( CNN ) Every morning , Sissa Abu Dahou puts on traditional male dress , known as a jalabiya , and heads into the streets of the Egyptian city of Luxor for a day of hard work . But this man of the house is actually a woman . The grandmother of two has dressed as a man for 43 years to avoid oppression and eek out a living in the conservative Muslim state . `` Why did you do this mother ? '' her daughter asked during a recorded interview with Egyptian television network CBC . `` Your father died and I was six months pregnant with you . '' she replied . `` None of my siblings helped me . I raised you and sent you to school . Without money I could not have gotten you an education . '' A widow at just 21 , Dahou was forced to fend for herself in Egypt 's patriarchal south , where decades ago it was unheard of for women to earn their own living . Even in recent years , women make up barely 24 % of Egypt 's workforce , according to the World Bank . `` It is considered wrong that I dressed as a man but no one can judge . Not you or anyone else . Only God can judge me , '' Dahou said , `` People talked but I said I decided to be a man so I can take care of my small daughter . '' The breadwinner worked as a brick maker for just 25 piasters , the equivalent of a few cents , until she saved up enough money to buy a shoeshine kit . She found a place for her wooden box , painted with red hearts and the Egyptian flag , alongside the all-male shoe shiners of her community . `` If it was n't for my mother , I would have been on the streets '' Houda , her daughter , told TV host Mona al-Shazly through tears . `` Honestly I would have been in the streets . I did not find a home except with my mother . And even today my children rely on her . '' The years of sun and sand weathered and darkened Dahou 's face and left her with a voice so deep and raspy she can easily be mistaken for a man . Her only child , Houda , eventually married and had two children of her own . Through the years the one-time housewife dreamed of owning her own business one day , a small street stand to sell snacks and cigarettes . After her interview on CBC television , the governor of Luxor province offered Dahou a kiosk and a cash advance . The maverick had one requirement- she would only agree to meet with the governor in male attire . `` Even if I die , I will not take it off , '' Dahou said as she pulled on the male jalabiya in front of a TV camera , `` When I had to dress in a woman 's jalabiya when I went to Cairo I felt suffocated . No , I thank God . I do n't want anyone to look at me or look at my daughter . '' Now the 65-year-old who earned respect as a man has gained praise as a woman . Egypt 's President , Abdel Fattah el-Sisi , crowned her as one of Egypt 's ideal mothers in an official ceremony last month . `` If I was really a man , I would not have done this , '' Dahou told her daughter , `` I would have gotten remarried . I would have left you who knows where . You would have been treated without dignity or left homeless . Thank God I was able to protect you . ''
DahouSissa Abu Dahou recently was honored as one of Egypt 's ideal mothers . But for 43 years she has dressed as a man so she could work in the conservative country . `` People talked but I said I decided to be a man so I can take care of my small daughter , '' says Sissa Abu Dahou .