http://www.arabnews.com/?page=13§ion=0&article=81509&d=2&m=8&y=2006&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Local%20Press
Sunday, 30, July, 2006 (05, Rajab, 1427)
What the World Thinks of Saudi Women
Fatima Al-Aboudi . Okaz
Recently I received an e-mail from an Italian student who wanted some
information about Saudi women for a paper she was researching as part of her
university course. In her mail the student whinged about lack of information
she could get her hands on.
Having read her questions I realized that the girl was simply clueless
about women in Saudi Arabia. She was totally bereft of information relating to
the type of women-centered education available in the Kingdom, statistics about
how many Saudi women are in the work force and so many other relevant questions
that deal with different aspects of the lives of Saudi women.
I tried as much as I could to answer her queries and asked friends to
write to her and provide her with as much information as they could.
It was at this point that I did a search on the Internet to find out
exactly what has been internationally written about Saudi women. The results
were as I expected. A lot of the websites projected similar negative
stereotypical images of Saudi women.
Women in the Kingdom were portrayed as insignificant and constrained. The
websites focused on issues relating to women driving, elections, and things
such as women not being allowed to leave their homes without an escort or
otherwise risk being beaten by "religious men."
It might be somewhat true that women in the Kingdom are marginalized,
considered insignificant and deprived of some of their rights. Yet Saudi women
have learned to cope with the situation - it's not as bad as some of these
websites claim. The image portrayed seems bleak and dark, especially when there
is no mention of the achievements of Saudi women in the field of science.
I started thinking about the inadequate role of the media and other
sectors in informing the world about women in the Kingdom. In addition I also
began to think about how we could improve the way we are projected to the
outside world.
If only the Ministry of Information and Culture could publish leaflets
and booklets and hold English language programs about the reality of Saudi
women. If only the media could convey a more accurate picture of Saudi women to
the West. If only the Ministry of Higher Education would send people to
advanced Western and Asian countries to enroll in courses and help break myths
that are prevalent about Saudi women. If only they could make it easy for Saudi
women to attend international scientific conferences - of course with the
condition of having a "mahram." If only the Ministry of Commerce would appraise
the role of Saudi businesswomen and their activities. If only the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs would develop partnerships with advanced countries and send
successful Saudi females abroad. I'm sure there are other means and ways of
dealing with this problem. Ways that have slipped my mind and which could be
used to serve this purpose.
Fundamentally, the Saudi woman must redouble her efforts to improve
herself and excel academically, especially in the English language. English is
of paramount importance for people to be able to express themselves with
foreigners and participate in online discussions and dispel the myth
surrounding the so-called veiled and oppressed Saudi Muslim woman.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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