Progress Amid Resistance

114 WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICAand inefficient, childless women and those who lose custody often becomehomeless if their families are unable to care for them. 73Many women have assumed leadership positions on a local level inre cent years, thus increasing their ability to influence gender-based stereotypes,ideas, and values in their communities. In 2008, just two monthsbefore Egypt’s first female mayor—Eva Kyrolos—was appointed (see“Political Rights and Civic Voice”), Amal Afifi became the country’s firstmaazouna, or female marriage registrar, overcoming fierce challengesfrom conservative Islamic jurists. 74 Afifi, who holds degrees in law, criminaljustice, and Shari‘a, was ultimately deemed the most qualified candidateto take up the post of marriage registrar in her town, beating out10 male applicants. 75 Her appointment created a regional domino effect,and another maazouna was appointed shortly thereafter in Dubai, UnitedArab Emirates. The cases of Afifi and Kyrolos are important in that theyrose from within their communities, have continued to live there, and thushave the potential to transform local notions of women’s participation, en -gagement, and leadership by virtue of their daily lives.Women have gained greater visibility in the media, suggesting that theirinfluence over how women are portrayed has increased. Female broadcastersand journalists have taken advantage of the new Arabic-languagesatellite television stations, where there are far more employment opportunitiesthan at the state-controlled, overstaffed national television station.Nevertheless, soap operas, other television series, and films generally continueto portray women in a manner that conforms to gender stereotypes,with stock characters such as the submissive housewife, the sexually alluringunmarried woman, and the overbearing matriarch. The images conveyedoften reinforce the overarching stereotype of women as emotionalbeings who lack rationality, and highlight the conservative social climate’screation of two stark options for women: meek, domestic, and maternal,or beautiful, rich, and licentious. Positive images of women in leadershippositions remain the exception rather than the norm.Social class and economic background tend to be the main factors indetermining the manner in which poverty affects women. Middle- andupper-class women who are widows or have been abandoned or divorcedby their husbands generally have a far better quality of life than marriedwomen from poorer households. Their level of education, family support,and social networks allow them to sustain the quality of life they enjoyedprior to the loss of the husband. Moreover, not all poor female-headed