Quote by Nawal El Saadawi: “I am speaking the truth, and the truth is savage and dangerous.”

Telling the truth — especially about power, injustice, or what women endure — carries real risk. This is not an abstract philosophical claim; it is a warning that honesty in an unjust system can get you punished, silenced, or destroyed.

El Saadawi published Woman at Point Zero in 1975, the same year the United Nations declared the International Year of Women. She had already been dismissed from her post at the Egyptian Ministry of Health for her writing on female sexuality, and was under significant state pressure.

Egyptian feminist writer, physician, and activist whose work challenged patriarchy, religious fundamentalism, and political repression across the Arab world. Her 1975 book Women and Sex led to her dismissal from the Egyptian Ministry of Health, and she was imprisoned in 1981. She published over fifty books in her lifetime.