He asked, she said no. So this man brought a friend, broke into her house, took turns raping her, and killed her. Killed her with a knife and a piece of wood.
But she said no. She was home. She fought. She said no. What else could she have done?
I’m tired. I’m so tired.
At age 10, she sabotaged her arranged marriage by chewing raw aubergine until her teeth turned jet black.
At age 6, her family held her down for female genital mutilation.
At age 50, Egypt’s government threw her in prison.
From her cell—using a smuggled eyebrow pencil on toilet paper—she founded the Arab Women’s Solidarity Association and ignited a feminist movement across the Arab world.
This is Nawal El Saadawi (1931–2021), the godmother of Arab feminism.
Born in a small Egyptian village, she refused to accept a culture that valued boys far above girls. She became a doctor, exposed the horrors of patriarchy in her groundbreaking book Women and Sex, and wrote landmark works like Woman at Point Zero.
Imprisoned under Sadat, censored, threatened with death, and forced into exile, she never stopped fighting—for girls facing FGM and child marriage, for women’s bodies and voices.
She ran for president at 74, wrote over 50 books, and outlived her oppressors.
Her rebellion started with blackened teeth and a defiant smile:
“No. I will choose my own life.”
And she did.
This is the battle we fight with Islamic extremism.
@yxyiagain I think this is the best time for me to let you know know the word JOS is an indigenous plateau word that means an area surrounded by water…