49 Inspiring Vintage Photos of Extraordinary Women

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19th-Century Egyptian Women (1960)

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This gorgeous young woman with striking eyes was among many Egyptian girls who worked at a state-owned TV set manufacturing plant. In an effort to support modernizing reforms that encouraged to have more women in the workplace, nearly half of the 600 employees in the transistor company were women.

The role of women in Egypt has significantly changed throughout history. The women of ancient Egypt were ahead of their time because not only did many have the same rights as men—owning land, operating their own business, choosing their career, and even initiating divorce—some held the rank of pharaoh and ruled the country. It’s dismaying that after positions of power, the women of modern Egypt face many pressures, with 90% having to wear veils and many reports of sexual violence, forced marriages, and honor killings. It’s also disappointing that after modernizing reforms in the 1960s, unemployment for women rose from 5.8% in 1960 to 40.7% in 1986.