During my time working in the Middle East, the people of Saudi Arabia (Arabian Nationals in particular) is not required to work so I never had a chance to work with them. I remember before I left, there was a news to implement Saudization. I referred Saudi Arabian culture as old testaments (backwards), Men and Women are not allowed to share room in all aspects such as restaurants, movies, public entrance. Gender are highly segregated from each other and never to have a mix crowd.…
“Saudis in Bikinis” by Nicholas D. Kristof is a unique consider how Saudi women feel about being covered up. One Saudi woman in Kristof’s article stated that “I cover up my body and my face, and I’m happy that I’m a religious girl obeying God’s rules…I can swim and do sports and go to restaurants and wear what I want, but not in front of men”. Pg. 176 That must be a liberating feeling to be able to wear whatever you want and not worry about what a man is thinking about your outfit or another woman. Women let’s keep it real. Most of the things that we do to make ourselves beautiful for men okay maybe to look better than the next women. I used to stress myself out about wearing the right outfit, putting on makeup and making…
“Garments were arranged to display the patterns and quality of fabrics on all layers and add bulk to the body image. The more former the occasion or higher the status of the weaver, the more layers worn, with richer materials further indicating wealth.” Explained in Charlotte Jirousek article Islamic Clothing. Wearing the hijab was crucial while in public due to the exposer of the body. Any woman that was unveiled was viewed by men as a naked woman. Women should be covered to protect what is considered the men’s property at all times unless around immediate family in their homes. That is why “Women wear the Hijab around strangers (especially males) that they do not consider as part of their family. It is believed that this lessens the chance of them having bad thoughts about them, this includes sexual desires. They believe that the external part of a person is not important but what it inside.” Said in the article Why Do Woman Wear Hijab, Maureen. Women started to adapt to their cultural upbringings, they believed this was a way to keep themselves treasured. Some Islamic woman seen no harm in this, they didn’t feel as if the men dominated them, or were obeying them as their property. They felt as if all women should feel the need to be veiled so they’re not perceived as just a sex object. They would like men to be attentive to their personalities and mind not their looks. Today, women have more of a choice to be veiled. There are a lot of women who use the hijab and not the gown due to the evolving changes in fashion and liberal few points. They feel that it denies the women the freedom to decide on their own…
What characterizes the Arabic culture the most is probably the difference between men and women when it comes to rights and power because the middle-East is very male-dominated. The separation of power gives the Arabic women very few rights as human beings and the restrictions about interactions with men in public makes it difficult for the women to carry on the same life style that we in the western regions take for granted. For example, women play little or no role in neither entertainment nor business, only 7 percent of the female Saudi Arabic population account of the total workforce. Women are required to wear abayas in public and not show their bodies or even hair in for other men. In some Arabic countries their faces also have to be covered up.…
Secondly, we also been conditioned to believe that a veiled woman is an oppressed woman. In truth women choose to wear or not wear their veils out of religious piety and social preference. These veils can also be used as a “tool of resistance” (Sensoy and Marshall, 124) “Women of Afghanistan documented the Taliban’s crimes against girls and women by hiding video cameras under their burqas and transformed the burqa from simply a marker of oppression to a tool of…
Contrary to popular belief, not all Muslim women are being oppressed into fully covering their bodies. Instead, a majority of Muslim women around the world have made the decision themselves to wear a head covering or veil. The belief concerning the oppression of Muslim women has resulted from the negative connotation of head coverings associated with Islam. Many people are convinced that Islamic head coverings represent fundamentalist Islam and oppression of Muslim women. This belief is highly misinformed and untrue. Muslim women who choose to veil do so to represent their dedication to their religion. In the past there were many Middle Eastern and African countries that banned different types of headscarves for security reasons or to protect their women.…
Women in Saudi Arabia cannot drive and are unable to do other things like enter a cemetery or go anywhere without a male chaperone in their country which are legal in other…
Women’s rights are a very large issue in Saudi Arabia; there are a lot of things that women are banned from doing. They cannot leave their neighborhoods; they cannot play sports or even use public transportation. But Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that prohibits women from driving (Wikipedia). Commonly used excuses for not allowing women to drive are 1. it involves uncovering the face 2. it may lead women to go out of the house more often 3.it may lead women to have interaction with non-mahram males, for example at traffic accidents 4. it would be the first step in an erosion of traditional values, such as gender segregation. Although there is no law against it was declared “forbidden” (Wikipedia) Just recently the women from Saudi Arabia have started to take a stand.…
