Women heard, not seen, at Saudi forum on rights

[CShine]

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- One woman criticized rules that keep Saudi women from teaching boys. Another said working women should be allowed to do more than teach. Others called for more rights for divorced women. Saudi women were allowed to be heard -- but not seen -- at a three-day forum this week on their status in this conservative Islamic kingdom. The King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue invited 70 prominent Saudis, half of them women, to the holy city of Medina to discuss the role of women.

Men sat in one room, women in another. They shared their views through video conferencing, although the men faced a blank screen in deference to bans on women showing their faces in public. The forum was covered by state television and by the private Saudi-owned station al-Arabiya, which focused its cameras on the men as it aired the voices of the women. The forum ended Tuesday with vague calls for women to be given more opportunities to work and to participate in public life, and a pointed reminder that their role as wives and mothers was "an essential job."

Still, it was "a good first step," said Nawal al-Rashid, who recently was elected head of the new national press union in Saudi Arabia.

"The importance of the discussions is that they highlighted women's issues and made them part of the public debate," al-Rashid said Wednesday.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/headline/world/2631937

[kerrycrat2k4]

1. No wonder they hate us

Why do we feel the need to Amerikkkanize every other culture on earth?

[Warpy]

3. This isn't Americanization

Saudi women have legitimate grievances against a bunch of zealots who seem incapable of answering the simple question, "Would I want to live that way?" when deciding the incredibly restrictive laws against women.

I've known a few Saudi women here in the US, and while they love the ability to drive a car and have their own jobs, they deplore what they say is a feeling of vulnerability, the lack of protection that Saudi society affords. They have told me that were they afforded full rights, they would return home immediately.

Please shed the idea that when women have full rights and privileges as human beings that they have somehow been "Americanized." It means no such thing, and your post was seriously in error.

[JohnLocke]

4. That's ridiculous.

Human decency is not a quality endowed to Americans alone. Far from it. That is what you are implying here. :eyes:

[geek tragedy]

6. Is that a joke?

Or do you really equate women's rights with the Ku Klux Klan?

[oklahomapride]

7. WE Amerikans spread our crappy ""culture"" like

some kind of sick disease. if the women in other countries don't want freedom then they shouldn't be able to have it - much less should we "liberate" them just because our women can get jobs and vote.

They might not be western but they're doing somEthing right if the women are so happy there

just my 2 cents

[geek tragedy]

8. Are you joking?

I honestly can't tell. Some people sound like parodies.

And, if you brainiacs can point to where the US is imposing this on them, I'd love to see it.

People who support patriarchy and sexism because the US has made progress in that area are Fcuked in the head.

[Bridget Burke]

10. I hate to disillusion you....

But some people new to the forum post what they consider "radical, far left" statements that they do not actually support. They think they're satirizing "those liberals". ("Amerikkkanize"? please!)

Most people with low post counts are welcome newcomers, though!

It appears that the Saudi ladies--& even some of the men---are trying. I wish them well.

[geek tragedy]

11. Thank you, my dear,

for that clarification. As a relative n00bie myself, I was a bit reluctant to make such a speculation, though it did indeed sound like an escapee from Little Green Footballs trying to be clever.

[Scairp]

12. Hmm, not sure here

I think they might be yanking our chain. Just a few posts and already sounding militant. I'm suspicious.

Oh yeah, both kerrycrt2Y4 and this oklahoma person registered the same day, both chose "undeclared" for gender. Yes, highly suspicious now.

[leftynyc]

13. Please tell me you're joking!!!

DON'T WANT FREEDOM?!!! Since they are not allowed to vote, go to school or even leave their house without a male family member, how would you know what they want or don't want. And while I detest the current regime in the White House, I'm honest enough to say that if our culture was so crappy, why do we have people willing to risk their lives to come here.

[drfemoe]

14. so happy there?

lol .. ye-ah ..

It is such a joyful experience to be treated as chattel, property, a slave IOW .. what makes you think they are so HAPPY?

[newyawker99]

15. Hi oklahomapride!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[JerseygirlCT]

18. What in the world?

What in the world gave you the idea that these women don't have freedom because they don't want it? That's just plain stupid, I'm sorry.

They want it, but cannot obtain it, because they live under a system which afford them little to no rights. They are basically chattel, belonging first to their fathers, and after an arranged marriage, to their husbands. They can be beaten or killed at the whim of their husbands. Their lives are severely restricted and limited.

And all this to "protect" them from men.

Yeah, it sounds like a dandy system to me!

[gWbush is Mabus]

2. pointed reminder that their role as wives and mothers was "an essential jo

not too far off from the fundies' view

[skippysmom]

5. and these are our allies

sigh.

[THUNDER HANDS]

9. Fuck Saudi Aarabia

and their stupid, backwards traditions and customs.

..and fuck Bush too. Just because I feel like saying 'fuck' a lot today.

[Just Me]

16. As an American woman, I've been treated as better "seen" than "heard".

In my personal experience, notwithstanding that I am highly educated, my appearance has always been more valued than my intellectual contribution.

It is true.

[yankeeinlouisiana]

19. I thought the same thing.

Hopefully, they were truly HEARD!! This is the first step down a long road for the women of SA.

[hightime]

17. Fundies are fundies the world over

They all want the same thing....control.