CultureTalk Egypt Video Transcripts: http://langmedia.fivecolleges.

edu
Women in the Work Force

Egyptian Arabic transcript:

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.(**SE^ ‫?ا‬RS‫ ﺵ?ی_ ی‬YT*H`*< ‫ى‬/, ،/‫ﻡ‬%‫ ﺝ‬/T‫ ﺝ‬YT*H^ QRS*S, ،‫?ا‬H9:;*< ‫ن‬% ‫ وآ‬، YT!‫اآ‬G‫ وی‬،‫د‬b?!‫ وی<?ا ا‬،1*S!‫ ا‬89‫ﺵ‬
89:;‫ ﺕ‬8VS‫ت ﺕ‬%:+!‫ وا! @وض ا‬،1*S!‫ ا‬%T$%N‫ ﻡ‬1+!‫ وأن ا! @وض ا‬،#+‫ آ?ی‬d‫ ﻡ‬#‫ﺝ‬%‫?!?ا دي ﺡ‬R*< 0:C?!‫* د‬:‫ آ‬0@,
‫ت‬%:+!‫ إن ا‬WS+< ‫ى‬/, #!%V< 0, ‫ن‬%‫ إذا آ‬.#!%‫ ﻡ( ا!ﺝ‬89;!‫ن ا‬% ‫ی( آ‬/‫ وأﺥ‬،‫ت وزﺡ ?ا ا!;?ارع‬P‫ زﺡ ?ا ا! ?ﺹ‬YT$i
.89:;:< \*:‫آ‬

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W+N‫ر ﺕ‬/R‫ ﺕ‬%T‫ه‬P‫ﺥ‬...%‫ وإداه‬%‫?اه‬C‫ و‬%T:*E`‫ ﺵ‬/‫ أآ‬1+!‫ ا‬89‫? ﺵ‬$i .\‫ ا! ?ﺽ?ع دا‬k!%‫* ﺥ‬X ،#@H:`‫ ﻡ‬k!%‫ ﺥ‬#*$%‫ﺕ‬
8‫ رﺝ‬QH^ ‫ش‬/ :=:‫ وﻡ‬،_‫ی‬r ‫ة‬G‫ی‬%^ 0‫د ه‬/'‫ وﺕ‬#HR:+‫ ﻡ‬QRS‫ر ﺕ‬/R:< 0‫ ه‬0‫?س ه‬H, W+N:< % ! 0‫ن ه‬i 8‫ام ا!اﺝ‬/C %TC?R‫ﺡ‬
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YT‫ا\ ﻡ‬/, ،_<P9!‫ن ا‬%;^ ‫ا أو‬R@!‫ن ا‬%;^ #H9‫ ﺵ‬8 =:< #+*2N!‫ ا‬vS:< ‫?ع‬V::< 0!‫ أو إ‬،\/‫اء أو آ‬R@!‫س ا‬%2H! ‫ط‬%;$ 8 =‫ﺕ‬
\/‫ آ‬/=<‫ و‬YT*<:< 0!‫د إ‬b‫و‬z! %T‫ﺕ‬%*‫ ﺡ‬8‫ آ‬#7N‫ <[ ﻡ‬d‫ ﻡ‬%T$‫ وإ‬،# T‫ ﻡ‬0‫ <{ن ه‬،%T$%*N< 1+!‫[ ا‬+'*< 89;!‫? ا‬$i .‫ا‬/‫ﺝ‬
‫`ﺝ?ا‬:*< %‫ ﻡ‬%‫ده‬b‫ و‬/=< ‫ة‬/‫ی‬%, ‫ش‬%TH‫ ﻡ‬0‫ وﺕ'[ أن ه‬#$P^‫ب وز‬%|:‫ اآ‬#!%‫ ﺡ‬%‫ه‬/2^ _|< /=R‫ وﺕ‬،%‫?ه‬S*+‫<* ;?ا وی‬
.1*S!‫?ا ا‬S*+‫?ا وی‬H9:;*<‫و‬

English translation:

Woman (grey-yellow shirt): I work as a French professor. And I was in a French school
since nursery school. And … and furthermore, it is my opinion that there are many
women who work in Egypt now. Long ago, I mean, my mother’s generation, the ones
who worked were very few. They were exactly …. I mean, in the whole building, there
were three or four maximum who were working. But today, the majority of women work,
from all levels, whether poor or rich, and work has become something very important to
women today. But the problem that working women face is that they have to do
housework, raise the children and study with them, and they also work. This means they
are under a great strain, which makes them a little anxious.

So, today, they are a lot of people who say that “women working is not a good thing, that
the woman’s place is supposed to be at home, and that women should stop working
because they have overcrowded the means of transport, the streets, and they are also
taking jobs from men. If there is unemployment, it is because there are many women who
work.” Of course, this opinion is completely wrong, and if we examine the statistics, we
will find that unemployment is not due to women’s work, and that unemployment has
other completely different reasons, which have nothing to do with this situation.
A woman’s work has affirmed her personality and strengthened her, and it has enabled
her to gain her rights before men, because, when she gains money, she is able to be
independent and determine what she wants, and not depend on a man -- be it a husband,
brother, or father -- in order to live. So work is a part of the freedom of women, the
freedom of women in society. And I encourage all of my friends to work, even those
staying at home, who originally chose not to work, as they are rich and they don’t need
work or anything else. I tell them, “You have to work, even if you volunteer, volunteer in
any activity … [be] the one, for example, who volunteers for the mosque so she can be
active for poor people or such, or the one who volunteers for the church also to do work
for the poor and less privileged. So this is very important, because work makes the
woman feel her existence, that she is important, and that she has not just devoted all her
life to children that she raises … and then they leave, and leave her, and then she sits, in a
depression, and angry, feeling that she has no usefulness after her children graduate, and
work, and leave the house.

About CultureTalk: CultureTalk is produced by the Five College Center for the Study
of World Languages and housed on the LangMedia Website. The project provides
students of language and culture with samples of people talking about their lives in the
languages they use every day. The participants in CultureTalk interviews and discussions
are of many different ages and walks of life. They are free to express themselves as they
wish. The ideas and opinions presented here are those of the participants. Inclusion in
CultureTalk does not represent endorsement of these ideas or opinions by the Five
College Center for the Study of World Languages, Five Colleges, Incorporated, or any of
its member institutions: Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College,
Smith College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

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