Women

Saudi Women Driving on the 17th of June

Saudi, Women 0 Comment

I have shared my thoughts on the issue of Saudi women and their right to drive a couple of times (here and here). I shared the experience of my cousin also. And of course I wrote a parody, which should be the anthem of the movement (we still need a singer) :)

This time, and maybe it is the influence of the Arab Spring, they have set a date, the 17th of June 2011 for women to go out and drive their own cars.

Here is a nice video, which is a school project made by Saja Kamal, an international affairs and political science student, tackling the subject in a very nice and intelligent way, she got the conservative view (and it is not unanimous) and the government’s view on the subject, a great job to say the least.

I am eager to see how all this plays out in the end, and as usual, Saudis have taken to Facebook to show their support, or their opposition, one says it will crash into any woman driving, the other says it will “protect” women drivers from those who will crash into them, and some of course say they will hit their women who want to drive, of course that is not what a real man does.

It would be wise to sell any stocks one has in auto insurance companies, and maybe invest in companies with tow-trucks :)

Saudi Women Want to Vote

Saudi, Women 2 Comments

Some Saudi Women want to vote in the municipal elections, which by the way, most men say they will boycott because the elections are a joke, since none of this will have the power to change anything.

I found this picture, now these are not Saudi women, but the picture really is expressive of the situation, at least it is to me. The younger educated generation refuses to live like their mothers… I know it is a cliché, since no woman wants to grow up to be like her mother… or so I hear :)

I Believe I Can Drive

Saudi, Women 2 Comments

Being sleep deprived sometimes has its creative benefits,or maybe it just makes things look more creative than they are. Anyhow, I was thinking about the requests being sent to the shura council about women driving in Saudi, 1000 signatures for no, and a 128 for yes. So there it was R. Kelly’s “I Beleive I can Fly” song, which played in my head after being passed by a speeding car on the road today, while I was driving a little under the speed limit, and thinking, that guy must believe he can fly. And so, the song came, a little Weird Al Yankovic style, but I am sure it would be played a lot if some woman sang it, and since songs spread fast, this might have a chance also. So here it is, I believe I can Drive, read the words while you hear R. Kelly sing it.

I Believe I Can Drive

I used to think that I could not drive on
And my life needed a driver a taxi or I stay home
But now I know the registration is in the compartment with no glove
I wont need to wait no longer for guys to show me charms (or harms)

If I can see it, then I can do it
If I just believe it, there’s nothing to it

[1] I believe I can drive
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Turning the ignition and Driving away
I believe I can go
I see me driving through that open road
I believe I can drive
I believe I can drive
I believe I can drive

Even if my car was on the verge of breaking down
Even if it rumbles and makes sounds that are loud
There are places in life I need to be
But first I know it starts with an ignition key, oh

If I can see it, then I can be it
If I just believe it, there’s nothing to it

[Repeat 1]

Hey, cause I believe in me, oh

If I can see it, then I can do it
If I just believe it, there’s nothing to it

[Repeat 1]

Hey, if I just can get a car
I can drive
I can drive
I can drive, hey
If I just get my keys
I can drive
Drive-eye-eye

Feel free to suggest better rhyming word or sentences :)

A Woman Driving in Saudi

Saudi, Women 7 Comments

A relative of mine, who is like a big sister to me, recently came back from Canada, she is a doctor.

This week, she got a new driver from Kenya, to drive her to work, while she does have a driver’s license (and a private pilots license), in her country, he can’t use any of them.

On her first day going with the new driver to the hospital to start work, the driver, once hitting heavy traffic, started crying, when she asked him what was wrong, he said he doesn’t know how to drive with all these cars around him, so she asked him to park the car, then she sat in the driver’s seat, and drove herself to work.

She said no one looked twice at her, she even honked at cars that were cutting her off, in Jeddah that happens every 5-10 minutes. AND at the turn before the hospital she even saw a police officer looking at her, he probably put one and one together and understood that she was a doctor, this mysterious question is still unanswered.

