The Hidden Face of Eve : Women in the Arab World

This powerful account of the oppression of women in the Muslim world remains as shocking today as when it was first published, more than a quarter of a century ago. Nawal El Saadawi writes out of a powerful sense of the violence and injustice which permeated her society. Her experiences working as a doctor in villages around Egypt, witnessing prostitution, honour killings and sexual abuse, including female circumcision, drove her to give voice to this suffering. She goes on explore the causes of the situation through a discussion of the historical role of Arab women in religion and literature. Saadawi argues that the veil, polygamy and legal inequality are incompatible with the essence of Islam or any human faith. This Is A Personal And Often Disturbing Account Of Growing Up Into Womanhood In The Islamic World. The Author Ranges Over A Host Of Topics, From Sexual Aggression Against Female Children And The Circumcision Of Young Girls, To Prostitution, Sexual Relationships, Marriage And Divorce. She Relates Women's Position In The Middle East To The Struggles Between The Left And Right In Islam, And Shows How The Political Priorities Of Western And Third World Women Differ.-- Part I. The Mutilated Half -- 1. The Question That No One Would Answer -- 2. Sexual Aggression Against The Female Child -- 3. The Grandfather With Bad Manners -- 4. The Injustice Of Justice -- 5. The Very Find Membrane Called 'honour' -- 6. Circumcision Of Girls -- 7. Obscurantism And Contradiction -- 8. The Illegitimate Child And The Prostitute -- 9. Abortion And Fertility -- 10. Distorted Notions About Femininity, Beauty And Love -- Part Ii. Women In History -- 11. The Thirteenth Rib Of Adam -- 12. Man And God, Woman The Sinful -- 13. Woman At The Time Of The Pharaohs -- 14. Liberty To The Slave, But Not For The Woman -- Part Iii. The Arab Woman -- 15. The Role Of Women In Arab History -- 16. Love And Sex In The Life Of The Arabs -- 17. The Heroine In Arab Literature -- Part Iv. Breaking Through -- 18. Arab Pioneers Of Women's Liberation -- 19. Work And Women -- 20. Marriage And Divorce. Nawal El Saadawi ; Translated And Edited By Sherif Hetata. Includes Bibliographical References. This powerful non-fiction account of the oppression of women in the Muslim world remains as shocking today as when it was first published, more than a quarter of a century ago.Nawal El Saadawi writes out of a powerful sense of the violence and injustice which permeated her society. Her experiences working as a doctor in villages around Egypt, witnessing prostitution, honour killings and sexual abuse, including female circumcision, drove her to give voice to this suffering. She goes on to explore the causes of the situation through a discussion of the historical role of Arab women in religion and literature. Saadawi argues that the veil, polygamy and legal inequality are incompatible with the essence of Islam or any human faith.The Hidden Face of Eve remains a classic of modern Arab writing. This is a personal and often disturbing account of growing up into womanhood in the Islamic world. The author ranges over a host of topics, from sexual aggression against female children and the circumcision of young girls, to prostitution, sexual relationships, marriage and divorce. She relates women's position in the Middle East to the struggles between the left and right in Islam, and shows how the political priorities of Western and Third World women differ.-- Publisher's description Monograph analyzing the social status of women in Arab country, with special emphasis on Egypt - considers historical trends in sex discrimination in relation to physical integrity, value systems (religion), social roles (family), the woman worker, etc., and relates the feminist fight for equal opportunity and human rights to national liberation movements, economic and social development and the political behaviour of social classes. Bibliography after each chapter Presents an account of brutality against women in the Muslim world. This work explores the causes of the situation through a discussion of the historical role of Arab women in religion and literature. It argues that the veil, polygamy and legal inequality are incompatible with the just and peaceful Islam. I was six years old that night when I lay in my bed, warm and peaceful in that pleasurable state which lies half way between wakefulness and sleep, with the rosy dreams of childhood flitting by, like gentle fairies in quick succession. Beschrijving van allerlei aspecten van het vrouw-zijn in Islamitische landen en van de man-vrouw verhouding tegen de achtergrond van het sociale, politieke religieuze leven