Egyptian mum dresses like a man to support her family

An Egyptian mother who dressed as a man for 43 years to support her daughter after the death of her husband was labelled the “ideal mother” of Luxor governorate yesterday.

The Social Solidarity Directorate of Luxor said it was awarding the “female breadwinner” award to Sisa Abu Daooh, 64, for her years of hard work providing for her daughter and grandchildren.

Abu Daooh’s husband died while she was pregnant and after she gave birth she found herself without an income. Local culture, which opposed women being at work, forced her to dress like a man to support her daughter Huda.

She worked making bricks and polishing shoes in the street among other jobs. She donned a local “jilbab” – a loose, full-length robe with wide sleeves – as well as a white turban, or sometimes a men’s hat known as a “Taqiyah” and men’s shoes.

Years later, her daughter’s husband fell ill and was left unable to work, so Abu Daooh continued to work to provide for her grandchildren.

“I preferred working in hard labour 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.

“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.”

Abu Daooh still polishes shoes, which earns her a “decent income”.

Her daughter Huda said: “My mum is the one who still provides for the family. She wakes up every day at 6am to start polishing shoes at the station in Luxor. I carry the work kits for her as she now advanced in age.”