What do you think of Saudi Arabia's oppression of Women?

Some places are more restrictive than others around the Kingdom. There are some places where women are allowed to wear regular clothes at work. And apparently some changes on the male guardianship of women. But not all places are up to date on the new rules.

Yes. In hospitals and my Dad’s office girls just wear what they would in the U.S. still being modest though and the nurses wear scrubs. Although they often/usually have to cover there hair. I know not all places are the same. I was telling you about down town. :P

Well, I’m not making this up Lily. :) . I am just asking this to see what other people have to say. Specially in the USA where getting a car is so important and getting your drivers license but women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive or own a car or a house.

I don’t think they like it, I think they are scared.

It’s just ridiculas…plain and simple. It’s obvious where primitive man is on this planet, and it’s in those kinds of countries.

I agree and disagree with this answer. :] Also you guys need to know it is different with each family. O_O

Have to be honest all those rules are kinda one of the main reasons i don’t ever want to go to saudi. That and im glaswegian so if someone told me to use a seperate entrance or wear somthing i would probably tell them where to go in a very rude fashion possibly harm them and then i would go to prison

That is just life here. :) In the U.S. you have different freedoms. Here you don’t have to give half of your earnings to the government through tax at least, and you can own your property without any worry of having it taken from you. I am happy living here and wearing an abaya and having a few strangers think that I am less than them, it doesn’t ruin my joy or my life in any way, because of my family, if I had to live with that in the house then that’s that, but I don’t and a lot of girls don’t. Every country has its different freedoms, and I am pretty sure girls can have houses in their name here. It just depends on your point of view. I think I, myself, would actually feel more free living here in many aspects though. The U.S. is changing a lot now as well… Besides. Many men in America think of girls as less and put them through hell in the house. Like my grandfather for one. It all depends on the family. Your life is all around your family.

Well said. Unless we get to walk in your shoes and live your life we only know about it from what the media tell us.

and the media is not always 100% accurate about everyone’s daily life. :)

I guess not the media. But the facts are there that you don’t enjoy as many opportunities to be whatever you would like to be without a man saying that you can or not.

They will cut off your fairy wings. lol! Actually you will receive corporal punishment if you don’t let the men tell you what you can or can not do.

There are opportunities that are blocked some times, I know. It is a different life for certain girls. But that right there isn’t completely true now days in a few places, and a lot is changing. The girls freedom has been growing for a while now. It’s just a different country bro. there is nothing wrong with it compared to any other. It is simply different from what you are used to and what your thinking is. :)

In Saudi Arabia if you are a woman and are caught walking the streets with a man that is not your guardian or a relative, you will be arrested and receive corporal punishment. The woman will be flogged while the guy will not be punished at all. If a girl at school is caught with a Cell phone, she will also be flogged in public. http://funadvice.com/r/15g6bi41nk2

I think your parents have over protected you and maybe you have been spared of what other girls, specially those of Arabian descent have to face. I am not here to put your country down as you may be one of those who are happy and proud of how things are. Many women are proud and happy of the strict laws and having a man decide for them. The lack of freedom does not affect younger women as much as those that are adult and those who want to have a life similar to those in America or any western society.

I am sure my parents have protected me. :P but I am right here and get to see it all for myself. O.O I have a lot of Saudi friends and we have sleep overs and they are in a Musilm family, but things seem perfectly fine. O.O I am not happy or proud about any of the restrictions on girls here. :) I just am not going to be unhappy about something that I cannot change. Very very few people in middle to upper middle class trap their girls in the house after they are 18. Most get a job or go to college in the US or get married. :D The lower class I don’t know much about though. :( Probably worse for the girls there. /: Don’t know. O.O

That must be far away from where I’m at man. O_O

really?!?! in glasgow we would just tell them where to go (rudely). There are a couple of traits all glaswegians seem to share

1. we are all brutally honest
2. We are always right. About everything.
3. We will win Always.
4. We are fecking awesome!!

so good luck Saudi

Um I don’t think this is right. If you don’t let them tell you what to do and you are from another country they will just make you leave for not obeying the laws. lol Or they will leave you alone if you refuse to wear a head scarf. lol

Lilybug i was making a joke about glaswegian people, the average glaswegian person would do that stuff^^ just trying to lighten the mood :)

. Strewth, they’re doing the best they can - how much do you expect them to be oppressed ? It’s not like we’re still in the middle ages. .

