Woman At Point Zero Flashcards
“I hid my fear under layers of makeup”
Firdaus talking about being a prostitute
“my father knew to exchange his virgin daughter for a dowry … how to beat his wife and make her bite the dust each night”
the values Firdaus learnt as a child
“my mother brought a woman who was carrying a razor blade. They cut off a piece of flesh between my thighs”
Female genital mutilation of Firdaus. Female on female oppression
“my uncle’s hand would press against my thigh with a grasping, almost brutal insistence”
Firdaus’ uncle molesting her
“Who was I? Was I going to spend my life sweeping dung, … and baking bread?”
Firdaus dislike towards gender roles and domestic chores
“my uncle would reply El Azhar is only for men.”
Firdaus wanting to get an education
“two eyes to which I clung with all my might”
(Firdaus’ mother) start of eye symbolism
“my mother used to abandon me alone to keep my father warm”
“But when I used to look into her eyes I could feel she was not my mother”
“When a boy child died my father would beat my mother”
“I was so hungry that I could not cry”
“my uncle’s great long fingers would draw close to me”
“I knew that women did not become heads of state”
Child Firdaus and social expectations
