By Semperpapa
Finally something from Saudi Arabia I can get behind. A Facebook page in the Saudi Kingdom is calling for young Saudi men to beat women who are found driving cars in public. According to the laws of the kingdom, women are forbidden from operating a vehicle, having instead to count on male drivers for their transportation.
This "controversy" was sparked by a woman who filmed herself driving a car and who was arrested and jailed by the authorities. She is still in jail, pending prosecution or release.
I travel the freeways of Southern California extensively every day, over 100 miles in heavy traffic, and I can actually support the Saudi law, especially when it comes to women driving while putting their makeup on with one hand, holding a cereal bowl in the other and talking on their cell phone, while traveling at 50mph steering with their knees.
Ok, I am joking so stop running around with your hair on fire!
Joking aside, this is the situation for women in Saudi Arabia. Those who will attempt to defy the ban by driving in an upcoming demonstration will be beaten by Saudi males and will receive no help form the authorities. As a matter of fact, they will be probably prosecuted for their actions.
It is the M.O. of Wahhabism, the perfect society promised by Sharia law.
I wonder how would the feminists in America react if the ever present government would institute such a restriction on women. Would the description of "religion of peace" still hold?
Just my thoughts!
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Take care with lumping "all feminists" into one big pot of yuck - I am a feminist, but there are 120 different strains of feminism (with gender feminists being on the extreme end of the spectrum, and frequently the stereotype people have in mind when they say "feminist" ~ and most feminists are NOT gender feminists). Yes, feminists around the world are up in arms about what is happening in Saudi. I'm not. I think it's horrifically sad, but...and this is the BIG but...I lived in Saudi. Those are, very simply, the laws. The only people who CAN fight those laws are the people there (and there really ARE men there -in Saudi, I mean) who have feminist-supporting ideals and who do not believe women are 2nd class citizens. Nobody but the citizens there can do anything about it.
ReplyDeleteI would also take care to recognize the gender battle that is happening here, particularly being waged by the extreme right-wing evangelical christians, who have been working diligently for the past 30+ years to strip away women's rights here (and yes, they have long-term sights set on suffrage that was won more than 100 years ago .... no, I am NOT kidding or exaggerating). And, worse yet, they have had various success in different parts of the country. *heavy sigh* I have referred to those particular groups as the American Taliban, because that is exactly what they are.
I am sure there are these groups you define as American Taliban, and I am sure there are some who are right wing extremists. But I would also caution about isolating the Right as anti-woman because of some extreme characters.
ReplyDeleteI consider myself on the Right and I am definitely not sexist or anything like it.
I see it from a different prospective: true sexism, just like racism, resides in the hearts of those who want government to "fix" what in today's age is no longer broken. The continuous degrading of an individual really lives in the pretension that that individual needs special attention and preferred treatment. That's what makes individuals slaves to authorities.
Even if not recognized, I am also a minority, but I never expected or demanded preferential treatment. Just live me alone and let me leave my life. If I fail, and I have, it is my responsibility, not the government.
Thanks for the comment...
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