My Skin Is Soft, But My Heart

Democracy Is Not Just Freedom To Criticize The Government Or Head Of State, Or To Hold Parliamentary Elections. True Democracy Obtains Only When The People - Women, Men, Young People, Children - Have The Ability To Change The System Of Industrial Capitalism That Has Oppressed Them Since The Earliest Days Of Slavery: A System Based On Class Division, Patriarchy, And Military Might, A Hierarchical System That Subjugates People Merely Because They Are Born Poor, Or Female, Or Dark-skinned.

Men Impose Deception On Women And Punish Them For Being Deceived, Force Them Down To The Lowest Level And Punish Them For Falling So Low, Bind Them In Marriage And Then Chastise Them With Menial Service For Life, Or Insults, Or Blows.

If You Are Creative, You Must Be Dissident.

The Medical Profession [in Egypt] Is Also Very Commercial. Health Is Not Given To The Poor. You Know, If You Have Money, You Have Medical Care; If You Do Not, Then You Are In Trouble. I Was Not Ready At All To Build My Economic Security On The Diseases Of People, On Suffering, Especially Of Women And Children. So, In A Way, I Rebelled Against It.

The Slogan Of The Revolution Was Dignity, Social Justice, And Freedom. You Cannot Have Dignity Or Social Justice Or Freedom Without Women.