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Nawal El Saadawi

Nawal El Saadawi Quotes

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Famous Nawal El Saadawi Quotes

“Prostitution means sexual intercourse between a man and a woman aimed at satisfying the man's sexual and the woman's economic needs. It is obvious that sexual needs, even in a male dominated system, are not as urgent and important as economic needs which, if not satisfied, lead to disease and death. Yet society considers the woman's economic need as less vital than the man's sexual one.”

IfsMenNeedsMeanImportantEconomicHe ManDiseaseMalesObviousSatisfiedSatisfyingUrgentProstitutionIntercourseDisease And Death
Book:The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World, Second Edition
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“The medical profession [in Egypt] is also very commercial. Health is not given to the poor. You know, if you have money, you have medical care; if you do not, then you are in trouble. I was not ready at all to build my economic security on the diseases of people, on suffering, especially of women and children. So, in a way, I rebelled against it.”

PeopleIfsKnowsWayChildrenCareSufferingGivenPoorTroubleEconomicSecurityReadyDiseaseProfessionMedicalEgyptNot ReadyMedical ProfessionMedical CareEconomic Security
Author:Nawal El Saadawi
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“What we require is not a formal return to tradition and religion, but a rereading, a reinterpretation, of our history that can illuminate the present and pave the way to a better future. For example, if we delve more deeply into ancient Egyptian and African civilisations we will discover the humanistic elements that were prevalent in many areas of life. Women enjoyed a high status and rights, which they later lost when class patriarchal society became the prevalent social system.”

IfsWayLostSocialClassRightsExampleReturnElementsAreasTraditionAncientEnjoyedFormalCivilisationEgyptianBetter FutureSocial SystemsHumanisticPatriarchal SocietyRereadingAncient EgyptianReinterpretation
Book:The Nawal El Saadawi Reader
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“Something I tried to hold onto, to touch if only for a moment, but it slipped away from me like the air, like an illusion, or a dream that floats away and is lost. I wept in my sleep as though it was something I was losing now; a loss I was experiencing for the first time, and not something I had lost a long time ago.”

IfsFirstsLongMomentsDreamLostLossSleepAirLong TimeLosingIllusionFirst TimeFloatsLong Time Ago
Book:Woman at Point Zero
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