{"id":261,"date":"2015-11-01T07:01:31","date_gmt":"2015-11-01T15:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lailaelsissi.com\/?p=261"},"modified":"2015-11-16T14:53:34","modified_gmt":"2015-11-16T22:53:34","slug":"egypt-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/booksbylaila.com\/laila-wp\/egypt-talk\/","title":{"rendered":"Laila El-Sissi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Women\u2019s rights activist speaks in Lewisboro<\/strong><\/p>\n

How Laila El-Sissi found herself in South Salem is an interesting story, but more fascinating is the one she tells of finding herself in an arranged marriage with a stranger at age 15 \u2014 and how she escaped.<\/p>\n

El-Sissi\u2019s recently published memoir, Out From the Shadow of Men, is not simply a tale of growing up in another culture. It is an indictment of an entire way of life, in which the role of women is completely subservient to the whims and desires of men, in ways many Americans would find difficult to believe exist today.<\/p>\n

One such American is Lewisboro\u2019s Robert Kesten, who first met El-Sissi on a work-related visit to Book Expo in New York. El Sissi was promoting her self-published work, and Kesten was enthralled with her story.<\/p>\n

\u201cI immediately recognized the memoir\u2019s universal relevance and urgency,\u201d he said, \u201cand was determined to do whatever I could to make sure her story got out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kesten decided to arrange for El-Sissi to come to his home for a reading and Q&A session before invited guests \u2014 who were stunned by much of what they heard.<\/p>\n

Laila\u2019s story<\/p>\n

Coming of age in Egypt in the 1960s, El-Sissi said, she was first confused, then dismayed, and finally outraged by the realization that she lived in a culture where women were, she said, considered \u201cless than human.\u201d In a household ruled with unquestionable authority by her all-powerful father, she forged an alliance with her protective one-year-older sister, aided by some surreptitious help from their mother.<\/p>\n

Her father was supposedly \u201csheltering\u201d them from possible abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut right under the roof of my father, the very things happened to my sister that my father was protecting us from. I don\u2019t know where I would be if not for my sister,\u201d said El-Sissi. \u201cShe took all the abuse and protected me.\u201d<\/p>\n

El-Sissi did not escape entirely, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy brother said he\u2019s going to put acid water on my face,\u201d El-Sissi told the hushed audience. \u201cHe punched me in the teeth and he broke my tooth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, her sister shielded her and absorbed much of the abuse \u2014 both physical and sexual \u2014 and El-Sissi said she was determined to remain strong. She knew no one would believe her accusations, and her brother would never be punished. The situation only got worse once she and her sister were both placed in marriages arranged by their father.<\/p>\n

El-Sissi also shared a story about how her first husband had a court order that allowed him to lock her away in a 3-by-3 room as long as he wanted and she couldn\u2019t do anything about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll this didn\u2019t deter me. My sister and I were so adamant to go out and get our freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

El-Sissi said she could not help but recognize that there was no escape from the confines of that culture as long as she remained in Egypt.<\/p>\n

Moving forward<\/p>\n

With her sister\u2019s help, El-Sissi divorced her husband and left her homeland, ultimately settling in California, where she remarried. But the painful realities of the past remained bubbling under the surface. Ultimately she joined a local writers group and began to share her experiences, which evolved into Out From the Shadow of Men. The book has elicited acclaim the world over, both from critics and from ordinary people, especially women, who have shared their own stories online.<\/p>\n

Her sister gave her the courage to go out into the world and find something better, El-Sissi said, and she wants other girls to find that courage. \u201cI wrote this book because I want to stand up before girls\u2019 groups, internationally,\u201d she said, \u201cand just tell all the girls around the world that they are going through the same experiences as me. I want to tell them you don\u2019t have to take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

El-Sissi was quick to point out that the horrors she described are not in the distant past; they are happening today.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a society that needs to change,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need to educate people about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her message<\/p>\n

El-Sissi said she has received many messages from women in Egypt asking when she is coming to speak there, and she is considering going. \u201cMy friends look at me like I\u2019m crazy,\u201d El-Sissi said. \u201cThey agree with me but they are afraid. The difference is, I am not afraid. I\u2019m going to say what I\u2019m saying, and I have the backing of the president, so this is good!\u201d<\/p>\n

After she spoke in schools, El-Sissi said, \u201cI received letters saying, \u2018You have inspired me, you have touched me, I have to give the book to my mom to read.\u2019 For me, this is better than selling a hundred books. This is what I want \u2014 to touch so many young girls, to let them know: Don\u2019t let anybody tell you what to do with your life.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are born free; you go, get your freedom, get your education, and get your goals. No man should tell you what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Jeff Morris<\/p>\n

Le Lewisboro ledger<\/p>\n

The News of Lewisboro, New York<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Women\u2019s rights activist speaks in Lewisboro How Laila El-Sissi found herself in South Salem is an interesting story, but more fascinating is the one she tells of finding herself in an arranged marriage with a stranger at age 15 \u2014 and how she escaped. El-Sissi\u2019s recently published memoir, Out From\u2026 read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/booksbylaila.com\/laila-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/booksbylaila.com\/laila-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/booksbylaila.com\/laila-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/booksbylaila.com\/laila-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/booksbylaila.com\/laila-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/booksbylaila.com\/laila-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":267,"href":"https:\/\/booksbylaila.com\/laila-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261\/revisions\/267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/booksbylaila.com\/laila-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/booksbylaila.com\/laila-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/booksbylaila.com\/laila-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}