Cairo: Samah Farouq is a twenty-something Egyptian woman. From every angle she looks an ordinary woman who laughs a lot. But her smile masks a determined mind.
On walking into what is widely believed to be a male preserve, Egyptian cartoonist Samah was sure that her "mission" would not be a cake-walk. "The editor of a newspaper looked at my works and arrogantly told me the paper would contact me. They never did," she recalls.
"This male chauvinism has made me more determined to enter this male-dominated field and prove my talents," Farouq, 26, told Gulf News.
Having completed her studies at the Faculty of Agriculture, she attended free courses offered by the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo.
"I have wanted to be an artist since my childhood. These courses helped me rediscover myself and feel that my talents lie in cartoon drawing," she says.
"The intellectual domination of males, discrimination against women and the enemies of success were the major difficulties I faced when I started this career."
Though espousing women's rights in her works, Samah does not limit herself to one issue.
"As an artist I cannot concentrate on some issues and ignore the others, especially these days when the Arab world is experiencing a lot. I think politics drives everything on earth."
Samah, believed to be the only woman cartoonist in the Egyptian press, is working for the local evening newspaper Al Massaiya. Her caricatures appear on a daily basis.
"It is difficult to come up with an innovative idea everyday. I try to overcome this by having a keen eye for details around me - in the office, out in the street, etc. Sometimes I am inspired by sports events," she said. "Every now and then I am asked to defend women in my cartoons. So occasionally I find it fun to irritate men. It is like knocking on the door and saying hello we're here. The dream I cherish the most is to see Egyptian women take the initiative in their lives. I also want to see more female cartoonists here."
Samah believes the art of cartoon drawing involves a "great responsibility".
"A cartoon is like a bomb because it is more expressive than words or articles that may not be grasped by simple people," she says. "To alarm people is my duty as a real cartoonist."
