Don’t try to control our lives, say Saudi women

By RIMA AL-MUKHTAR | ARAB NEWS

JEDDAH: Young Saudi women are calling for more freedom and liberty in their own country. On International Women’s Day, university students claim that women in Saudi Arabia need more independence because their daily life is filled with restrictions.

Arab News spoke to young Saudi women about their thoughts on the future.

“One of our simple rights is to be able to drive to college. I don’t understand why it’s prohibited for us to be in the driving seat,” said 22-year-old Zakeyya Ghulman. “I’m sick and tired of the driver being late and busy with all the work my family is giving him — dropping my mom off at the doctor,  picking up my sister from school. I keep waiting for him for hours.”

Traveling without a male guardian and having to wait for his approval creates problems for  20-year-old Kholoud Mamoon. “My parents are divorced. My mother is from Egypt, and she lives there. My problem is that every time I want to visit my mother I face a lot of resistance from my father before I finally get him to take me to see my mom,” she said. “I want to just pack my bags and book a flight for the weekend to visit my mom whenever I need to.”

Under Saudi law, women require their guardians’s permission to leave the country — either by escorting them to the airport and signing an exit waiver or by obtaining single-use or multiple-use permission forms that women keep with their passports.

Having the freedom to choose her future husband is what 25-year-old Amal Al-Ali really wants. “I come from a family that controls young women and does not give them the option to even choose their future,” she said. “Our generation is new and out there, we see and mix with men more than my mother and grandmother did when they were my age,” she said.

Amal added that her father decided when she was a baby that she was going to marry her cousin. While Islamic custom grants fathers the right to reject male suitors, it does not permit fathers to arrange marriages against the consent of their daughters. However, going against a father’s will can prove to be a formidable challenge for daughters and sons alike.

Some jobs and college studies are prohibited to Saudi women, especially if they’re perceived by parents to be inappropriate for women.

“I always wanted to study journalism, but my father was so against it that he controlled my high school certificate study, my college study; and I’m sure he will control my job options,” said 19-year-old Nora Al-Harthy. “His argument was that journalists have to mix with men in the office and talk to them by phone or even interview them. This act in our family is taboo.”

As for sports, stadiums are no-go zones for women — something that irks the Kingdom’s many female football fanatics. “This is nonsense,” said 20-year-old Mona Bokhary. “I have a passion for football and it doesn’t make sense that women are not allowed to watch football live and always have to watch it on big screens. I want to attend a football match and hear people cheering for their favorite team and feel the game. What’s the harm in that? Why isn’t it allowed for women to go there? Why not make women’s only sections at local stadiums?”

Comments

RAZA

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Girls shut up! no one is intrested in treating you as human being! What are you? a commodity, a mean of pleasure and a burden, and such things do not have feelings. Kill you feelings and live.

MUKHTAR FARID

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Are we born free? It is a big question mark what we call as freedom. If we believe that we are from Allah and we have to return to Him. In this case we are bounded by the laws of Allah. So we are not free. If we do not believe then we are atheist. An atheist is bound by social culture around him, for example he has to dress and cannot walk naked, he cannot have sex with his near ones, as restricted by social norms [I do not say by God as he is an atheist]
Humans are bound to have certain restrictions due to religion, culture, society, nature and ethics. So no one is free on this planet.

So no one is free to do anything they like to do, and they have to accept certain restrictions imposed by religion, society, government and culture.

A READER

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I fail to understand why media is publishing such things. The atmosphere in the Kingdom is very peaceful and I dont think there is any problem for women. Newspapers should refrain from publishing such naive demands which are attempts to change the decent atmosphere and create disturbances in Saudi Arabia.The so called women's day and women's rights is nothing but to destroy and damage the dignity of women and just to uncover them in the name of freedom which is very bad and shameful.

SRKJED

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Dear Women of Saudi Arabia, I do understand that you face a lot of trouble in daily lives, due to your dependency on your Meh'ram. But I would suggest that you stay away from the mainstream, since most men in this country are so ill-mannered and mishbehaved that they can even frustrate menfolk.

AWADH

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Assalam Alaikum Rima, You wrote: "Young Saudi women are calling for more freedom and liberty in their own country. On International Womens Day, university students claim that women in Saudi Arabia need more independence because their daily life is filled with restrictions".Is it "all" young Saudi women or some? Be careful. Some restrictions are ordained by the All Mighty one, Allah. Be proud of your religion. In islam everyday is womens day. Don't listen to slogans of enemies of islam such as "women's freedom", "women's day" etc.. The enemies want to destroy muslim ummah, especially women. Rima, be aware of enemies of islam. May Allah guide us all to His straight path. Arab News, I hope for once, you'll post my comment.
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