BBC Journalist

[umm hussain]

A new university for women is opening in Riyadh - yet Saudi Arabia remains a country where women cannot vote, drive, dress as they like or go where they please.


Saudi men and women in traditional dress
The women of Saudi Arabia are not just folded away behind swathes of hot black cloth - they live segregated lives
When I moved to the Middle East six months ago, I knew I would have to bid farewell to my arms and legs.

But I was happy to be working in the region, so I did not resent having to put my skirts and dresses into storage.

But as I prepared for my first trip to Saudi Arabia, I was bristling at the thought of having to wear an abaya - the all-enveloping black cloak that turns the women of the Gulf into mournful ghosts.

Perhaps that is why I called the hotel before I arrived, to ask a question I already knew the answer to - will I be able to use the swimming pool?

The response was a small silence, and then an embarrassed laugh. "Er, No madam. The pool is, of course, for men only. I am so sorry."

I have to congratulate you, Madam, I think you are the first woman to swim in public in all Saudi Arabia
The women of Saudi Arabia are not just folded away behind swathes of hot black cloth, they live segregated lives, ushered out of the all-male public spaces into so called "family" areas, escorted everywhere by husbands or male relatives, and expected to ask for male permission to travel.

So the idea of women swimming in public was laughable.

Undeterred, I wrote a slightly uppity e-mail to the manager of the hotel, protesting that whatever discrimination I expected in the country, I didn't expect it in an international hotel, and asking how he could justify charging me the same price for a lesser service.

I suggested that he could arrange a single sex time for women to swim. I even offered to swim in my abaya.

To my surprise, he agreed to my request. The pool would be mine between six and seven in the morning.

So, wishing I had someone to witness me swimming in cloak and goggles, I arrived for my swim, at dawn.

Big revolution

The night manager of the leisure centre, Walid, was waiting for me, in a state of nervous excitement.

"Good morning madam," he said. "We have everything ready for you. We have cordoned off the pool, placed screens all around."

"So if you have everything you need I shall lock you out here so that you won't be disturbed."

He paused for a moment with his keys, and fixed me with a conspiratorial look.

"I have to congratulate you, Madam, I think you are the first woman to swim in public in all Saudi Arabia!"

A woman wearing the veil
Saudi leaders say women will be allowed to vote in 2009
I grinned. "A small revolution?" I asked.

"No a big revolution. I don't think you realise how big," he said, shaking his head in amazement.

"So since you've screened it all off, does that mean I don't have to wear an abaya?" I asked.

"You can wear what you want," he said, smiling, "No-one can see you."

I didn't feel this was the moment to point out that I was swimming in the open air, at the foot of the tallest building in the country. There was a 41-storey skyscraper looking down upon this scandal. I couldn't help but gaze up at it between lengths, and giggle.

First elections

Later that day I met an impressive woman of the Gulf called Haya Rashed al Khalifa. Haya is one of Bahrain's first female lawyers, and currently the President of the United Nations General Assembly.

She was in Riyadh to address a gathering of Arab heads of state; an unusual occasion in a region where female politicians are still an unfamiliar sight.

The first nationwide elections only took place here two years ago.

Women were not allowed to vote, let alone stand as candidates.

But Haya told the rows of men seated in front of her that they could not avoid change any longer.


The right to swim comes a long way down the list of demands of the women in Saudi Arabia - well below the right to vote, or the right to drive a car
It was time, she told the Arab leaders, that they recognised that women are part of the human race.

Meeting Haya later, I told her I was struck by her optimism.

This repression of women, she told me, is not about Islam. It is about culture. Just look at how interpretations of Islam shift with geography.

The closer countries are to other civilisations - the more progressive they are.

Take Tunisia, in North Africa, where women have had full rights for 50 years. The tides of change have now reached the Gulf.

I told her about my small ripple at the hotel. Her jaw dropped. "You asked to swim in Saudi Arabia? Young lady," she said, "that is more of a breakthrough than mine!"

It wasn't of course. The right to swim comes a long way down the list of demands of the women in Saudi Arabia - well below the right to vote, or the right to drive a car.

But the Saudi leaders are beginning to address that list.

They have said that women will be allowed to vote in the local elections of 2009.

If they keep their promise, that will be a revolution.

