ABSTRACT
Marriage continues to be the most important social institution in Egypt, and the centre of social life. Marriage is also the single most important event in a person’s life as it marks the essential transition into adulthood and the sanctioned means of reproducing the family (Moghadam, 2004). With a strong emphasis on kinship and family, marriage rates remain high in Egypt, particularly among girls in their twenties. This chapter reveals that young women are under great pressure to marry in their twenties, due to the preconceived notion that a woman’s marriage prospects and subsequent ability to reproduce a family greatly diminish after the age of 30. This chapter illustrates that traditional modes of spouse selection are still being utilised in Egypt; however, these are complicated by more complex relationship patterns and expectations. In addition, the intersectionality between gender and class is accentuated in this process, as women’s own social and economic standing dictates their selection criteria in searching for a potential groom, also measured against their own age and reproductive time pressures. The findings indicate strong disjunctions between traditional norms of the marriage process and newer forms of union whereby the couples themselves have a larger say, and which call for more flexible marriage arrangements.
