Warding off the evil eye

This is a photo that was always displayed in Garden city, my home in Cairo. Back in the day, they used to dress little boys as girls to protect them against the evil eye. Indeed, the belief was that no one would envy you if you had a girl. A rather sad perspective, but things were the way they were.

Here is a photo of my father in a dress. I love the little chickens embroidered along the chest.

When I was child, he would tell me it was my picture so great was the resemblance. He would say that I travelled in time and was photographed in the 50´s. Gullible as I was, of course, I believed him. The resemblance is no longer that striking and it’s funny to see how my rational father who didn’t hold a single superstition in his life, started out in a dress, out of superstition.

The picture described in the post.

My father with my grandmother in a dress with small flowers