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Customs have been passed down for many generations, with more ‘modern’ generations, some customs change, while others stay the same. If changed, the purpose of it doesn’t get affected, but more of how the custom is carried out. Saudi Arabia is mostly known for its strict moral values and customs regarding religion and women. Gender discrimination is commonly seen in Saudi Arabia. This is due to their strict sets of moral rules. Saudi Arabian men enforce restrictions on women due to their cultural beliefs and family honor. While this tradition has been an influential part of Saudi Arabian society, a time for change has come. In this essay, I intend not only to become more familiar with this tradition but also to find out how there now is a growing generation of Saudi women who are fighting back against their conservative religious society.
People of the Arabic culture, regardless of their location, share a traditional set of moral beliefs the same way Christians from America may share similar beliefs with Christians from Europe. Most Saudis all have one belief in common and that is their “conservative view toward women” (Al-Mannai, 82). A man’s role in Saudi Arabia tends to be dominant and powerful; the male is the ruler of the house and the main source of income for the family, he must be notified or asked for permission for virtually everything. A woman’s role, on the other hand, does not consist of such significance and does not grant the power that the male role has. Rather, the female role consists of women acting modestly and submissively. Saudi women are expected to be confined to being in their homes and care for their families.
To make gender roles a generally accepted Saudi Arabian ideology, the ideology must have been supported by laws both directly and indirectly. One form of direct control of women is religious police or vigilante. Women aren’t allowed to socialize, act, or dress in a fashion that isn’t considered appropriate. To ensure that no woman is behaving outside of what the culture condones, Saudi Arabian males created police-like individuals or watchmen who supervise the streets to make sure that everyone is behaving, socializing, and dressing as their culture instructs them to do. If a woman does not abide by Saudi Arabic common law, she would be charged with immoral behavior and would simultaneously bring her entire family shame and embarrassment.
In Saudi Arabian culture, family and honor are the two most valued aspects of life. According to Sherifa Zuhur’s article ‘Saudi Arabia’, in Arab societies, “male honor is linked to women’s chastity and modesty” (Zuhur, 218). By linking the two together, men force women to act in a certain manner. Men use religion and morals to reinforce their power. Men know most women would not dare disobey the religious rules because it would be like disrespecting sanctified law and disrespecting Allah himself. Women are conditioned to be submissive, and instead of thinking for themselves, are taught to believe that men know best.
Because there exists a connection between honor and modesty, people take it to the extremes to uphold such principles. If a Saudi Arabian woman is too modern or too Westernized, she would be perceived as an individual who has no respect for her family and spouse. To them a woman’s behavior symbolizes and reflects their spouses’ honor, they want to do their best to keep up a good image for themselves and their family.
An example of some of the Saudi Arabic social and moral standards imposed on women is seen in Zoe Ferraris’ ‘Finding Nouf’, there’s a passage that states: “Ms. Hijazi wore a white lab coat and a hijab, a black scarf, on her hair. Because her face was exposed, Nayir averted a gaze, blushing as he did so … Nayir was surprised to see Ms. Hijazi’s first name on her name tag – it should have been as private as her hair or the shape of her body – and it made her seem defiant. … Ms. Hijazi noticed Nayir’s discomfort and was disappointed by it. Reaching into her pocket, Ms. Hijazi took out her burqa, draped it over her face, and fastened the Velcro at the back of her head” (15). Here we see how women in Saudi Arabia must follow social and moral guidelines that dictate how they should act, socialize, and dress depending on where they are at, and with whom. Women are so restricted, while men are free to act and dress as they please. If they do not abide by the appropriate gender roles, they are perceived as immoral by men and women alike. It is for this reason that Ms. Hijazi is perceived as bold; she does not adhere to the traditional role of a Saudi Arabian woman. Females are taught to hide behind articles of clothing as a sign of respect to their family and spouses, but really, they are taught to do so because men have objectified women. Women are the source of temptation upon men; if adultery or other acts of that nature occurred, the woman would be at fault, since women symbolize temptation and sin. Though, one gender is not more responsible than the other; each gender is as guilty and capable of acting immorally as the other, but in a male-dominated society, it is expected for women to be blamed as the source of all problems.
Women also cannot do anything without male advice or consent. They even must have male escorts if they go out of their home, and they can only socialize with people of the same gender or immediate family members of the opposite gender (Zuhur, 219). If a female is having a bad day or just feels the need to get out of their house, they cannot even do that because, on top of all the restrictions imposed on women, they are not even allowed to drive (Zuhur, 219). If ever there is an emergency and a female’s escort suffers a heart attack while driving her somewhere, the female would be at a complete loss. The female is incapable of driving because of lack of exposure to vehicles and because of societal and moral implications that prohibit females to drive; ultimately both individuals would meet their fate and die together. Such a situation exemplifies how Saudi Arabian females have been trained to rely on males to the point where they cannot rely on themselves to save their own lives.
Additionally, family and social support for a woman to become educated is also responsible for the increase in the number of women pursuing jobs that require college certificates and degrees. Since women in the workforce are no longer seen as a form of taboo or embarrassment, more women are encouraged to become independent and educated. Saudi Arabian culture is slowly becoming more Westernized and tolerant of different rules and the changing roles of the Saudi Arabian gender system. With the increase of women pursuing a college education and the increased participation of women in the workforce, one can deduce that education has served as a catalyst for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. Education is slowly starting to help gender disparity be addressed.
Although much progress still must take place, so women and men can hold equal status in Saudi Arabia, there is hope for equality in the future. Saudi Arabic people cannot be blamed for believing what they do because it is not something that they have directly chosen to believe in, but rather it is what their culture has implemented in them. It really isn’t a shock why many non-Muslim individuals may view Saudi Arabian women as enslaved, because in a sense they are. Simply stated, females in Saudi Arabia are conditioned to rely on males and lack independence to not compromise male’s superiority; if women were as equally privileged as men, that means one day they could have the potential to surpass males and thusly no longer contribute to the superior status males hold in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabian culture teaches its people what it considers right or wrong for each gender to do, and it is up to individuals if they want to continue to support women’s oppression, or if they want to endorse equality between genders. Having said that, all the women’s rights in the world would become completely obsolete or not matter if Saudi Arabian individuals fail to be more tolerant and liberal in their perspective on women. If people continue to express and believe in male superiority, all struggles and attempts at equality between genders would be in vain. Only when Saudi Arabian individuals fully accept that times are not as they were in old Saudi Arabia, women’s equality and status will increase and, hopefully, at some point in the future be equal to that of males. To sum things up, there is hope that one-day gender prejudices and privileges won’t be as severe as they are in Saudi Arabia, and women will be granted the opportunity to reach their full potential in life by being able to pursue an education and be able to stand on their own two feet instead of relying on males to solve their problems for them.
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