26 August 2022
The pioneers of the social networking site in Egypt launched a sharp attack on Dr. Sherine Ghaleb, the captain of Cairo doctors and professor of forensic medicine and toxicology at the Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, after the spread of a video clip of a lengthy speech she gave during the graduation ceremony of the students of Al-Azhar Faculty of Medicine at Assiut University.
The clip, which included advice from the captain to graduate female doctors, caused an uproar and widespread division, as many considered that it “restricts women in a usual stereotype that is limited to family and home care,” while another group supported it, believing that “family care takes priority over women’s work.” .
The statement of the Cairo Doctors Syndicate
The controversy began when the users shared a video of Sherine Ghaleb’s statements, in which she said: “Just a word for the beauty doctors who are graduating today. You are your home, then your home, your children and then your profession. I don’t know anyone who tells you about your profession before your birth. A million doctors outside will be treated, but if you curse your children, they will be left alone, but one mother is you.”
The National Council for Women responds
photo released, facebook
Through the official account of the National Council for Women on Facebook, its president, Maya Morsi, commented on Sherine Ghaleb’s speech, saying: “I was hoping that the Cairo Doctors Syndicate would stand and say to the graduating girls: I faced many difficulties in order to succeed and achieve what you see today, and I will work and strive to provide you with services and care. I have family in all workplaces, in order for you to succeed in all places and in all disciplines. The difficulties and challenges I faced in balancing my work and my family, I will work to overcome.”
And the head of the National Council for Women continued: “It is important and most important that you help build a homeland that needs every minute of work, knowledge and diligence.” The doctor will neglect her family.”
Maya Morsi saluted, “For every female doctor in Egypt who provided service to a patient and saved a person’s life in the most difficult specialties, and every family doctor knows with certainty that the great mother offers every minute of her life outside the home in treating and saving a human being.”
angry tweeters
Tweeters launched a stinging attack on the Doctors Syndicate, and some of them asked: “Why do women always demand that they quit their job? Why are men doctors not being asked?”
While others were surprised that Ghaleb “did not leave her job in accordance with her statements.”
While a third party saw that “Ghalib’s words are not wrong, but the error is in the timing of her statements.”
Tweeters from outside Egypt also interacted with the statements of the Cairo Doctors Syndicate, and stressed that “the job is very important for every woman.”
Sherine Ghalib commented
In her first reaction to the attack, Ghaleb revealed to a local Egyptian newspaper that “her statements came within her speech during a graduation party a year ago, and that the video clip is the last part of a 20-minute long speech.”
She continued, “During which I was advising female doctors about what they should have regarding their work and their professional future. My word is absolutely clear and I repeat it a second and third time. I said: My children are the most important need, but work is important for women, as evidenced by the fact that I obtained a master’s and a doctorate in forensic medicine and poisons, and I The only woman in the Arab world to be awarded a fellowship by the English College of Forensic Medicine, and the first female captain of female doctors in Cairo. Yesterday, I was offered the position of unit director at Kasr Al-Ainy College.
Ghaleb added: “I travel outside Egypt constantly and give lectures in the countries of the world, and I have been honored all over the world. The President of the Republic of Taiwan honored me and I received other honors from Germany, India, Indonesia and the Netherlands. Thank God, I am successful and certainly I do not tell girls the time of the home, the profession, then the profession, then profession, but first I take care of my children.”
She also explained: “I changed my specialty from internal medicine and gastroenterology, although I was achieving success in it and I love it, because staying outside the house all night does not suit me and this is my life. Like your mother or a helper at home, choose a surgical specialty… All the graduates demanded is to find a balance between work and home.”
Captain’s defense
On the other hand, a large number of bloggers expressed solidarity with the Cairo Doctors Syndicate, stressing that “her opinion is balanced, impartial and in the interest of the women and their families.”
For his part, Islamic preacher Abdullah Rushdi supported Ghaleb’s statements via his Twitter account, and confirmed his solidarity with her.
A tweeter also pointed out that “Elon Musk wrote a tweet a week ago with the same meaning, but he was not subjected to the same attack.”
While tweets defended Ghaleb and said that “all she asked was to prioritize her according to her circumstances.”
A team also pointed out that “some areas of work may not be suitable for women and they may face problems because of it.”
Family consultant: ‘We need a balance of thinking’
The BBC spoke with a psychological and family consultant, Dr. Ikram Khalil to know her opinion on the uproar caused by Ghaleb’s statements. At the beginning of her speech, Khalil pointed out that “there is an imbalance in thinking in eastern societies. We have two opposite directions. Either women care about their work or their families. There is no middle area between the two sides,” and called for “a balance between the two sides: work and family.”
She added: “Women need men to respect their needs and work, and to have an independent entity, and in return, women respect men, and make the home a priority for them, even if they are successful, so that their children can be proud of them. Each woman has her own circumstances that differ from others, and therefore these statements cannot be generalized. But there are rules that can never be broken.
–And what are these rules?
“A woman has the right to go out and work and have an independent entity. We also ask men to change a little about women’s work, as they need his support, care and embrace for her, because this will reflect on her, her family and her children. On the other hand, all women must respect their husbands and their status their top priority.”
“There are women who cannot find this balance. Why not prioritize work and home? At the same time, society must help them to achieve this balance, because they will not be able to achieve it on their own.”
– So, what is your interpretation of the campaign to attack the Cairo Doctors Syndicate and the widespread controversy surrounding its statements?
“We have two schools in Egypt, the first is very supportive of women and takes into account that this woman has not had a voice for many years, and she is now freed from restrictions, and therefore she must be supported in any way.”
“The other supports the survival of women within the traditional framework in which they have always been placed, and is even keen to emphasize this on all occasions and circumstances, and thus the multiplicity of these voices in media platforms and through communication sites causes this permanent controversy in everything related to women.”
– What is the solution then?
“Awareness starts with the women themselves. They must know their rights and duties, so that they can balance them. At the same time, women do not abuse the rights that guarantee them to work and go out freely.”
“We know very well the extent of the social and psychological problems that the new generation suffers from due to the absence of the family and the mother in particular, and therefore the Captain of Cairo Doctors would like to draw attention to this point, nothing more, because of the dangers surrounding the children now.”
“And whoever said these statements is a chief medical officer, a working woman and a responsible woman, and therefore the attempt to warn is commendable in my opinion. There is no compensation for the role of the mother under all circumstances. She can take care of them. The nanny will not replace the mother. But on the other hand, men should not ask women to sacrifice in all situations and circumstances just because they are women. The responsibilities should be shared between them.”