Goodbye culture A man's shadow

 

 

Written by Dr. Seham Abdel Baqi Mohammad

Anthropological researcher                      

 Faculty of Higher African Studies - Cairo University

 

In light of the rise in the age of marriage for young men and girls and the increase in the degree of awareness of the Egyptian girl and her quest to achieve her dreams, and what she aspires to and increase her confidence and pride in her abilities and capabilities, many of the sayings have vanished. Many popular sayings that used to increase the subordination of Egyptian women to men and link their existence to his existence have vanished, including the saying that the famous Egyptian folk proverb formulated for us: “A man's shadow, not a wall's shadow" .This popular proverb has been for decades reflecting an important part of our beliefs, values and standards. Which raises the idea of a man’s presence in a woman’s life, even if it is a formal and superficial existence, and if he does not perform the roles entrusted to her in her life. The intended man in the context of the proverb is the husband. The idea of the husband and the formation of the family is the main concern of the girl so that she is not looked down upon.The Egyptian girl is no longer the traditional girl who is waiting for her graduation certificate until she gets a suitable or unsuitable husband to enter the golden cage or give up her studies in order to dedicate that idea and achieve this goal, which represented the last degrees of ambition and the utmost wishes of the Arab girl in general in a period of time Certain. As the unfavorable economic conditions in our societies have led many girls to go to the labor market to support themselves and their families. Many families have the breadwinner for the girl, despite the presence of the son sometimes, but he is busy building himself economically with the aim of marriage, and independence from the family.While the vast majority of girls remain more loyal and committed towards their families, and their roles towards their families remain extended before and after marriage due to their caring nature, delicate feelings and extreme loyalty. All these roles that the Arab girl has assumed made her more independent, more profound and mature, so she was no longer occupied by the culture of "“A man's shadow " or troubled, as it replaced it with the culture of "searching for oneself" and discovery, so she turned to work until she reached the highest levels of career, She was keen to acquire knowledge and reached the highest levels of education, and burdened herself with the practical experiences necessary for the labor market and proved her efficiency. The presence or absence of a husband no longer represents a major crisis for her, because she chose to be free from all thoughts that would weaken her and shake her confidence. The girl has become proud and proud that she is “single” living for herself, supporting her family, succeeding and advancing, and adopting the issues of her society. Perhaps the girl was not spared the remnants of a traditional culture and some poisonous words from near or far to shake her self-confidence, and break her joy with the gains that have been made for her thanks to the “value of celibacy.” And to let her know that everything she has achieved is of no value as long as she is not married. In fact, such people exist in all classes and cultures, and their first task is to break hearts and thoughts, with the cruelty, stubbornness and malice they bear.so Humanity is a man and a woman. If they decide to bond and conjugate, they resume the march together, and if they accept celibacy, then each one will play his role in life as an independent entity in his own right, with full respect, and privacy will not. However, popular culture does not care as much about the celibacy of a man as it does about the celibacy of a girl. In general, the single girl has become in our social and cultural reality a symbol of success and ambition and a symbol of elegance and beauty. Most of the beautiful women preferred celibacy to marriage without love, without desire, without equal, and their celibacy became a source of pride for them and the potential power that directs them towards every beautiful of art, science, literature and innovation and to bring down all The worn-out slogans, after the Egyptian and Arab girls chose to protect their knowledge and culture, serve their communities, and fight for their homelands.