The life of women in the a Islamic society is faced with great and unequal odds, as their human rights are limited, due to Islamic beliefs and a patriarchy society. From their daily actions at home, to their physical appearance, women are portrayed as quiet, faceless women veiled from head to toe. While this image is just another stereotype, women in the Islamic society do face many obstacles and challenges of creating their own identity as they are frequently denied their rights. Living in a society dominated by men, life in some cases is difficult for women in the Islamic society. There is constant fight for a change as they balance their traditional roles with those of modern society.…
The question proposed in the title is basically a direct response after going through Geraldine Brooks’ essay “Nine Parts of Desire; The Hidden World of Islamic Women” in its second chapter. Geraldine poses several ideas and personal experiences in which she tries to understand the mystery of the perpetuating repressive and barbaric practices (genital mutilation, infibulations, hysterectomy, and honor killings) that have nothing to do with Koranic teachings. She starts her essay in a detailed description of a gruesome and shocking scene of a hysterectomy procedure that took place under poor and unequipped conditions (Brooks 33). Many women that were subjected to such practices ended up dead. For such manner, Dr. Abrehet Gebrekidan, a gynecologist, offered the Eritreans help since her skills will ensure their survival (Brooks 34). Furthermore, the Kuran refused the existence of the dreadful genital mutilation procedures, but the women were not educated enough to read it (Brooks 35). And despite the consequences of such procedures, they believed that such procedures were to safeguard the girls’ chastity where the honor of the fathers and brothers depended on (Brooks 37). As for men, they believed that these operations are equivalent to their honors, therefore they must repress women sexualities by turning off their pleasure sites otherwise they will end up as prostitutes (Brooks 35). The prophet Muhammad, who is the ideal person of all Muslims, believed that women should enjoy sexual intercourse with their husbands. And that it is forbidden to take away women desires (Brooks 39). According to Muslims, specifically Shiite, adultery “sigheh or muta” is acceptable and sanctioned by a cleric where the couple are together mainly for having sex and providing money (Brooks 43). Brooks also mentions the idea of honor killings that were and still adopted in some Islamic tribes. They believe that fathers and…
This initially sparked controversy when there was a flurry of reaction to Stephen Harper's remarks on Twitter. The most popular Islamic clothing is a hijab that covers the head-and-shoulders; piece of cloth that covers the face, and the niqab that covers the entire face with the exception of few countries like Saudi Arabia where it is the law to wear the niqab. However, it is entirely up to Muslim women whether they choose to wear it or not. This situation is best described according to Isaiah Berlin’s “two concepts of liberty” (Swift 2014, 58-60).…
Inspired by Islam, the Arabs expanded out of Arabia spreading Islam and the Arabic language. Saudi culture is based on Islam and the excellence of the Arabic language. The Saudi form of Islam is conservative and fundamentalist, pedestal on the 18th-century revivalist movement of the Najdi leader Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdel-Wahhab. This still has a great consequence on Saudi society, particularly on the position of women, who are required by law only to leave the home totally covered in black robes (abaya) and masks, although there are regional dissimilarity of dress. The Najd and other remote areas remain true to Wahhabi tradition, but throughout the country this way of life is being altered by modernization and rapid growth. Saudi Arabia is not a totalitarian culture. While it is represented by its Western critics as being a benighted land of authoritarian oppression administered by a supreme monarchy, its king in fact rules within the rubric of two overwhelming constraints. First, is the Islamic religion itself. Although Islamic law is very strict that would be absolutely unacceptable to a Western population, the extent to which Islam provides a commonly agreed upon set of rules which are apart from, and above, the monarchy. The fundamental tenets of Islam are accepted by the overwhelming majority of the population as being the dictates of God. The clerics have a very significant role in the country,…
There is no doubt that women driving cars in Saudi Arabia is not the first or the most important issue for women in this country but it is one of the issues that persist on women's insistence on acquiring their own rights as long as there is no religious objection. Until today in Saudi Arabia, women are not allowed to have their own driver’s license. They are not permitted to drive their own cars at any place and at any time. The Saudi government is against women driving in Saudi as they think that it might cause many issues and problems for the society. Although some people oppose women driving in Saudi Arabia, some people think that women driving in Saudi could have its advantages for the women race and to the society as a whole.…
According to the Guardian, the Saudi Arabia government is about to enforce changes in law, which allow only women work in stores…
* impotency, insanity of the husband, or if he is suffering from some venereal disease,…