The women voters might still be hidden beneath abeyas, but they surely won't be expected to bring their male escorts into the voting booths. Will they?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6625393.stm

 

[umm hussain]

Not wanting to comment too much since I don't trust the source of the story. If this is what happened isn't it double standards? A woman is a woman, if you cant let your sisters swim or give them time to swim in private and put screens up for them. Why on earth would anyone want to do it for a ONE non muslim woman?

 

[Daud McGuire]

salam

If this is what is happening it is outrageous. But it could be lies. I need to visit Saud one day make my own judgement

 

[junaid hasan]

if this stories are also true it doesn´t matter.

i have nothing to do with any country even its saudi.

my faith is related with islam.

and now a days its possible that the people who live in saudi are no more connected with quran and sunnah.

i never support any country even saudi.

because people think whatever saudi people did its islam .
but its not like that.

 

[Daud McGuire]

salam

if this stories are also true it doesn´t matter.

i have nothing to do with any country even its saudi.

my faith is related with islam.

and now a days its possible that the people who live in saudi are no more connected with quran and sunnah.

i never support any country even saudi.

because people think whatever saudi people did its islam .
but its not like that.

Salam alaikum

Ameen

 

[Izzu]

:salam2:
people seem to be confused with Islam and Saudi Arabia.
We follow Quran and the prophet pbuh. He was an arab but that doesnt mean theat the present day Saudi Arabian people are the Guardians or true representatives of Islam. Whoever follows Quran let him know that we follow the will of God and not that of Saudi Arabia.
Having said this, I know a sahih hadith where our beloved prophet pbuh said that in the end ages, the islam will get retracted to Saudi Arabia like a snake retracts to its hole in the ground. But surely this is not the case here. Will find the source of this hadith and post it later.
:astag:

 

[umm hussain]

Mournful Ghosts or Uncovered Meat?

in reply to the bbc journalist

The "Saudi Woman" Effect

By Arwa Mahmoud


"I don't know how to!!"

"Jump from it!!"

"I CAN'T!!"

The sound of a big splash combined with a loud engine overrodethe girls' screams as teenage Hoda, dressed in a T-shirt and swimming suit, drove into the Red Sea with her brother's motorcycle at a public seashore in Jeddah.

Today, Hoda is 41 years old, married to an Imam, and runs a self-development center specialized for women and children.

"Jeddah's sea resorts have always attracted young men and women from different nationalities. Back in the late 70s, it was never an uncommon thing to see a foreign woman on a boat in her swimming suit. Today, many girls continue to find their ways around these places," said Hoda.

Saudi Arabia is a place that surely challenges a journalist's professional ego. The common image of it being a desert with rich princes and women in black cloaks covering them from head to toe often tempts a writer to write about it with a great deal of sensationalism. Some of the Western literature on Saudi Arabia gives the immediate impression to an insider that the author has chosen the easy way; entering the country with a previously established idea, guided throughout with selective perception, and eventually writing what sells.

BBC correspondent Rachel Reid's recent reflection on Saudi, initially titled "The First Woman to Swim in Saudi," and then changed to "Making a Public Splash in Saudi," is reminiscent of such literature.

"Reading through Reid's article, it was as if she wrote about Saudi some 50 or more years ago… women are depicted as subjects, recipients. Expressions such as 'folded away' and 'ushered' draw a dim picture of oppressed women beaten around like cattle," commented Hoda. I listened to her as I looked back at the article, up to the third paragraph, where I reread her describing Gulf women in abaya as "mournful ghosts."

As a half-Egyptian, half-Saudi woman, my life has always been divided between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. In Egypt, I drive and I wear whatever I want. In Saudi Arabia, I can't drive and I have to wear an abaya on top of whatever I'm wearing. I switch between both modes naturally. I hardly give it a thought.

The black abaya that women wear in public places in Saudi has always been in my wardrobe. I would put it on as I go to the airport to take my flight to Jeddah or Riyadh, always have it on as I walk in shopping malls or in the streets of Makkah and Madina, and sometimes forget I have it on when I go visit a cousin and immediately start catching up on old conversations. Sometimes it would get in the way as I came out of a car, sometimes I tripped over it as I went up or down the stairs, but I always attributed it to malpractice on my part. As I would try to hide my embarrassment, most of the women around me would always seem to walk in it with grace and ease.

It never occurred to me once that I looked like a mournful ghost-no child ever screamed when they saw me.

