Specifically on gender relations, I would say there would be a spectrum. There is a spectrum. It is fundamentally a socially conservative society in ways that we would understand that to be socially conservative. It is one that understands most people would see men and women as having fundamentally different roles in the society.
However, there is a very broad spectrum. I would say that the Salafis would be most insistent on literal interpretation and application of their understanding of religious teachings. The brotherhood tends to be a little more flexible. It wants to move society in a direction that is consistent with those, but it is a little bit more freewheeling in its interpretations and a little bit more patient in its application.
You still have alongside of that, I would say, parts of Egyptian society in which, for instance, women have played an extremely strong and public role. If you turn on Egyptian broadcasting, for instance, you'll see plenty of women. If you look at the Egyptian diplomatic corps, for instance, it has a history of being open to women. There has been a strong history of an Egyptian feminist movement. It was domestic pressure from Egyptian women that led to the extension of the vote to women in the 1950s.
I think you see a very broad spectrum. There are some Egyptian groups who, rather than being suspicious of those international human rights instruments, especially on gender, latch onto them and say essentially “we have to join the world”. There are international standards which are very much applicable to Egyptian society.
When President Morsi made that statement at the UN General Assembly meeting, my guess is that his statement would have resonated for the majority of Egyptians, but would have set a strong and powerful and intellectually active minority on edge.
