Women are suffering because they are being excluded. The high military council excluded women from the committee to change the constitution [of Egypt]. We cannot be liberated as women in a society built on class oppression or gender oppression or religious oppression.
Nawal El SaadawiLife is very hard. The only people who really live are those who are harder than life itself.
Nawal El SaadawiWhat 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.
Nawal El SaadawiMany people come here and they think my apartment is a poor relative to my name. But you cannot be radical and have money, it’s impossible.
Nawal El Saadawi