Women in Egypt often juggle careers, marriage, and motherhood while shouldering a significant amount of invisible labor. This term, coined by American sociologist Arlene Kaplan Daniels in 1987, refers to essential household and family tasks that frequently go unnoticed and unappreciated. “The mental load is hard. I have to prepare breakfast, feed the kids, wash clothes and dishes, prepare lunch, wash dishes again, and put them back where I found them, do laundry, clean up the mess the kids made eating and playing,” Dina Abdelmonem, a 39-year-old pharmacist, full-time wife and mother of two, told Egyptian Streets. “All this while trying to prevent my kids and myself from having a meltdown.” Invisible labor encompasses managing the house and taking care of children, organizing family schedules, and the emotional labor of managing relationships and providing support. It also includes the mental load of ensuring that the fridge is stocked, everyone is fed and safe, and the household is running smoothly. “I feel like I’m constantly calculating many steps, while my husband just goes with the flow,” Abdelmonem said. “There’s no clear division of labor,” she added. Hend Ahmed, a 37-year-old engineer,…
