The Kingdom of Egypt 287
even more prominent than the participation of women in
neighbouring national movements. If, on the other hand,
the emancipation of women has not been so complete in
Egypt as elsewhere, it is because the revolution there has
not been so radical or so rapid. For the Egyptian
feminist movement has a deep root and has borne good
fruit. Emancipation of women was one of the reforms
preached by Jemal-ed-Din and by Mansur Fahmy in the
days of Arabi. The poetess Aishat, at Temour, first gave
it spiritual expression (1896). It was pressed by Kasim
Amin, who wrote The Emancipation of Women (1898)
and dedicated his New Woman (1900) to Saad Zaglul, a
supporter of the movement.
The first girls' school was opened by an American
Mission (1856). Ismail established the first Government
school for girls (1873). Before the war there were about
thirty-three thousand girls at school, and to-day there
are nearly one hundred thousand. Nevertheless, there
are to-day only fifteen women in a thousand who can
read, and that is double the pre-war percentage. But
this matters less than that leading women should be given
opportunities for development. In this respect much is
being done. For example, in 1924 there were twenty-one
young women studying in England at the cost of the
Ministry of Education.
There are now three leading feminist associations with
good membership, magazines, etc. In March, 1923, a
Women's Suffrage Union was formed with an interesting
programme of social reform, including : equal oppor-
tunities for women, reforms of the marriage law, raising
the age of consent to sixteen, public hygiene, and child
welfare. The Union has already brought these matters
up in Parliament, and reforms are under discussion. But
the old Islamic society will die hard in the lower strata,