The article "Gender contradictions in families" deals with the gender roles of professional Muslim women, who are highly educated, living in Cairo, Egypt. The research methods used in this study are based on archival research and ethnographic field work by Dr. Bahira Sharif. Of the twenty families who participated in the study, all the young women had a university education and were working outside of the home. This has brought on much debate.
             Society and religious laws have placed women in the role of mothers and care takers of the home. Men are considered to be the sole bread- winners of the family, but due to the rise in prices of rent and the burden of other financial necessities, women feel the overwhelming need to work in order to maintain their upper class status. However this has caused some problems, since these young adults were raised in a time where their parent's roles were different. Women were the sole consumers and care takers of the house hold, while men were the sole providers. They brought up their children to practice these roles, but in today's Egyptian society it has become increasingly difficult for these young adults to live up to these norms. This can make men upset and confused, because they are taught that being a provider and having control over their wives is what defines their manhood. Also women are taught that when they leave their parental home they would have all their needs and wants provided to them by their husbands. In modern-day society this does not necessarily hold true, especially for young couples who want to maintain their upper middle class status.
             Women have no choice but to work and help contribute to the family household and this can be stressful, because the women are also expected to manage the home and take care of the children. The fear is that if women are integrated into the workforce with men and other types of societal institutions, women will
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