U ~ ) '-------------Women ' s Social Role-How It Relates to Her Self-Concept

Summary of an M.A. thesis presented by Kareema Ed Dassouky, Egypt, published by Majallatul-Ulum-il-Ijtima'iyya, (Journal of the Social Sciences), Kuwait University, no. 4, year 10, December 1982, pp. 311-317.

The experimental group of the study consisted of 50 married women, aged 23 -45; each had one child or more, and each was a university graduate, working outside the home.To this sample was added a control group of 50 women who did not work outside the home but who were of the same age and had the same status and education as the working women.
The study consisted of eight chapters, of which the first five presented the objectives cif the study, its importance, the various theories rega rding a woman's role, her social condition and th e different concepts of the ego.
In chapter 7, she discussed the methodology of her work and reported on a preliminary enq uiry, in which she had interviewed ten housewives who fulfilled the conditions of the sample.Th is enquiry revealed two kinds of self-concept amon g interviewees: the traditional which limits a wo man's rol e equal shares in responsibility without differentiation between male and female.
The marital role as defined by the study included the following activities which mayor may not be shared by the couple: authority, housework, child care, personal interests, social activity, upbringing, work and maintenance.
Tests were used to identify the sub-conscious nature of the self-concept, its perception and the role conflict as projected by the subject on the test cards.
Results of the Questionnaire, chapter 8:

Concept of the Marital Role
The resu It showed a difference between working and non-working women's concept of the marital role .The working group believed that the couple should take equal responsibility in maintaining the family .

Self-Concept
The results did not give any indices of differentiation between the two groups regarding self-acceptance.The results did show that nonworking women have a significantly higher level of social acceptance; it can be concluded that society still regards woman primarily as a wife, mother and housekeeper and secondly as a worker.

General Comprehension of the Role
a.The group of working housewives, even those who had the highest level of self-acceptance , revealed a traditional concept of their role .They were dependent, masochistic and suffered from an excess of worries and responsibilities, while their idea of the role itself seemed hazy, diffuse and contradictory.
b.The group of non-working housewives who had the highest level of self-acceptance equally showed a traditonal concept of their role: an ambivalent self-image.A deeper analysis proved that this groups possessed q negative, masochistic, dependent ego.The role conflict among them revealed a desire to change their traditional role into an equalitarian one, though they lacked the positive means of change, such as education and capacity for work.c.The third group was made up of those members having the lowest proportion of self-8 acceptance and included both working and nonworking women.Three different responses to the question of role concept appeared: traditional, equalitarian and an amalgamation of both.The majority of the members of this group however, had a traditional concept of self.
Just like the role concept, the self-concept of this group took a variety of forms: the positive self, the traditional negative self and the dual or ambivalent, dependent self, all appeared in the resu Its.

Conclusion
The variety and ambivalence revealed in women's self-concept and social role in Egypt , reflect the contradictiol)s of social attitudes regarding woman's role.Woman's self-concept tends to be negative and dependent; in some cases it shows a dual nature, i.e. positive -negative.This result carries a close relation between self-concept and role concept.The role conflict appeared in various ways; the general causes of conflict, including the multiplicity of tasks, the rejection of the present status and the desire for change.
Finally, woman's role and its relation to her self-concept are defined through their economic, social and cultural factors.To impose on a woman the roles of childbearing and pleasure-giving tool, as complements to her femininity, constitutes an encroachment on her right to freedom.
On the other hand, a woman who lives from her own work and enjoys personal freedom, while rejecting her female role, may have to face social criticism.She is torn between two options: remaining an enslaved female or changing into a free male.Here the following questions may be raised: are all males free?Doesn't the struggle for freedom include both males and females, though it may be heavier and more demanding on the latter?

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to that of wife, mother and housekeeper; th e equalitarian which gives both husband and wife (Continued Oil page 8;(~ __ S_TU_D_Y ________________________________ ) (Continued from page 7)