Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Explaining Egalitarian Attitudes: The Role of Interests and Exposure

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Empowering Women after the Arab Spring

Part of the book series: Comparative Feminist Studies ((CFS))

Abstract

Public opinion is patriarchal in the MENA, leading to low women’s workforce participation and political and economic problems. Efforts to explain attitudes focus on Islam and modernization, but miss employment-based mechanisms. Interest- and exposure-based employment theories, drawn from US sociological studies, argue that employed women and their husbands develop feminist views through redefinition of interests and exposure to women’s capabilities. Using data from six Arab countries, I find support for employment-based theories. Husbands of employed wives exhibit greater egalitarianism than single men and husbands of nonworking wives. Female supporters of Shari’a are less accepting of inequality than religious men, suggesting gendered interpretations of Islam. The results complement research on women, Islam, and oil and underscore the importance of supporting women’s employment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alexander, Amy C., and Christian Welzel. 2011. Islam and Patriarchy: How Robust is Muslim Support for Patriarchal Values? International Review of Sociology 21(2): 249–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amawi, Alba. 2007. Against All Odds: Women Candidates in Jordan’s 1997 Elections. In From Patriarchy to Empowerment: Women’s Participation, Movements, and Rights in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia, ed. Valentine M. Moghadam, 40–47. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Angrist, Michele. 2012. War, Resisting the West, and Women’s Labor: Toward an Understanding of Arab Exceptionalism. Politics and Gender 8(1): 51–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banaszak, Lee Ann, and Eric Plutzer. 1993. Contextual Determinants of Feminist Attitudes: National and Subnational Influences in Western. American Political Science Review 87(1): 145–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, Hannah. 2013. Young and Jobless Forever: What Do the Numbers Tell Us? British Broadcasting Corporation. October 30. http://www.bbc.com/news/business-24708170. Accessed 3 Mar 2014.

  • Benstead, Lindsay J. 2011. Do Gender Quotas Affect Popular Support for Women as Good Political Leaders? A Cross-National Study of Gender Quotas and Political Attitudes in the Muslim World. Paper presented at Beyond the Numbers: The Effects of Electoral Gender Quotas, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, March 12–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— 2016. “Why Quotas Are Needed to Improve Women’s Access to Services in Clientelistic Regimes.” Governance 29(2): 185–205. doi:10.1111/gove.12162. First published online 2015. doi: 10.1080/21565503.2015.1084338.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benstead, Lindsay J., Amaney Jamal, and Ellen Lust. 2015. Is it Gender, Religion or Both? A Role Congruity Theory of Candidate Electability in Transitional Tunisia. Perspectives on Politics 13(2): 74–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blaydes, Lisa, and Drew A. Linzer. 2008. The Political Economy of Women’s Support for Fundamentalist Islam. World Politics 60(4): 576–609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolzendahl, Catherine I., and Daniel J. Myers. 2004. Feminist Attitudes and Support for Gender Equality: Opinion Change in Women and Men, 1974–1998. Social Forces 83(2): 759–789.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boulding, Kenneth Ewart. 1973. Three Faces of Power. Kenneth E. (Kenneth Ewart) Boulding. Newbury Park, Calif. : Sage Publications ©1989.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cammett, Melani. 2011. The Political Economy of Development in the Middle East. In The Middle East, 12th edn, ed. Ellen Lust, 99–142. Washington, DC: CQ Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caris, Tobias, and Bernd Hayo. 2012. Female Labour Force Participation in Arab Countries: The Role of Identity. Joint Discussion Paper Series in Economics 41-2012. Department of Business Administration & Economics, Universität Marburg. http://hdl.handle.net/10419/73046. Accessed 3 Mar 2014.

  • Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, Library. 2014. The World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/. Accessed 11 Mar 2014.

  • Charrad, Mounira. 2001. States and Women’s Rights: The Making of Postcolonial Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Covarrubias, Arlette. 2013. Social Norms and Women’s Participation in Salaried Employment: The Case of the Tehuacán Region of Mexico. Bulletin of Latin American Research 32(1): 17–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, Mick. 2008, September. Changing Attitudes Toward the Male Breadwinner, Female Homemaker Model. Social Forces 87: 299–323.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, Nancy J., and Robert V. Robinson. 1991. Men’s and Women’s Consciousness of Gender Inequality: Austria, West Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. American Sociological Review 56(1): 72–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diehl, Claudia, Mattias Koening, and Kerstin Ruckdeschel. 2009. Religiosity and Gender Equality: Comparing Natives and Muslim Migrants in Germany. Ethnic and Racial Studies 32(2): 278–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eagly, Alice H., and Steven J. Karau. 2002. Role Congruity Theory of Prejudice Toward Female Leaders. Psychological Review 109(3): 573–598.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eagly, Alice H., and Antonio Mladinic. 1989. Gender Stereotypes and Attitudes Toward Women and Men. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 15(4): 543–558.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fish, M. Steven. 2002. Islam and Authoritarianism. World Politics 55(1): 4–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, Michel. 1980. Power/Knowledge. New York: Pantheon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freedom House. 2012. Freedom in the World 2012. http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FIW%202012%20Booklet_0.pdf. Accessed 30 Oct 2013.

  • Fulton, Sarah A. 2012. Running Backwards and in High Heels: The Gendered Quality Gap and Incumbent Electoral Success. Political Research Quarterly 65(2): 303–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huntington, Samuel P. 1971. Political Order in Changing Societies. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inglehart, Ronald, and Pippa Norris. 2003a. The True Clash of Civilizations. Foreign Policy 135: 62–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2003b. Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change Around the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jamal, Amaney A., and Mark Tessler. 2016. Arab Barometer. http://www.arabbarometer.org/. Accessed 10 September 2016.

