[nasional_list] [ppiindia] One Step Forward for Woman, Giant Leap for Man

  • From: "Ambon" <sea@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <"Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@freelists.org>
  • Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2006 02:31:17 +0100

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Friday, 6, January, 2006 (06, Dhul Hijjah, 1426)


      One Step Forward for Woman, Giant Leap for Man
      Emma Simpson, Arab News
     
        
      The day Saudi women get the green light to drive will be one that will 
undoubtedly go down in history and might well be looked back on as having been 
a far greater achievement for the men of Saudi Arabia. It will perhaps be 
remembered fondly as the day when the Saudi woman took one step forward and the 
Saudi man took a leap.

      For the moment, however, this is one topic being taken very much in its 
stride - slowly and impatiently.

      Debates tend to revolve around the advantages and drawbacks of a given 
issue, and on the surface the driving-ban debate appears to be no different 
from any other. That is until one listens to the many points of view and then 
it is clear this an emotive subject that has as much to do with male fear and 
breaking with tradition as it does to do with driving.

      "I know what the advantages of women driving are and I agree with all the 
arguments, but it is not enough. What I know is the way I feel when my daughter 
tells me she wants to drive her own car like her brothers one day. I can't help 
it; I panic when I think what might happen to her," says Saudi father Tamer.

      Typical of many conservative fathers, Tamer can now admit the ban is 
wrong but still finds it hard to accept it on a personal level.

      And surely it is only reasonable that the fathers and husbands in the 
Kingdom should be concerned and want to be convinced even reassured that when 
this ban gets lifted there will be no regrets later; when it will be too late 
to then turn back.

      Perhaps the fact that more and more traditional men like Tamer are even 
expressing their feelings in such an honest way is a positive sign and one that 
heralds progress.

      "It took quite a while for man to invent the wheel and then even more 
time to perfect it, so it ran smoothly. At the moment the driving ban debate 
has a big puncture," says Egyptian father Tigani who wants to see the ban 
lifted; but for the time being remains pessimistic.

      "So far there has been a lot of noise and clamor, images conjured up of 
women being wantonly harassed by droves of men as well as a lot of unhelpful 
media coverage some of which is from outside Saudi Arabia. Trying to shove a 
square through a circle is not going to achieve anything except create more 
frustration. Change happens when hearts and minds are won over and that 
requires less talk and more patience and that is in very short supply."

      For Saudi expatriates living in the West, many look back home and see the 
ban as being highly unflattering to Saudi Arabia's image and at a time when the 
Kingdom is steadily opening up and becoming more closely involved with the 
global community.

      Keeping the ban in place won't hinder Saudi business and modernization 
but won't aid to it, either. The irony that in the most oil-rich Arab countries 
in the world, women are still wholly backseat passengers is one paradox that 
needs some explaining in order to make sense. 

      It was only seven months ago that Muhammad Zulfa, a member of the Shoura 
Council, sparked controversy by asking whether the ban would be gradually 
lifted, a question for which he later received death threats.

      "I do not know why the recommendation was not approved by the acting 
president," he said at the time. "We are not asking for a discussion for 
something that is sinful in our religion or in our culture. I think a lot of 
people in our society want to find a solution to this problem."

      His point may have brought the debate out into the open more but 
surprisingly not all women were in raptures over the way it was publicized.

      Doha, a Saudi mother of three, actively opposes the ban but believes 
there are quieter ways to win over the Shoura Council.

      "An argument that opposes the driving ban has to be one that will 
convince Saudi men who will always be very protective of their women. What 
happened in May set the ball rolling, only backward. What people forget is an 
argument needs not be a fight."

      In the meantime "home is not just where the heart is" but where a huge 
chunk of the female population are most days. For those women who cannot afford 
a driver or are not allowed to travel in taxis the purpose of daily life gets 
lost amid long empty hours often slept away. It should not be forgotten that 
Saudi Arabia has a high rate of depressed women and the number is growing by 
the day.

      Allowing women to drive won't cure depression, but it will provide women 
with another option: one excuse less to stay indoors.

      At present Saudi Arabia spends a staggering SR12 billion a year on 
drivers' wages, a point that in itself angers women like Doha.

      "I am a mother of three daughters who sees there are drawbacks with women 
driving on Saudi roads, but who can de-code the logic that says it is dangerous 
for women to drive when surely it is potentially far more dangerous to be 
driven by a strange man! Men want to be convinced, fine; but so do women."

      This is one debate that seems never to run out of fuel.
     


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