The Disadvantages of a Saudi Woman
Saudi Arabia has evolved as a country economically through the past years. Yet, socially, Saudi Arabian women continue to face the hardships of living with a lack of rights and privileges. The strong traditions and laws have forced Saudi Arabian women to suffer without freedom. As a result, women in Saudi Arabia have to face limitations on their daily life as the law and Islamic traditions prevents them from doing things such as being able to drive or decide to get a divorce or not. Saudi Arabian women keep on fighting against the law and traditions without being able to have a change.
Saudi Arabia is a country that is ruled under a monarchy and a Council of Ministers. This Council of Ministers consists of twenty two different ministers who are in charge of different areas regarding the society and the king is the head of the different councils. Although Saudi Arabia is an independent country it is not ruled under a constitution like mostly every independent country in the world. Instead, Saudi Arabia is ruled under the Sharia a " [body of the law] based on the Koran and the example of the prophet " (Besheer and Hunt, 29) due to the country's affiliation to the Islamic religion. Making this clear we can see how the Islamic religion and the Saudi Arabian laws are involved together resulting in a lack of rights to their citizens especially towards women in order to keep traditions.
Women all over the world have been fighting for decades to be equal to men, and they've been able to gain what they want in many countries, but Saudi Arabia is not one of those countries. According to the book Cultures of the World: Saudi Arabia by Hunt Janin and Margaret Besheer, the reason why Saudi Arabian wom...
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Women’s rights in the Middle East are being restricted, therefore there are many different reactions. Some people were in favor of women having equal rights while there are some who are against women to have the same rights. Since before times, many countries in the Middle East have been taking women for granted and minimized their rights by telling them they can't do something or selling them as if they were prized. When women were treated as prizes it was a practice in Afghanistan called Ba’ad that used women as the compensation, for example a story of a girl named Sakina. She was a consolation prize so that her brother could marry a woman and the Jirga system told her she had to marry a 80 year old guy when she was like 18. This tells me
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.
Saudi Arabia is commonly known for its strict moral values and customs regarding religion and women. Gender discrimination is a global conflict, but it is prevalently seen in Saudi Arabia. Gender discrimination is so poignant in Saudi Arabia because there are strict sets of moral guidelines and ideologies that Saudi Arabian culture implements on its people. Although Saudi Arabian men impose restrictions on women for the sake of upholding their cultural beliefs and family’s honor, there is no doubt that Saudi Arabian culture is male dominated and holds misogynistic views on women, but progress is being made. Firstly, gender discrimination is not an exclusive feature of Saudi Arabia, but it is a more outwardly visible problem there.
This is a culture based text on Saudi woman are not allowed to drive and how they are treated when they do. Again men are treated and also looked at as a higher more trust worthy person or driver in this case. In Saudi the men are supposed to be the only ones allowed to drive so when woman are seen driving visa process control was questioned and woman were scared after her arrest. But on the other side there are some men in Saudi that to agree that woman should be able to drive. “”Bravo to the women!” the prince said in an interview. “Why should woman drive in the countryside and not I the cities?””(MacFarquha and Amer, 126) This could be a potential sign that men are maybe starting to gradually understand woman and what their life is like. I also believe that since a remark such as this is coming from a prince it could affect the views of more people. “We want to drive today, tomorrow, and every day – it’s not a one-day show. We want to make it a norm.” said professor Kashgary. (MacFarquhar and Amer,
People who see women as “second-class” or as an “object”, when they fail to realize that the reason that people continue to be on this world is because of a woman. Document #4 is a picture of the former president of Iran, Ruhollah Moosavi Khomeini, saying that he is looking to take Iran back 1400 years to the time of Rasool’ Allah, who is the Islamic god. During those times women were treated even worse than now. Document #3 is an article titled “Behind the Veil”, which speaks of Muslim women who have a religious commitment and their reasonings to why they wear veils. Many years ago the Shah tried to westernise the Middle East. People who don't really like change, like to be independent, or have specific beliefs felt as if their Islamic identities were being threatened. Some women had stopped wearing burqas, which lead to oppression, while on the other hand, some women had been subject to prejudice for wearing them. Women’s rights have never been favored in the middle east. In the Middle East there is a justice system called, Jirga, which is an assembly of leaders, who are all male, that make decisions by consensus and according to the teachings of Islam. This justice system is never in favor of women, and they see women as objects to trade. The Jirga believes that women can't go out without a male figure, can’t really be educated, don't have a voice, or that women are an equivalent to men. Document #8 speaks of women specifically in Saudi Arabia not being able to drive. It quotes “The vast majority of women do not drive in [Saudi Arabia] and there remains much opposition to female drivers.” A 25 year old Saudi Arabian man said “I think women driving is the key to a lot of things”. Basically saying that women shouldn't be allowed to drive because women in the Middle East will be thinking that they can go or do whatever they want. Then he proceeded to compare women driving, to how women
In the book, Women in the Middle East, a Saudi Arabian proverb states, "A girl possesses nothing but a veil and a tomb" (Harik and Marston 83). The key words, "veil" and "tomb" lend evidence to the fact that many Middle Eastern women lack identity symbolized by the “veil” and lack the right of ownership except for their veil and the tomb. This statement further enforces the notion that many women in the Middle East are expected to serve and tolerate the oppression of the men in their lives throughout their lives on this earth. Moreover, it confirms that many of these women do not get the opportunity to obtain education, join the work force, and even participate in the political affairs of the country. This arrangement further helps the Middle Eastern men to view women as their properties, servants, or even as slaves. Ultimately, there are three main reasons why Middle Eastern men engage in the act of oppressing their women.