  • Jamal, Amaney A. 2006. Reassessing Support for Islam and Democracy in the Arab World? Evidence from Egypt and Jordan. World Affairs 169(2): 51–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kandiyoti, Deniz. 1988. Bargaining with Patriarchy. Gender and Society 2(3): 274–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kane, Emily W., and Laura Sanchez. 1994. Family Status and Criticism of Gender Inequality at Home and at Work. Social Forces 72(4): 1079–1102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, Daniel. 1958. Passing of Traditional Society: Modernizing the Middle East. London: The Free Press of Glencoe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipset, Seymour Martin. 1959. Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy. The American Political Science Review 53(1): 69–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moghadam, Valentine M. 2003. Modernizing Women Gender and Social Change in the Middle East, 2nd edn. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— 2007. From Patriarchy to Empowerment: Women’s Participation, Movements, and Rights in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norrander, Barbara, and Clyde Wilcox. 2009. The Gender Gap in Ideology. Political Behavior 30(4): 503–523.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norris, Pippa. 2009. Why Do Arab States Lag the World in Gender Equality? Manuscript. Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/pnorris/Acrobat/Why_do_Arab_States_Lag3.pdf . Accessed 11 Mar 2014.

  • Norris, Pippa, and Ronald Inglehart. 2001. Cultural Obstacles to Equal Representation. Journal of Democracy 12(3): 126–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA). 2016. Palestine Facts. http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/facts_and_figures/0_facts_and_figures.htm. Accessed 10 September 2016.

  • Paxton, Pamela, and Melanie M. Hughes. 2007. Women, Politics, and Power: A Global Perspective. Los Angeles: Pine Forge Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell, Brian, and Lala Carr Steelman. 1982. Testing an Understated Comparison: Maternal Effects on Sons’ and Daughters’ Attitudes Toward Women in the Labor Force. Journal of Marriage and Family 44(2): 349–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodebeck, Laurie A. 1996. The Structure of Men’s and Women’s Feminist Orientations: Feminist Identity and Feminist Opinion. Gender & Society 10(4): 386–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rizzo, Helen, Abdel-Hamid Abdel-Latif, and Katherine Meyer. 2007. The Relationship Between Gender Equality and Democracy: A Comparison of Arab Versus Non-Arab Muslim Societies. Sociology 41(6): 1151–1170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, Michael. 2008. Oil, Islam and Women. American Political Science Review 102(1): 107–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudman, Laurie A., and Peter Glick. 2008. The Social Psychology of Gender: How Power and Intimacy Shape Gender Relations. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sadiqi, Fatima. 2008. The Central Role of the Family Law in the Moroccan Feminist Movement. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 35(3): 325–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tessler, Mark, and Eleanor Gao. 2008. Democracy and the Political Culture Orientations of Ordinary Citizens: A Typology for the Arab World and Beyond. International Social Science Journal 59(192): 197–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNICEF. 2009. At a Glance: State of Palestine. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/oPt_statistics.html. Accessed 30 Oct 2013.

  • UNDP. 2016. Gender Inequality Index. http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-inequality-index-gii. Accessed 27 Feb 2014.

  • United Nations Statistics Division. 2008. UN Data. http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?q=palestinian+territories+population&d=GenderStat&f=inID%3a5%3bcrID%3a127. Accessed 30 Oct 2013.

  • USAID. 2014. Middle East. http://www.usaid.gov/where-we-work/middle-east. Accessed 11 Mar 2014.

  • U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 2002. Jordan. http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/nea/8266.htm. Accessed 11 Mar 2014.

  • ———. 2013. Lebanon. http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2012/nea/208400.htm. Accessed 11 Mar 2014.

  • Wadud, Amina. 1999. Qur’an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman’s Perspective. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waltz, Susan, and Lindsay Benstead. 2006. When the Time Is Ripe: The Struggle to Create an Institutional Culture of Human Rights in Morocco. In Human Rights in the Arab World: Independent Voices, eds. Anthony Chase and Amr Hamzawy, 174–195. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. 2016. World Development Indicators. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator. Accessed 10 September 2016.

  • ———. 2013. Opening Doors: Gender Equality and Development in the Middle East and North Africa. http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2013/02/07/000356161_20130207123902/Rendered/PDF/751810PUB0EPI002060130Opening0doors.pdf. Accessed 22 Apr 2014.

  • ———. 2014. Labor Participation Rate, Female, 2009-2013. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS. Accessed 27 Feb 2014.

  • Yousef, Tarik M. 2004. Employment, Development and the Social Contract in the Middle East and North Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTLM/Resources/390041-1103750362599/MENA_paper.pdf. Accessed 27 Feb 2014.

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Marwa Shalaby, an anonymous reviewer, and attendees at the “First International Conference on Gender and Human Rights in the Middle East,” Women’s Rights in the Middle East Program, James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, April 24, 2014, for helpful comments. Thanks to Allison Bainter, Kaylee Brink, Emily Kuenzi, Brandon Narramore, and Anna Murphy for research assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA

    Lindsay J. Benstead

  2. Paris School of International Affairs, Sciences Po, Paris, France

    Lindsay J. Benstead

Authors
  1. Lindsay J. Benstead
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA

    Marwa Shalaby

  2. Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Valentine M. Moghadam

Appendix

Appendix

Table A.6.1 Question wording for independent variables
Full size table

Copyright information

© 2016 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Benstead, L.J. (2016). Explaining Egalitarian Attitudes: The Role of Interests and Exposure. In: Shalaby, M., Moghadam, V. (eds) Empowering Women after the Arab Spring. Comparative Feminist Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55747-6_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation