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“I Can’t Handle a Female Boss!” The Internalized Misogyny of Egyptian Office Life

October 23, 2021
Office life. Photo by Phil Whitehouse.

Fresh out of my bachelor’s degree, I found myself at the Cairo branch of a multinational company, interviewing for what would soon become my very first real job. The conversation between the interviewer and myself went more than smoothly. She was friendly and engaging, and clearly an expert on the position I was being considered for. I, on the other hand, felt the brand new and unfamiliar confidence that I was a perfect fit for the job. It seemed too good of an interview to be true. That is, at least, until she asked the question. “Do you have children?” Taken aback, I replied that I did not. “Are you married?” I was not, I told her, unsure how that was relevant. “Are you engaged or planning on getting married soon?” Though I once again responded in the negative, my unease must have been apparent because the woman smiled reassuringly, telling me that she herself had two children, and that she had been working at the company longer than she had been a mother. Only a little comforted, I walked out of the interview certain in my knowledge that this…


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