ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses life history of Nawal El Saadawi, a feminist thinker. Her ideas have inspired generations of Arab women but have also provoked controversy and criticism. Focusing on sex, politics, and religion, El Saadawi articulates critiques of multiple systems of oppression. According to her, patriarchy, capitalism, and imperialism intertwine to exploit Arab women and to prevent them from reaching their full human potential. El Saadawi, in fact, attended a school established by Nabawyya Mousa, an activist for women's education. Supported by a father who believed in the importance of education for social mobility, El Saadawi later attended the British school. In Two Women in One, El Saadawi exposes the double standards of society regarding female sexuality, a double standard that leads the main character to neurosis and schizophrenia. El Saadawi also used fiction to express many of her ideas regarding sex and society. El Saadawi's uncompromising secularism is paralleled by her unwavering hostility to political oppression.