Women in the UAE Gender Empowerment & Disempowerment

In recent years, there has been an increased scholarly interest in the topic of women’s Empowerment. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the modern age now requires enlightened capacities from women. The state encourages women to advance themselves and the nation. Thus, a clear line of distinction to be drawn between classic and highly modernized society with due respect to the old tradition. Legislative reform is taking place and women are encouraged to pursue leadership positions. This reformation comes with a new paradigm shift, and thus, women are starting to play different roles in public and private spheres. They try their best to eradicate male supremacy from top positions; however, with the government officially subsidizing the empowerment of women, but society does not recognize women as full citizens. Traditional society is still uncertain about the competence of women in the political arena. Therefore, women are in limbo between state' empowerment and social disempowerment and are standing on unpredicted space. In this context, this study explores the status of Emirati women as political leaders. It also illustrates social attitude and deportation of women. The study aims to explore an unidentified area of study in a tribal based society and to clarify the state' philosophy of women's empowerment. Hence, the study can be an additional contribution to a feminist theory of women’s empowerment.