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
Men impose deception on women and punish them for being deceived, force them down to the lowest level and punish them for falling so low, bind them in marriage and then chastise them with menial service for life, or insults, or blows.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote criticizes the unfair treatment of women by men in society, highlighting deception and punishment.
Nawal El Saadawi's quote sheds light on the societal constructs that entrap women in a cycle of deception and punishment by men. It illustrates how women are often subjected to manipulation, criticized for their circumstances, and then bound to a life of servitude and abuse, reflecting a deep-rooted systemic issue of gender inequality.
Themes
DeceptionWomenMenSocietyInequalityMarriageAbuse
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about gender equality during a seminar.
More from Nawal El Saadawi
All quotes →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.
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When you have increasing power of religious groups, oppression of women increases. Women are oppressed in all religions.
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My skin is soft, but my heart is cruel, and my bite is deadly.
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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.
Nawal El SaadawiRead
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