I didn’t get it. :P Sorry. lol xD plus I was more talking to Elmo right there. :)

ohh ok if you cam to glasgow you would get it, we all seem to think we are hard men

Lily, have you heard about women breastfeeding grown men in Saudi Arabia? Do any of your parents know about it? Sounds crazy to me. Is called Breast milk kinship. http://funadvice.com/r/bn22ub48qob

Nope, nope, that is something done inside the home. has nothing to do with Saudi laws or anything. and I am pretty sure it is not commonly done. Or at least I would think.

Wow, there is this group of women that want to really use this fatwa so they can drive cars!!! This is from Qatarliving.com.

Saudi women use fatwa in driving bid Riyadh: Saudi women plan to turn a controversial fatwa (religious ruling) to their advantage and launch a campaign to achieve their long-standing demand to drive in this conservative kingdom. If the demand is not met, the women threatened to follow through the fatwa which allows them to breastfeed their drivers and turn them into their sons. The campaign will be launched under the slogan: “We either be allowed to drive or breastfeed foreigners,” a journalist told Gulf News.

Read more: http://funadvice.com/r/15g6n06gduu

Dude. You’re over running my brain. lol I just live in Riyadh. lol I don’t have all these answers. :P I don’t know what this is about. lol Makes no sense. O.O I have never heard of that, is that anywhere near Riyadh? :P

Ha, ha!!! Yea, is in Riyadh. Sorry, about your brain. lol! I had too much coffee.

Your media is state sponsored as well. Obviously you do not see outside the bubble that your government has protecting you, so to speak. What about the verifiable 150 million plus women who have had there sexual organs mutiliated, because of alleged misconduct? Very disturbing. I am glad to hear your side, but your country is at the bottom of the list at united nations for womens rights.

You talking to me bro? o.o

yep. Not trying to be a jerk, just stating facts. your country, and most muslim countries are the worst offenders for womens rights. Women are treated like dogs in muslim countries. In one study alone, America was number 8, and Saudi arabia was number 147. WTF? And the farther down the list you got, the more muslim countries appeared.

It is not just Saudi Arabia, it is most Muslim countries. If anything can be tied directly to the muslim faith, it is in the treatment of women. Look at the international studies that have been done. The muslim countries always rank at the bottom of the scale. over 150 million women have had there sexual organs mutilated in muslim countries, for “alleged” wrong doing, which could be as little as talking to, or looking at another man.

Lily is not a Muslim. She is American.

Well dude this isn’t MY country. :) I am from the USA, I just live here. :P and I am not saying everything is perfect, or even fair, i was just saying that the information that I gave Elmo wasn’t as bad as he made it sound and this is not what I have observed from normal people that I know and hang with. lol :)

Yes that is correct also. lol I am not at all Muslim. :)

my mother is a Muslim and i agree with freefromself… he is stating the facts and evil elmo..cause my mom isn’t allowed to drive and she tells me herself she can’t go from the same door as guys when entering a restaurant… and she said her dad would tell them not to leave without one of her bro guarding her because if she gets r@ped he will k!ll her..U SERIOUS ..it is on the bottom of the list..

Yeah that is correct as well. I just wish Elmo didn’t include me in this because I never said any of that and my experience has not been that with the people that I know here in Riyadh. I know it is bad some times, but every where in the world has its problems. Not every family is like that and it is all about the family like I said before. Just that the laws once allowed it. Things are changing though guys.