Angela Wu
English 1100C
Professor Marotta
Gender Inequalities in Another Evening at the Club by Alifa Rifaat Alifa Rifaat was an Egyptian write who published her short story Another Evening at the Club in 1983. The story focuses heavily on the inequalities in the roles a man and a woman play in a marriage. At the time in the story, arranged marriages were prominent and this is how the husband (Abboud Bey) and the wife (Samia Barakat) came into marriage. As the main problem of the story progresses, the uneven standings of men and women can be seen. Women are shown to be merely property and it is the men who own the women and they dictate them on what to do. From the very beginning of the story, we see how the females in Egypt are controlled. When Abboud Bey first comes to the house, he is served coffee from the family’s finest cups that they use only for important guests. This shows how the family sees Abboud Bey as an important guest. When Samia serves the coffee, Bey surveys her up and down. This is his way of sizing her up and determining her value as a simple piece of property. As he sizes her up and down, he gives the value that she is worth according to her beauty. Being used to the society in Egypt at the time, she refers to him as “the man who might choose her as his wife”. She says it in a way that it will be her fortune for this man to pick her as a wife. Once again, Samia and women in general, are treated like a possession. They are something that can be traded for things such as money. Another way Samia was treated like the lesser sex was when Bey asks of her education level. Bey simply asked if she was still in Secondary school. Samia looks down modestly and it was her father who answered. He says that she will stay home from now on “in readiness for their (Bey and Samia) life together”. With a mere glance from her father, she quickly exits the room and goes to the kitchen to join her mother. During this whole ordeal, Samia does not say a word. She is expected to stay silent and let the men talk. The difference between the two sexes can be seen clearly here. Bey, the main man, is somebody who does not want to tarnish his reputation. On the night of his wedding, he puts a diamond bracelet on Samia’s wrist and he reminds her that she married somebody with a brilliant career ahead of him and that one of the most important things in his life is the opinion of others. Even though she is still a young girl, she must “try to act with suitable dignity”. On one occasion, the married couple went out to the club for somebody’s birthday. She was required to drink a beer for the occasion. From just one beer, she got a little light-headed. Bey, seeing the consequences if she embarrassed him, hurried her home. Keeping his reputation his number one priority shows how dominant he is over her. Though they are married, they are not eye to eye. He has all the control since he was the one who decided to leave. After they return home, Samia takes off her jewelry including an emerald ring that Bey bought her for her birthday when they were “dating”. This ring plays an important role in highlighting the differences that the opposite sex portrays. After she takes off her jewelry, she falls asleep. Upon waking up, she begins putting on her jewelry and she notices that the emerald ring has gone missing. Samia searches high and low for the ring and she remembers that a young servant came in earlier. Samia does not know whether she should call her in and question her right away or wait for her husband. Once again, the disparity in genders shows up. She decides to wait for her husband to return. This particular part in the story highlights how Samia did not decide to resolve the situation