By Farah Khairat and Sara Elmessiry In some countries, womanhood is honored and held in incredibly high regard. In others, we’re equated to animals and objectified beyond expression. It was only once I’d moved to Australia that I learned that there are different degrees of being a woman – a “life lesson” that hit the young and ambitious me quite hard. And as I journey through countries, cities and my youth, it doesn’t seem to get easier. There’s no doubt that women are mistreated all over the world. What changes, in my point of view, is how we react to such treatment. Just the other day, while celebrating my friend’s 18th birthday, a man on the street said, “nice night, ladies?” in a rather sexual tone. My friends didn’t pay much attention to it or even really notice but my reflex was to turn to him, throw him a dirty look and walk away. I quickly realized that this reaction was the result of something that has simply become deeply entrenched in me because of my experience as a woman in Egypt. Even when I tried to stress to my friends the gravity…
Across Countries, Youth and Womanhood: What Living Overseas is Like for an Egyptian Woman
March 8, 2016
