What makes revolutionary thought unique is its clarity and dignity, and its clear grasp of freedom and justice: simple, clear words that are understood without the need for any help from elite writers or thinkers.
Nawal El SaadawiRead
The family code in Egypt is one of the worst family codes in the Arab world. Polygamy. The husband is having absolute power over the family.
Interpretation
The quote critiques the family structure in Egypt, highlighting issues of polygamy and male dominance.
Nawal El Saadawi's quote sheds light on the oppressive family dynamics prevalent in Egypt, particularly focusing on polygamy and the patriarchal structure that grants husbands undue power over their families. This critique emphasizes the negative impact of such a system on women's rights and family well-being, revealing the broader implications of gender inequality within societal constructs.
In practice
A discussion on gender inequality during a women's rights conference.
What makes revolutionary thought unique is its clarity and dignity, and its clear grasp of freedom and justice: simple, clear words that are understood without the need for any help from elite writers or thinkers.
Yet not for a single moment did I have any doubts about my own integrity and honour as a woman. I knew that my profession had been invented by men, and that men were in control of both our worlds, the one on earth, and the one in heaven. That men force women to sell their bodies at a price, and that the lowest paid body is that of a wife. All women are prostitutes of one kind or another.
To be creative means to connect. It's to abolish the gap between the body, the mind and the soul, between science and art, between fiction and nonfiction.
When you have increasing power of religious groups, oppression of women increases. Women are oppressed in all religions.
My skin is soft, but my heart is cruel, and my bite is deadly.
Interviewer: What would you say to a woman in this country who assumes she is no longer oppressed, who believes women's liberation has been achieved? el Saadawi: Well I would think she is blind. Like many people who are blind to gender problems, to class problems, to international problems. She's blind to what's happening to her.
I'm not lonely, and I think that has a lot to do with what's on my bedside table rather than what's in my bed.
The two principles on which our conduct towards the Indians should be founded are justice and fear. After the injuries we have done them, they cannot love us.
Though the human heart may have to pause for rest when climbing the heights of affection it rarely stops on the slippery slope of hatred.
The most important ingredient we put into any relationship is not what we say or what we do, but what we are.
Between a Man and his Wife nothing ought to rule but Love. Believe nothing against another but on good authority; and never report what may hurt another, unless it be a greater hurt to some other to conceal it.
I feel like my life is so scattered right now. Like it's all the small pieces of paper and someone's turned on the fan. But, talking to you makes me feel like the fan's been turned off for a little bit. Like things could actually make sense. You completely unscatter me, and I appreciate that so much.
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