Acknowledgments A Note on Transliteration Cast of Characters Introduction Prelude: Talking Together Makes Wise Part One - Woman, Mother, and Poor 1. A Broken Dream Presentation ( anno 1982) The dream "And ever since have I neglected my looks" 2. Tomorrow, God Willing "The man should have his freedom, but not at the woman''s expense" "The man is like a child" "God helps him who helps himself" 3. The Back Street Environment The way in Shoes make people The modern quarter The baladi quarter 4. A Woman and Her Man Umm Ali Mustafa 5. The Children Rights to intercourse Hit-or-miss contraception Maternal love 6. A Life in Poverty Living quarters Life without schedule "People think we are well off" Figuring time and money A closer look inside the flat Priorities A house of one''s own Tomorrow, God willing 7. Seven Brothers and Sisters Ali Amin Hoda Mona Afaf Anwar Nosa 8.

For the Children''s Sake "I don''t care if they starve or they die" "If only the children were happy" Part Two - Umm Ali Speaks 9. The Source of All Misery: Mustafa and the Money "As if ''never min'' can fill a belly" "I, without earning a penny, have to be the provider" "But you are poor and that''s no shame" Simple treason Securing one''s due "The shepherd is responsible for his flock" "It''s not you who will be shamed" "It''s brains he lacks, not money" 10. Manchild Mustafa 11. Marriage and Love "Like a third-rate girlfriend" A flop Sharing responsibility "It''s a heavy burden to carry unreciprocated gifts" Would you call this happiness? "Marriage makes a man of you" "He goes one way, I go the other, and never the twain shall meet" "Like a stranger from the street" 12. Might and Vulnerability "In many a house, she is the man and he the woman" "For if I hit him, he wouldn''t be a man" To control oneself To strike first and think afterwards The house of obedience A blessed chicken "The man is the wife''s best doctor" "Only four times have I demanded divorce" "I neither love nor hate him" 13. Three Desperate Attempts at Self-Help The job: "So I can walk apart and look at him" An accursed care and a heartbreaking savings club The house site that gives wings to a dream Part Three - The Back Streets as a Social Environment 14. Everyone Begrudges Others Everything They Have Envy The people''s talk Gossip The evil eye Invidious comparisons; or, Why everyone else seems better off 15. Materialism and Want Status symbols The material measure of a person''s value The vulnerability of women Part Four - Daily Life and Rhythm 16.

Typical Days in Umm Ali''s Life Part Five - Growing Up in Poverty 17. The Child in the Family The problem of assessing experience "Egyptian children are kissed, not disciplined" Nature and nurture: The roles of mother and father Brothers and sisters Squabbling over food Different faces of poverty Bickering over clothes Sharing Self-defense 18. The Everyday World of Children A small world Home versus street The new age: TV Toys One day is like another School: Pathway to the future Social intelligence and competence Part Six - Three Ways out of Misery 19. Amin''s Death 20. Afaf''s Illness 21. Hoda''s Spiritual Conversion Part Seven - Some Important Persons and Events in Umm Ali''s Life 22. Childhood and Youth, 1934-1949 23. Amira: Sister-in-Law Who Has Enough with Her Own 24.

Ahmed: Beloved Brother 25. Farida: Sister Whom Life Did Not Spare 26. Umm Magdi and the Friendship That Broke Up 27. Some Who Were Not Mentioned 28. Houseguests Holding Their Ground Part Eight - Young Today 29. On Freedom, Choice, and Love But freedom is not all 30. Ali: Freedom at a High Price 31. Hoda: "As If He Could Decide over Me" 32.

Mona: "Marriage Is Like an Unopened Watermelon" Part Nine - A Hope for the Future 33. Fulfillment 34. Talking Is Therapy Part Ten - Epilogue 35. What Happened Next? 36. Cairo--City Victorious? Four political regimes Education Standard of living Recession The Contract with Egypt Population explosion Building and renting out Savings clubs: A reprise The rent freeze Project Home Life at the margins Safety and human supports Changing times The fundamentalist upsurge Making a future for the children Postscript: Fieldwork References.