You can never enforce a single uniform on people, let alone women. The Saudi abaya does appear to be a hassle to any foreign woman used to more overt expressions of her individuality. But many Saudi women still manage to find their ways around it. Walk in any fancy mall and you will be stunned with the variety of fabrics, designs, and decorated color appliqués, not to mention the high heels, luxury bags, and full make-up that nearly always come with it. So even as the abaya is an enforced uniform on women, it never snatched away their personal taste or preference. Saudi women who do cover in plain black, head to toe, are culturally accustomed to it. In fact, some of them continue to wear it even outside the country.

The Private Public

Saudi women practice a variety of sports
Saudi women do not have to be escorted by men everywhere they go. Any visit to a "family" section in a restaurant shows it. Yes, they live segregated lives, but this has created a parallel public world with its own social codes and standards. It is also a world of ease and luxury that can easily get you into thinking that it is unsurpassed even by the Saudi man's world. There is very little that Saudi women cannot do in their own world. As a practicing Muslim wearing the hijab, my clothes nearly have no place in Saudi. I find myself digging for jeans and dresses each time I have to travel there. Underneath the abayas, women there wear anything they please. It even gets competitive.

The busier type of women are always caught in their work, and in their leisure time they practice a wide variety of sports ranging from martial arts to horseback riding; the latter type is often taught by a male trainer.

"Saudi Arabia is loaded with a number of social and sports clubs that offer special services for women, and swimming is no exception," commented Maida Zaazou, a Saudi poet and writer who takes swimming as a primary sport.

"My best friend goes swimming with her children every week in Al-Bilad Hotel. It has a certain number of hours for ladies. Most hotels here do," added Hoda, "what the hotel provided for Reid was a private hour. This wasn't so public. They just gave her another private public space, something normally offered in many other hotels."

Reid created a catchy story from a single incident in one of the hotels, and she fit it perfectly at home with what many readers want to read about Saudi.

Saudi women's roles are not necessarily confined to the "private public" sphere. An increasing number has joined the workforce, and many of them can be seen in less 'scary' abayas, smiling, and joining male counterparts in meetings and discussions.

Currently, there is a large number of women members in the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "There are four women in the board of directors," added Salih Al Turki, the chairman of the board.

Segregated life in Saudi is still not easy. Especially for a woman who does not live in the country, I sometimes find it frustrating to constantly be interrupted by figuring out where to sit, or having to rely on someone else to drive me to the place I'm going. Also, Saudi society has started to develop its own list of problems and complications that many Saudi youth are now trying to find solutions to. However, the problem is far from being the old cliché of a suppressed, covered woman always in the shadow of a ruthless, selfish man. A closer look at the society exposes a whole new set of issues that are by far more real and more pressing.

The Controversial Vote

With the image of the covered Saudi woman and her imaginary male escort still fresh in Reid's mind, she concluded her piece with a reflection on women's rights in Saudi Arabia, with special attention to voting. She commented that if women were allowed to vote in the 2009 elections, it would be a "revolution."

"What revolution? We have an existing problem with the voting system itself! Even men suffer from inequality in this regard," Hoda giggled, "Did everyone forget that we live under the most tyrannical monarchy in the region? Focusing on voting as the sign of women's liberation is laughable. It simply does not apply."

She added, "This country needs serious human development, good education, more social awareness and cohesion, and professional training in order to reach a phase in which voting is actually efficient and effective."

How Far Can Labels Go?

Reid's reflection story promises problematic reporting. Because it is an opinion piece, Reid has unknowingly given her prejudice so much liberty that she easily used terms and labels that are culturally offensive. She equaled herself to Australian imam Taj Din Al-Hilali when he labeled women who did not wear the hijab as "uncovered meat," which was equally offensive.

"It's about what people are culturally used to and how they conduct their lives accordingly," said Nadia Al Awady, a half-Egyptian, half-American journalist. "At some beaches I see topless European women tanning or having cocktails with great ease, an uncomfortable scene for any person who is not used to nudity. It's the same feeling others get when they see women covered head to toe, which is an opposite extreme. In the end it is what each of those women is culturally used to."

One of the key skills a journalist often feels compelled to learn at the very beginning of their career is the ability to detach themselves from their personal prejudices and cultural standards to be able to take a clear and pure look at everything new a foreign society has to offer them. The further a journalist manages to go down that path the more they will be able to mirror what they find as accurately and as credibly as possible.

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/...63&pagename=Zone-English-ArtCulture/ACELayout

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,

What is the point of the post? I am unclear. Please be so kind as to sum up exactly what the reader is to derive from this.