The struggle is not about driving a car; it is about being in the driving seat of our destiny
-Oslo 2012 Václav Havel Prize Acceptance Speech
Late May 2011, a YouTube channel by the name of ksawomen2drive posted an eight minute video. The first day it was up it became the most viewed clip in Saudi Arabia, and became so popular it started trending worldwide. Any non-Arabic viewer might have been slightly baffled by its popularity. To them it would merely be a clip of a woman in a hijab driving while talking to her passenger, and a poorly filmed clip at that. The hundreds of thousands of Arabic viewers however, saw something all together quite different. They were witnessing a crime take place, an act of dissent. The video gained over 600 000 the few days it was up, but was taken down following the arrest of the driver shown in the clip. Manal al-Sharif was that driver.
The place of women in Saudi society is determined by a deeply conservative culture, vindicated by a narrow interpretation of religion, and enforced by law. That place it would appear is at home, subservient to and legally dependant on their male guardian. Saudi society suffers from pervasive segregation along gender lines and women's freedom of movement is impeded, forcing them to rely on male chaperons.
There is one place where Saudi women can escape marginalization; online. Twitter has of yet no separate site for either sex nor are women confined to their own account page on facebook , where they can have as many male friends as they like. As is case in all oppressive societies the internet has had a delightfully corrupting effect in Saudi Arabia, not only giving access to a global free flow of information, but also facilitating organization and dissent. ...
... middle of paper ...
... and threats of violence against her. Fighting an unjust system is hard enough, but women’s emancipation is still on the wrong side of popular opinion in the still deeply conservative kingdom. And though progress has been made; the first female Saudi athletes at the 2012 Olympics and the promise of Women to participate in 2015 municipal elections, the progress is slow.
Compared to other injustices faced by Saudi women the right to get behind the wheel may seem trivial, but to someone expected to stay at home and remain subservient the sudden freedom to come and go as they wish is incredibly empowering. It means more women being seen in public. It means more women getting jobs and building a career of their own. It means more women going about their daily lives independent and unchaperoned. Nothing adds weight to calls for equality than the roar of an engine.
Firstly, gender discrimination is not an exclusive feature of Saudi Arabia, but it is a more outwardly visible problem there. Gender discrimination and male superiority are most visible in Saudi Arabian culture because “inhabitants of the region where the Arabic language predominates are, despite their diversity, bound into a singular cultural unit with a particular gender system” (Tucker VII). If one group of Arabic individuals hold misogynistic views, or thinks that males are the superior gender, it is very likely that other Arabic individuals will as well. Individuals of the Arabic culture, regardless of their location share a particularly conservative and traditional set of moral beliefs the same way Christians from America may share similar beliefs with Christians from Europe. One belief most Saudi’s have in common is their “conservative view toward women” (Al-Mannai 82). Middle Eastern individuals know what behaviors to expect from each gender, and what each gender should and should not do. An effect of holding such a belief is that a man’s role in Saudi Arabia tends to be one of dominance and power; the male is the ruler ...
The fate and struggles of these characters address the tragedy of the under representation of women’s experiences, and a fatal flaw of societies which do not grant women equal status. Sexuality, privileging of males in terms of status law (and women’s control over their own choices in marriage), inheritance rights, restrictions on female mobility, lack of representation of women’s experiences, violence against women, the intersection between nationalist/ resistance struggles and women’s rights, tensions between modernization and cultural preservation, the haunting specter of (and the need to divorce their goals from those associated with) colonial or Westernizing forces, etc. are all issues represented in this book, that are major concerns of Middle Eastern feminist scholars and movements today.
How has the pre-existing gender division of labor and gendered state policies affected Saudi Arabia’s women workers in their demand for equal opportunities and fair treatment? What are some of the factors involved in disempowering migrant workers in host countries and what happens when these workers start asking for their rights?
The mistreatment of women in Middle Eastern countries is an extremely disheartening and serious problem. According to the religion of Islam, "Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other. As to women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish...
In Canada, we all have the freedom to express our opinion about anything. In Saudi Arabia, no one is allowed to express their opinion, especially if the opinion is saying something against the government. Any women who voice her opinion will be caught and tortured or even executed for her words. Citizens in Canada are allowed to publicly worship any religion while in Saudi Arabia only men are allowed to publicly worship Islam. No women or man is safe from the prying eyes of the
Cultures are unique in many ways; it is irregular to see cultures that are exactly the same as another. While some may borrow parts from neighboring countries or villages, all in all, their unique differences are what make each culture significant. One of the things about the Saudi Arabia and the culture is how derived it is around history, faith, marketing, control, and how westernization affects the country. Other things that will be discussed about the country Saudi Arabia relates to what is important not only to me, but also the way we as Americans culturally identify ourselves with the women of the country.
