Quote of the Day

"At the time of the revolution, women were needed to fill out the numbers. Now, the decision-makers don't need women, and we’re back to this idea that femininity is inferior and masculinity superior."—Hoda Badran, head of the Egyptian Feminist Union, 15 months after the Egyptian revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak and was meant to bring a new era of inclusion to Egypt, but "as Egyptians prepare to vote for a new president this week, rights activists complain that women are being excluded from key decisions."

Women hold just over 2 percent of the seats in Egypt's new parliament, down from about 12 percent in the last elections held under Mubarak. The sharp decline followed the elimination of a quota to ensure women's representation, which had been seen by many as a way to stack the body with members of Mubarak's political party.

Military rulers did not include any women in the committee that wrote constitutional amendments adopted in a nationwide referendum last year. And there are no women among the 13 candidates who will be on the ballot Wednesday, when voting begins in the country's first post-Mubarak presidential election.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Sigh.