Macho Governance and the Selective Adoption of Gender Reforms in Egypt

Why do autocratic regimes adopt reforms in one domain of gender policy while deferring them in another? Existing literature explains variation in state adoption of gender reforms through feminist mobilization, religious opposition, and policy type. I expand on the literature by developing a framework centered on the authoritarian logic of control and operationalized through carceral logic, which asserts state authority through punitive legal action, and moral domination, which governs through social discipline. I describe the Egyptian regime’s authoritarian logic of control as a macho mode of governance, in which control is performed through toughness and moral authority. Drawing on original interviews and legal analysis, I argue that the Egyptian regime reforms sexual violence laws, where punishment can be instrumentalized and moral discipline asserted, while avoiding family law reform, which requires confronting the patriarchal legal foundations of state power and disrupting alliances with religious authorities. The findings show how internal regime logics shape which feminist demands states act on.