The Arab world is traditionally and originally a male-dominated culture, where male authority is the norm throughout most Arab countries. Subsequently, even with the introduction of Islam and the acknowledgement of women’s rights coming about in the early 20th century, as will later be described, there still remain those traditional components that affect male-female interactions and relationships in Arab societies. Gender and gender inequality are present in Arab societies still today and are at the forefront of Arab societies. Aspects of gender inequality, for the most part, appear with respect to those of employment and education opportunities, political rights, and justices in marriage. As a starting point, one can stress that there is a general view, on a large global scale that Arab society is one where gender issues and gender relations exist despite the recent protests/riots.
Violence against women is prevalent throughout the Islamic world. The Middle East is one of the many areas that continue to oppress its women. Countries such as Iran, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia still believe in a patriarchal culture; so, many of the people living there have an extreme traditionalist perspective. Women in the Middle East face many hardships, such as polygamy, sexual and domestic violence, forced marriages, strict dress codes, and so on. The Muslim women who acknowledge this inequality and seek to balance it—identify themselves as Islamic feminists. Islamic feminism is a new generation of feminism that has surfaced during the past two decades, as women's issues became an integral part of the modern Islamic discussion. The women involved with this movement seek to challenge and change these outdated perspectives by attacking the root of the problem: the verses in the Quran—which were interpreted solely by men. It is not just the verses, it is also everyday Arabic words that have different meanings, but they also hinder the progression of women—because Muslim men think that only their definition applies. By re-analyzing the interpretations of this religious text and Arabic words, Islamic feminists believe that their perspectives on these things could change the patriarchal culture that exists in Muslim societies.
Saudi Arabia is one of largest Muslim populated Countries in the world, which follows the Islamic culture. The laws are called “Laws of God”, which are apparently interpreted from the Quran. The “Laws of God” is also known as the Sharia laws. The Sharia laws have great impact on Saudi Arabian women, Muslim citizens and Non-Muslim expatiates. Women of Saudi Arabia have limited rights based on the countries Islamic beliefs. However, they are gradually making progress to uplifting some restrictions. Muslim citizens have rigorous rules set in place as well. Furthermore, Non- Muslim citizens are stripped of their rights to Freedom of Religion.
The Bahrainis had a tension between traditional and modern beliefs, values and lifestyles towards women. It was not just only by men but also by women who were afraid to alter views they understand and with which they have been brought up all their lives as this example: one of the women in the office changed the way of dressing after getting married although her husband did not request.
The Arab woman, is there really a clear cut, precisely defined profile of what characterizes a woman of Arabia? Barren sand dunes, nomadic tribes of cloaked men, wearing turbans, mounted on camels, wielding swords, and their weak woman folk to whom they dictate. This is a classic Hollywood image of the Arab’s of the Middle East. The helpless female who is subjected to the will of her militant husband or aggressive father is nothing new to the average person of the present time, where being dutiful and being tyrannized can easily have the same definition in Hollywood and American media. However inaccurate this may be for the entire of the Arab world, it is the societal norm to classify woman as the victim of their male macho society. On the contrary, there is no ‘one size fits all’ description for women coming from the many countries that make up the diverse region of the Middle East. In each country, in each region, in every city, town or village, each woman has her own story, personality, heart and mind; quite opposite from what American media would have one believe. In such as the women of the novels, A Balcony Over Fakihani, Pillars of Salt, and A Woman of Five Seasons, their roles as women, wives, mothers, and daughters portray something other than the Hollywood’s forever destined victim of the males figures in their lives.
... words of Princess Sultana about the many abuses of women in Saudi Arabia. Women in Saudi Arabia's only purpose is sex, and the production of male children. Other than that they are seen as invisible and incompetent. They are given no identity at birth and their deaths are unaccounted for. Saudi women are also forced to cover up their beautiful faces with veils and abaayas. Women of royalty also get treated just as horribly as the lower class women. Jean Sasson did an excellent job of conveying Princess Sultana's pain, aggravation, and grief. Through this book readers will know of Princess Sultana's hopes and dreams of equal treatment for Saudi women. Princess is a well supported and informative book that will teach it's readers the mistreatments of women in Saudi Arabia.
This report draws from many publications written over the last twenty years exposing the unique situation in Saudi Arabia, while also utilizing recent headl...
In summary, Saudi Arabia is a conservative country and the debate about should women drive has shown us that people are at the edge of changing. Women have every right to drive and the government should take some serious steps to make that happen. It should allow them to drive while satisfying both sides because each side has valid points, and the only way this is going to work is new laws that assure women can safely drive.
“Women’s human security rights in the Arab world: on nobody's agenda.” 50.50 Inclusive Democracy, 2 Dec. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.