MORE PRAISE FOR THIS BOOK ‘Nawal El Saadawi has become something of a heroine for many young Arab women … a cry from the heart.’ – MESA Bulletin ‘Nawal El Saadawi speaks directly on behalf of many women in the Third World and the daily struggles they face.’ – West Africa ‘The most recognisable name in Egyptian and Middle Eastern feminism … poignant, penetrating yet simple.’ – Library Journal ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nawal El Saadawi is an internationally renowned writer, novelist and fighter for women’s rights both within Egypt and abroad. Born in 1931, in a village outside Cairo, she wrote her first novel, Diary of a Child Called Souad, at the age of thirteen. Unusually, she and her brothers and sisters were educated together. After graduating from the University of Cairo Medical School in 1955, specializing in psychiatry, she practised as a medical doctor for two years. From 1963 until 1972, Saadawi worked for the Egyptian government as Director General for Public Health Education. During this time, she studied at Columbia University in New York, where she received her Master’s degree in Public Health in 1966. In 1972, however, she lost her job in the government as a result of political pressure. The magazine Health, which she founded and had edited for more than three years, was closed down. From 1973 to 1978 Saadawi worked at the High Institute of Literature and Science. It was at this time that she began to write, in works of fiction and non-fiction, the books on the oppression of Arab women for which she has become famous. Her most renowned novel, Woman at Point Zero, was published in Beirut in 1973. It was followed in 1976 by God Dies by the Nile and in 1977 by her study of Arab women, The Hidden Face of Eve. In 1981 Nawal El Saadawi publicly criticized the one-party rule of President Anwar Sadat, and was subsequently arrested and imprisoned. She was released one month after Sadat’s assassination. In 1982, she established the Arab Women’s Solidarity Association, which was outlawed in 1991. For some years during the Mubarak regime, Saadawi lived in exile, teaching in universities in the USA and Europe, including Duke University and Washington State University. Saadawi returned to Egypt in 1996. In 2004 she presented herself as a candidate for the presidential elections in Egypt, with a platform of human rights, democracy and greater freedom for women. In July 2005, however, she was forced to withdraw her candidacy in the face of ongoing government persecution. Nawal El Saadawi has achieved widespread international recognition for her work. She holds honorary doctorates from, among others, the universities of York, Illinois at Chicago, St Andrews and Tromso as well as Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Her many prizes and awards include the Premi Internacional Catalunya in 2003, the Council of Europe North–South Prize in 2004, the Women of the Year Award (UK) in 2011, the Sean MacBride Peace Prize (Ireland) in 2012, and the French National Order of Merit in 2013. Her books have been translated into over forty languages worldwide. They are taught in universities across the world. T H E H I D D E N F A C E O F E V E WOMEN IN THE ARAB WORLD NAWAL EL SAADAWI TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY SHERIF HETATA FOREWORD BY RONAK HUSNI Zed Books LONDON The Hidden Face of Eve was first published in Arabic in 1977. It was first published in English in 1980 by Zed Books Ltd. Second edition published 2007 This edition published 2015 Zed Books Ltd, The Foundry, 17 Oval Way, London SE11 5RR www.zedbooks.co.uk Copyright © Nawal El Saadawi, 1980, 2007 English translation copyright © Zed Books Ltd, 1980 Foreword copyright © Ronak Husni, 2007 The right of Nawal El Saadawi to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988. All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-78360-747-1 pb ISBN 978-1-78360-748-8 hb ISBN 978-1-78360-749-5 pdf ISBN 978-1-78360-750-1 epub ISBN 978-1-78360-751-8 mobi Dedicated to Zeinab Shoukry, the great woman who lived and died without giving me her name — my mother C O N T E N T S Foreword by Ronak Husni xi Preface to the English Edition xvii INTRODUCTION 1 PART I THE MUTILATED HALF 15 1 The Question that No One Would Answer 17 2 Sexual Aggression against the Female Child 26 3 The Grandfather with Bad Manners 33 4 The Injustice of Justice 39 5 The Very Fine Membrane Called ‘Honour’ 51 6 Circumcision of Girls 67 7 Obscurantism and Contradiction 89 8 The Illegitimate Child and the Prostitute 102 9 Abortion and Fertility 127 10 Distorted Notions about Femininity, Beauty 149 and Love PART II WOMEN IN HISTORY 185 11 The Thirteenth Rib of Adam 187