In prison, Firdaus is held captive and constantly surveilled, but these forms of control dictated her entire life beginning long before her arrest. Captivity, being held or confined, and surveillance, close observation, combine to form an effective method of social control. In Egyptian culture, men often use this method of control as a way to keep women submissive. Firdaus was surveilled by men time and time again, limiting her freedom, until she gained the knowledge that she was capable of controlling her own destiny. Surveillance and captivity work in tandem to create the ultimate method of control. While captivity may seem much more limiting than surveillance, Firdaus’s story emphasizes the intense limiting power of surveillance. One
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She begins to realize that she has control over her life and can make much more money as a prostitute on her own, as opposed to being surveilled by someone who takes a cut. With this realization, she not only gained money, but a new perspective on life. Firdaus described an experience going out to eat with her own money, “I realized this was the first time in my life I was eating without being watched by two eyes gazing into my plate to see how much food I took” (pg. 71). She had been constantly surveilled all of her life, manipulated and controlled for the benefit of others, specifically men. This was the beginning of Firdaus’s resistance to captivity and surveillance, as she attempted to control her own destiny. However, Firdaus did not always have a choice regarding who took control of her life. After Firdaus had been a prostitute on her own for some time, a pimp, Marzouk, found her. Marzouk demanded to be in control of Firdaus occupation as a prostitute. As he pimp he constantly surveilled her actions, taking a large cut of the profit for himself while also taking away any sense of control Firdaus had developed. But Firdaus rejected this method of control by killing Marzouk, exhibiting the control she maintained once and for all. Firdaus was ultimately able to shift away from the control of surveillance and captivity through her imprisonment. While prison may seem like the ultimate example of this method of control, for Firdaus it was a decision that she made on her own as a form of resistance to the control of women by men in Egyptian
She begins to realize that she has control over her life and can make much more money as a prostitute on her own, as opposed to being surveilled by someone who takes a cut. With this realization, she not only gained money, but a new perspective on life. Firdaus described an experience going out to eat with her own money, “I realized this was the first time in my life I was eating without being watched by two eyes gazing into my plate to see how much food I took” (pg. 71). She had been constantly surveilled all of her life, manipulated and controlled for the benefit of others, specifically men. This was the beginning of Firdaus’s resistance to captivity and surveillance, as she attempted to control her own destiny. However, Firdaus did not always have a choice regarding who took control of her life. After Firdaus had been a prostitute on her own for some time, a pimp, Marzouk, found her. Marzouk demanded to be in control of Firdaus occupation as a prostitute. As he pimp he constantly surveilled her actions, taking a large cut of the profit for himself while also taking away any sense of control Firdaus had developed. But Firdaus rejected this method of control by killing Marzouk, exhibiting the control she maintained once and for all. Firdaus was ultimately able to shift away from the control of surveillance and captivity through her imprisonment. While prison may seem like the ultimate example of this method of control, for Firdaus it was a decision that she made on her own as a form of resistance to the control of women by men in Egyptian