very interesting. The topic itself would not have been as appealing had the reporter simply just spoke about it. But through all the elements used the story came to life for the listener.

This story was very interesting to listen to for many reasons. The first is the use of nat sound. While the reporter is talking we can hear a lot of the background noise to show us the reporter was on location. Both the sound of his voice and the background noise was just right, neither of which was overbearing the other. In fact, the nat sound added a lot to the story because you could hear the sounds of the café where the men sit and it made the story come to life more in the mind of the reader. Also, there was a nice use of the people’s voices because the listener could actually hear the frustration in their tone when they were talking which added a lot to the piece. I think however, he should have let some of the people who were talking in English speak more, because then we could have heard their own story in their voice which would have made a bigger impact on the listener.

The quality of the sound was very clear and pure, as was the voice of the reporter. There was no shaking or sound interference even though he was clearly in the field. He had a tone which matched the story because it was neither too enthusiastic nor too quiet and boring. It was mellow and relaxed which given this story and the content of it, it seemed to be the best tone to talk with. He put emphasis on the important parts of the story and sometimes he just let the nat sound or the background noise really come through even when he was talking and through this he created the atmosphere and set the tone of the story for the listener.

This article can be found at: http://www.worldvisionreport.org/Find-Stories/Week-of-February-13-2010/Too-Poor-to-Marry