Reflection: How about Indonesian women? Any idea?
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=13§ion=0&article=83620&d=21&m=6&y=2006 Monday, 12, June, 2006 (16, Jumada al-Ula, 1427) Are Saudi Women Going Through a Crisis? Juhair Abdullah Al-Musaed . Al-Watan Are Saudi women really going through some sort of crisis? Before we start analyzing an issue that really doesn't need analyzing, it would be best to understand that this is a matter in which there are five camps of people with different views and opinions. First of all there is a group of people who believe that Saudi women aren't in anyway suffering any sort of crisis. These people believe that the Saudi woman leads a secure life, surrounded with love and affection and protected like a beautiful precious stone from being harmed, scratched and even smashed. These people believe that Saudi women don't need to be stressed in any way; they insist that women remain shackled within the confinement of pregnancies and motherhood. People who subscribe to this view make wonderful statements in the media saying that the Saudi woman is simultaneously a mother, sister and a wife. Tempting descriptions that are aimed at pushing women away from the limelight and making them a means of serving their own purposes. A second group believes that the Saudi woman is living in a state of crisis and that she wishes to exit an era of repression and elimination. This group wants the Saudi woman to become educated and gain employment in all sorts of jobs. Such people believe that there are no gender specific jobs and that men and women should be able to enjoy working together with equal rights and opportunities. This group also believes that the Saudi woman shouldn't be required to wear a specific sort of hijab and nor should she be prevented from driving, partying, watching movies, clubbing and participating in sports even if it means wrestling. They want her to be somebody other than what she actually is, an impossible vision which may possibly even contribute toward ruining any modest dream for women's rights in Saudi Arabia. The third camp is a group that describes itself ironically as the Islamic renaissance, a group of local scholars. Their mission is to imprison women behind bars of accusations and consider them responsible for the worse sorts of vice and sins. These people are aggressive in even denying women what Islam has granted them, they never promote women's education and never strive to make women aware of the simplest of religious rights. The fourth group doesn't belong to any party or ideological persuasion. They are at the forefront in advocating rights for Saudi women and are also from abroad. These foreigners consider that Saudi women are presently going through a crisis and see the solution in Americanizing and Europeanizing women. These self-appointed defenders of freedom believe Saudi women are excluded from international women circles and are unable to participate because of their appearance and illiteracy. The fifth group, party to this discussion, is the audience who watches, listens but remains silent. They behave as if women's rights are issues that don't affect or relate to their world. Having explained the five camps it should be remembered that in reality the real crisis faced by Saudi women is in the fact that they have become balls that different teams pursue in a playing field. Each throws the ball from one corner to another trying to score a goal in the opponent's net. Nobody really knows the true history of the Saudi woman. Women in Saudi Arabia have never previously fallen into conflict with their societies, they've never demanded freedom and equality but at the end of the day their future is bright. The only things that may possibly ruin that optimism are the various groups who disturb her contentment in order to aspire to becoming illusionary heroes who use the Saudi woman as a pawn for their own purposes. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Great things are happening at Yahoo! Groups. See the new email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/iDk17A/hOaOAA/i1hLAA/aYWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Galang Dana Untuk Korban Gempa Yogya melalui Wanita-Muslimah dan Planet Muslim. Silakan kirim ke rekening Bank Central Asia KCP DEPOK No. 421-236-5541 atas nama RETNO WULANDARI. Mari berlomba-lomba dalam kebajikan, seberapapun yang kita bisa. ======================= Milis Wanita Muslimah Membangun citra wanita muslimah dalam diri, keluarga, maupun masyarakat. 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