Khul-Khaal: Five Egyptian Women Tell Their Stories (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780815601814)

"Our people prefer boys, because a girl's life is difficult. It's difficult in every sore of family and among all nationalities. A girl's life is not like a man's life. She has no assurance of being happy in her marriage. And her main purpose in life is to marry and to have children. A girl's and a woman's lives are a trial whatever happens. I don't know why."--Om Gad

Their stories are fresh and vivid, recording the various roles of being co-wife in a polygamous marriage, the complications of divorce, the rituals of female circumcision and marriage, the loss of children, life-long hate and its source, the position of witchcraft and superstition in their daily lives, primitive health practices, and managing a family's meager resources, including the gold or silver khul-khaal anklets worn by married women.

These self-portraits are fascinating reading and a mine of information for anyone interested in understanding contemporary Egyptian life. A foreword by anthropologist Andrea Rugh and photographs by Asma el-Bakry are included.

Author: Nayra Atiya
ISBN-10: 0815601816
ISBN-13: 9780815601814
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Language: English
Published: 08/01/1982
Pages: 208
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.71lbs
Size: 8.99h x 5.88w x 0.65d