For those who know Jeddah, she drove from alrehaily to tahlia street, a good +20km drive. Funny thing is the supposed driver kept telling her that she was doing very well.

The story doesn’t end there, she gave the driver taxi money to go back home. A few hours later she gets a call from home saying the driver has tied a rope around his neck, and is holding a knife in his hand and rolling around in the sand in some empty land in front of her house saying he is going to kill himself. At this time she was wondering what kind of mentally unstable person did she get.

Apparently he thought he was going to be sent back to Kenya, and he really needed this job which he only took because he has a sick mother in Kenya that needs money for medical treatments.

A true story for #WomenDay, isn’t it? I know it isn’t, but it is a true story nonetheless.

For a good women empowerment stories checkout this site.

The Oppression of Indian Women

Women 4 Comments

India is a land of great contrasts, they had a female prime minister Inira Ghandi, and many women take leadership positions in local and tribal governments. I am not sure if many of this information is resurfacing due to the commonwealth games which are taking place in India these days, but I came across this video, that… well, I have no words for. It was made by a photojournalist and  you have to see it to believe it, women are burned and beaten for not giving birth to boys, and 7000 daily abortions are performed (while abortion is illigal) because the unborn child’s sex is female.

I know that not all women go through this in India, and this is not limited to India either, I… still have no words, and I find it very difficult to write anything of meaning after watching the video.

In India, all women must confront the cultural pressure to bear a son. The consequences of this preference is a disregard for the lives of women and girls. From birth until death they face a constant threat of violence. See the project at http://mediastorm.com/publication/undesired

Torture of a Sri Lankan maid by nails in Saudi Arabia

Women 5 Comments

“A Saudi employer and his wife, who are accused of torturing a Sri Lankan housemaid by hammering nails into her body, have been arrested in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, officials at the Sri Lankan External Affairs Ministry said Monday.” CNN

I’ve tried to reserve judgement on the couple, not that abuse of workers does not happen in Saudi (or in many parts in the world) but the story was just too much to really take in, that is human violence, that is premeditated, and if the case was true, the couple need to be tortured first, with some medieval torture instruments before anything else. However, in reality, they must be not right in the head, and I hope they do not have children because I would not want them as my parents.

I remember I once had a sewing needle get into my back during gym class at eighth grade while doing sit-ups in the soccer field, it hurt, bad, I had to go to the hospital and get surgery to get it out less than 24 hours after it got in, because it had swollen and I could not walk straight because of it, so what that woman suffered was nothing short of hell.

I also have to wonder if the couple had some kind of medical book, or if they thought they were performing acupuncture on the poor lady, inserting all those needles without accidentally killing a person does not happen by chance, and not getting infected must have been some clean surgical grade material they were using… I am just asking these questions out loud.

If it is true as I said, then somebody needs to do a psychological evaluation on the couple, if not, then that poor woman suffered by whoever inserted those things in her.

It makes you wonder how bad humans could be to each other, I know of an experiment (made into a movie called Das Experiment) and I know kids drive other kids to suicide by bullying and now cyber-bullying… I just wish this was all not true… but that is all a fact of life.

On a lighter side of things, my parents had employed many domestic helpers over the years, some still call my parents every now and then to say hello, one even named her daughter after my mom, so I personally know it is not all bad, since many of the families I know have had drivers and maids for so many years.

I pray Lahadapurage Daneris Ariyawathie gets well soon, and I hope she gets justice.

Dalma wins bronze

Saudi, Women 2 Comments

I found this interesting “Though this is the first time a Saudi woman athlete officially represented the Kingdom at an international competition, several women riders had been competing overseas since 2004 under the sponsorship of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company.

Leading women riders who have carried the colors of Kingdom Holding Company include Alia Al-Huwaete, Nourah Al-Yousif, and Latifah Al-Shaikh, who all competed in several show jumping and endurance competitions in the Gulf.” (ArabNews)

Makes you wonder what the press really sheds light on, not to mention they said Dalma was 16 in initial reports and they got her name wrong.

Congrats to her on the bronze medal.

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© Qusay 2012