Egyptian activist Nawal El Saadawi received an honorary doctorate from the National Autonomus University of Mexico in 2010. The second of nine children born in a village just outside of Cairo, El Saadawi rejected patriarchy at a young age, stamping her feet in protest when her grandmother told her, "a boy is worth 15 girls at least ... girls are a blight." Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
