Two decades ago, when media sources were extremely limited compared to the current satellite chaos, there were numerous radio and television programmes around which audiences would schedule their daily routines. ‘Farewell, my dear, farewell’ as you headed to work, ‘Just a Few Words’ to start your day, and ‘A Whisper of Reproach’ for emotional solidarity with the overburdened before their late breakfast. These programmes and signals were deeply etched into the memories of Egyptian radio listeners, as radio was almost the sole medium connecting them to the world—or what they were led to believe was the world. Women, however, had a greater share, with some programmes specifically tailored for them, attracting a vast audience of Egyptian women and perhaps a significant portion of Arab women as well. One such programme was aptly titled ‘To the Housewives’. Perhaps no one listens to it anymore—not out of boredom, God forbid, but maybe out of fear of the general decline in radio quality.
It seems this programme is making a comeback to the top of radio charts recently, and perhaps the media apparatus will need to revamp it to suit the new generation of housewives following waves of poorly planned privatisation, especially in the last decade of Egypt’s economic history. Today, in the new millennium, with women having every right to education and self-determination to decide their fate, it appears that Egypt’s economic geniuses have inadvertently or ignorantly overlooked their right to work and secure equal opportunities to support themselves and pursue their dreams. However, privatisation plans have had a profoundly negative impact on the proportion of working women across most economic sectors.
The public sector, despite its economic inefficiency, once provided an outlet for educated women and university graduates to find a place where they could prove their ability to achieve dreams and ambitions. Now, with the dominance of the private sector, driven purely by profit motives, the absence of social responsibility, and the marginalisation of the true role of labour unions, women have lost this deserved space for self-affirmation. It is natural for private companies to avoid a type of labour that might suddenly demand maternity leave or a few hours daily for breastfeeding or ‘changing nappies’. Studies have indeed shown that a large segment of educated women and university graduates have joined the ranks of the unemployed, resigning themselves to becoming ‘housewives’, amid a social shift in husbands’ desires for their life partners to be ‘skilled, educated housewives’. This represents a waste of years and resources spent to make women productive members of society.
However, some women still find opportunities in the private sector, especially those willing to make certain concessions or leverage their charm. Companies have created a noticeable market for glamorous marketing and sales roles. How many of us men have found ourselves in a state of delusional satisfaction while purchasing a ‘timeshare’ chalet in some obscure resort planned to open in a decade, after being ‘rocketed’ by a female sales representative working for a company bottling sunshine? For those who do not wish to be ‘rockets’, they must resign themselves to becoming skilled housewives. After all, who wouldn’t want to return home to a refined, highly cultured woman raising children, sweeping, mopping, and helping with homework—preferably having given birth to sons, as they are luckier in the free market’s future.
Yet, many of these wives, after staying home for a while, fall into a state of dullness and isolation from the outside world, with their primary source of knowledge becoming Ramadan soap operas. Therefore, we must all call for the return of the programme ‘To the Housewives’ in a new form, designed to meet the needs of this new generation of women who have joined the ‘highly educated domestic workforce’. But this time, we hope the responsible authorities will delay the programme’s airtime by a few hours so our housewives don’t miss their Turkish series in the evening, as they can no longer wake up early.
This article is originally published by AlBorsa in Arabic and later AI-translated by South Push.