Sisa Abu Daooh was just 21 years old and pregnant when her husband died, leaving her without an income and a baby girl to look after. Due to a conservative culture that frowns upon women in the workplace, Abu Daooh had no choice but to disguise herself as a man to become the breadwinner of her family and raise her daughter, Houda.
“So as to protect myself from men and the harshness of their looks and being targeted by them due to traditions, I decided to be a man…and dressed in their clothes and worked alongside them in other villages where no one knows me.” She said to Al Arabiya.
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Abu Daooh dressed in a “jilbaab” – a traditional, loose-fitting full-length robe with wide sleeves – and a white turban, or a traditional hat known as a “taqiyah.”
The 64-year-old woman worked several different jobs, some that required hard labor, ranging from shoe polishing, to construction and agriculture.
“I preferred working hard labor like lifting bricks and cement bags and cleaning shoes to begging in the streets in order to earn a living for myself and for my daughter and her children,” She said.
Her daughter Houda married a man who later suffered from an illness that prevented him from working, driving Abu Daooh to keep up her work as the breadwinner of her daughter’s family as well.
“My mom is the one who still provides for the family,” said Houda to Al Arabiya. “She wakes up every day at 6 a.m. to start polishing shoes at the station in Luxor. I carry the work kits for her as she now advanced in age.”
In recognition of her resolve and hard-work, the Social Solidarity Directorate of Luxor awarded Abu Daooh with the “woman breadwinner” award.
According to Aswat Masriya, women are the primary breadwinners in nearly 30% of Egyptian households. The role continues to be considered taboo by conservative Egyptians, but has become increasingly important in a country plagued by economic and political struggles.