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 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.
It is bordered by Iraq and Jordan on the north, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman and Yemen on the south. The Arabian Gulf Sea surrounded from the east and the Red Sea from the west. Saudi Arabia is a traditional monarchy. Al Saud dynasty is a royal family of the kingdom. The population of the kingdom was estimated to be 29,369,428 in 2014 - the 43rd largest in the world (Worldpopulationreview.com, 2014). In the technology side, Saudi Arabia is becoming focused on technology. They increase the spending on connectivity and human resources (Saudi Arabia Emergence of Innovation Kingdom,
The Women of the Middle East have played substantial roles for their corresponding countries since the advent of colonialism in the region. Middle Eastern women have worked in all types of fields including medicine, education, agriculture, government, private sector, and even defense. They have kept roofs over their family’s heads while their husbands were away in wars, or even in foreign countries to work in jobs that they could not find in their own countries. The roles of women in the countries of Yemen and Oman are no exception, but while they still find ways to contribute to their country, they care constantly stereotyped, discriminated, and ridiculed by men who are known and unknown to them. This paper will discuss the individual contributions of the women living in Yemen and Oman, and will discuss in further state laws and cultural norms that are affecting the women living in these countries today.
...gely by religious values: Conservative dress, conservative literature, and conservative behavior. Freedom of political and religious expression is not allowed, and diversions like dancing, or movies, activities are almost nonexistence in Saudi Arabia. As it has been for centuries, the cultural and political life of Saudi Arabia continues to be expressed in terms of Islamic principles.
The first and the most obvious difference between Saudi Arabia and Netherlands is the law for prostitution. In Saudi Arabia, prostitution is strictly illegal which relates to the Islamic law that prohibits any sexual relationship outside the institution of marriage. The penalty of prostitution for those who refuse to recant, if a prostitute is a foreigner, they will be arrested, imprisoned, deported from the country and will never be allowed in the Kingdom again. Furthermore, in the case that a prostitute is a resident, they will be stoned to death or beheaded under Islamic law (Hood, 2002). According to Arab News, a Saudi Arabia man was sentenced to 28 years in jail after convicting of sexual assaulting an Indonesian housekeeper (2007). Nevertheless, by intensively enforcing prostitution laws, the Saudi Arabia government has not quite completely solved the problem yet. As to the report by Middle East Times, two years ago there were more than 80 people who were involved in 20 cases of prostitution arrested by the police (The law in Saudi Arabia, 2007). Unlike Saudi Arabia, prostitution has been legalized in Netherlands ...
To understand the situation in Saudi Arabia better, you need to know about the social traditions and how people live. Saudis believe women are not supposed to reveal their bodies and only reveal their faces. That is because Islam says so. However, more and more teenagers in public, even in the highways, are harassing women which led to the establishment of the religious police. Religious police's role is simply to make sure no one harasses any woman and the roads stay safe.
Being Saudi Arabian is to be faithful and authentic to one important religious symbol of Islam which is being believer of Allah but no one else and being the believer that Mohammed is the prophet of Allah, which is considered very essential aspect of the culture. Saudi Arabians are the people who have strong affiliation and loyalty to the authentic, generous, wise Arab tribes who settled in the Arabian Peninsula many years ago. In addition, being Saudi Arabian represents being loyal to the country that fully contributed to providing free healthcare, education, and public services for the citizens. Saudi Arabians are the people who care and help others when they face life-threatening disasters. Saudi Arabia has many symbols that represent them.
The role and place of Women in Islam has changed drastically, in a positive way, over the past millennium: the changes can be greatly attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, and the Qur’an. To understand the changes in women’s rights and freedoms, one must understand their role and place before Islam was created, which happened in the Arabia Peninsula, now Saudi Arabia (Angha). Before Islam was formed women lacked many of the basic human rights, and they were treated as more of a burden in their culture then someone who should be respected, but that is not the case today. Though women in Islam have gained many rights, there is still some controversy over whether or not women are still being oppressed and treated like second class citizens compared