gisw13_chapters

so pervasive that it crippled the youth from beingtrue revolutionaries, beyond using their bodies andvoices for opposing a regime online and in the streetswithout having a concrete alternative. When the goalwas achieved, they looked for elders to lead the way.Women activists showed the same deficiencies.Another difference between the revolution of1919 and the 2011 revolution was that in the former,women had definite propositions on how theywould support Egypt’s national quest besides endingthe British occupation. Aside from repudiatingface veiling, they advocated public education forgirls and women, raising the slogan that only educatedwomen can raise the generations needed tomake Egypt a modern state. They further pushed forwomen’s participation in the workplace. Although itwas seen as too early to ask for political participation,this seemed more of a tactical delay, as activeinstitutional political participation by Egyptianwomen was in the plans for the future, with educationas its road paver.In comparison, one does not find many progressivewomen activists proposing solid solutions forEgypt’s current problems where women play a leadingand unique function. On the contrary, womenwho support the Islamists do have concrete plans.They are calling for women to retreat into the home,to leave the public arena, to live a more secludedlife, to restore traditional moral values, to decreasethe need for personal consumption and, by leavingwork, to create employment for the thousandsof young males. This is seen as a fundamental firststep to reduce social strife and build a better-functioningsociety and nation.It is interesting to note that these demands aremore articulated through the traditional means of faceto-facemeetings, flyers, through providing serviceswhile sending out political messages, and so forth,rather than social media or the internet. This raisesthe question of how effective online female activism iswithout a formula to solve Egypt’s current problems –and without using “the street” to promote these ideasand to build mass support in concrete numbers.ConclusionsWomen activists were more focused on securingand expanding women’s rights in a post-Mubarakera, rather than showing how women are going tobuild a new Egypt. This backfired immediately: it leftthe rudder in the hands of groups that had a plan.More importantly, these groups had been workingfor years among the masses providing healthcare, emotional and financial support, and cateringto the psychological needs of many Egyptians. Italso shows that online activism is just one aspectof activism. The traditional “street-based” activismis still needed to sustain the momentum of arevolution.It is remarkable that a group of military officersin their early to mid-30s were able, by themselves,to establish a republic in 1952, with deep politicaland social changes, yet the regimes that were set inplace produced youth, female and male, unable todo the same 60 years later.Action stepsThe recent Egyptian experience shows that:• Online women’s activism was effective in raisingissues, mobilising vast public rallies and publicisingtransgressions against women.• Women need to have a detailed plan for buildinga new regime and correcting socioeconomicinequities. Demanding rights first is an ineffectivetactic. What is your role in the new regime,in the new country, in the new society? Whatneeds to be done and how are women going tocontribute?• ICTs are an effective tool for publicising theseplans, but women cannot rely on them in theabsence of traditional methods of political campaigningand support-base building. The latterare indispensable.• The Egyptian feminist movement began with education– education that women demanded tobe expanded publicly, beyond home education,to include higher education and to be made universal.At present it seems that a detailed proposalfor quality education is essential. Educationmade by Egyptians for Egyptians. Womenare the main educators of societies – they needto set educational policies and ensure theirproper implementation.• As part of the educational policy, ICTs shouldbe used by Egyptian women to provide toolsfor independent thinking, research and accessto knowledge that enriches the education providedthrough brick-and-mortar institutions andmeans.• Abstain from rallying if you do not know whatyou are going to do if you get what you want! ■124 / Global Information Society Watch