In Saudi Arabia, women’s roles in society have been much discussed. Saudi society, as we know, evolved from being mostly rural, tribal, and nomadic to its current urban state in only a few decades. The change was not due to progress in science and culture, human development or an industrial revolution but was artificially produced by the discovery of oil and the wealth it brought. Given these circumstances, it is not surprising that Saudi society has been transformed in uneven ways. Before the discovery of oil, life was very different in terms of division of labor and the visibility of women in public affairs. Depending on the location and the modes of production, women participated equally in farming and herding outside the home, in addition to their traditional duties of tending to the needs of their families and homes. Although Islamic and traditional norms of behavior were observed, women in agricultural and nomadic communities were more visible and had opportunities to interact with people outside their homes and so to participate in public life.
Prior to the introduction of formal education for women in Saudi Arabia, some literate women — mostly women that memorized the Holy Qur’an and the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace upon him) — conducted private classes in their homes for young girls. The girls were taught to read the Qur’an and Hadeeth.
It was only in the 1960s that government-sponsored girls’ schools were established, thanks to the late King Faisal and his wife Queen Effat. Subjects deemed necessary for the well-being of society were offered. The segregated schools for girls had their own curriculum, different from that for boys, and had minimal extracurricular activities and were restricted to sewing and cooking classes. Sports, field trips, music and some arts were excluded. If libraries existed, there were either no books or very few religious ones and contributions were not allowed from individuals to furnish the libraries. Facilities provided to girls’ schools were poor; sometimes unsafe conditions existed and were tolerated because of a lack of funds. The idea of maintenance was almost unknown — to the extent that teachers and administrative staff contributed from their salaries to provide basic maintenance for the buildings. Following an unfortunate fire last year in which 14 schoolgirls in Makkah died, the government merged the Presidency for Girls’ Education with the Ministry of Education.
Unifying the two systems aims at reforming the government agency responsible for running the education of girls for nearly half a century. There are great hopes that this is only a beginning to the many corrections needed in the field area of education. A problem that has not been not dealt with is running and administering a huge organization of women educators, administrative staff, support staff and pupils by means of telephones, faxes, and closed circuit TV as it is still run today. Male administrators/staff, who are not allowed to enter the women-only areas, make all the important decisions. Reforms should begin in this area, where not only illiteracy needs to be fought but also what the United Nations Report on Development calls the “poverty of capabilities” in the Arab world in general and in Saudi Arabia in particular. There is an urgent need to address these two areas — the low quality of education and the dysfunctional administrative systems running this vital sector.
In recent years, the conflict has intensified between the need for more skilled domestic labor and the prevailing custom of keeping women in their homes, secluded from men. The increased and expensive dependence on foreign skilled and unskilled labor has prompted many cries for reforms and the liberalization of regulations that restrict women to working in women-only institutions. Segregated work places, schools, universities, banks, malls, libraries, and such have proven not to be cost-effective. For every demand for greater participation of women in all sectors, however, there are demands for applying stricter control to preserve the current situation. Some segments of society look relaxing controls on women who would then assume more jobs and reducing the dependence on foreign labor as a choice between two evils.
Overall, the major provisions of the Labor and Workmen’s Law provide far more equitable and humane employment regulations than is available to the United States work force. The Labor and Workmen’s Law that was enacted in 1969 treats men and women equally in terms of pay and benefits; however, the problem is availability of jobs and restrictions on work opportunities. Because of these restrictions, a great deal of talent and resources are not utilized though both have never been more critically needed than at present. Just as with men, many women work for a variety of reasons — the need for income or to find intellectual and social stimulation in the workplace or for both reasons. A severe shortage of job opportunities, especially among women, has prompted many to accept low-paying jobs as teachers and clerks in remote areas. Often commuting for hours with privately hired drivers uses up not only too much of their time but also eats into their low salaries. Some of the schools where they work lack proper class rooms and/or bathrooms. Ironically, the same society that forbids women from driving and traveling unless accompanied by a male companion is ambiguous about this paradoxical situation. With no signs of change by the government on the horizon — in truth all public announcements until very recently denounced any change to the status-quo — it is reasonable to say that there is little hope for thousands of these women, and even more graduating in the near future, to get decent jobs.
Since the 1970s, the Kingdom has adopted very expensive and ambitious five-year development plans. Yet the participation of women in the work force is only 6 percent. Under current conditions high levels of cooperation and communication between men and women are almost non-existent. The current development has not produced a society committed to mobilizing its human resources for development. Utilizing women in development plans by allowing them to work in all sectors is a prime ingredient for true development and progress.
During the last decade, the growth of the Arabic media has been phenomenal. For the most part it manifested itself in two extreme views. On one hand, there is the ultra-conservative, pro-establishment media that stands for the status quo and inveighs against the invasion of Western values. One of their principal aims is to maintain women’s current status and they are extremely intolerant of opposing view. On the other hand, there is a countless number of satellite channels, magazines, newspapers and Internet sites which promote shallow values and irresponsible social behavior that is not only alien to our culture but to our needs for economic development and social stability. Very few channels are available that can be comfortably watched by the whole family without offending our sense of decency and intelligence. Our young people are more familiar with singers and football players than with high achievers in science, literature and the arts. The TV programs all feature news of the sports stars, actors, singers’ video clips, and most recently, the hunt for “Muslim terrorists.” It is a disgrace that so many glossy magazines are dedicated to appealing to women’s taste for luxurious lifestyles while illiteracy among women in the area is over 50 percent. It is a waste of resources to spend money on promoting sports when half of our society is not allowed to participate.
Two popular points of discussion in the West about Saudi society are the abaya and women not being allowed to drive. The abaya is a black cape which covers a woman from head to toe when she is in public. Some see it as a sign of backwardness and oppression and some see it as demeaning to a woman’s identity. On the other hand, many women freely choose it and see it as a sign of modesty and decency in public that protects them from prying eyes. Some also see it as in keeping with tradition. Driving cars became a sensitive issue when some women drove in Riyadh during the 1991 Gulf War. The timing may not have been the most opportune but the action was not accepted widely by society. Attacks followed by many groups who said that Islam forbids women from driving. I wonder how those groups would rule about women riding horses, camels and bicycles or piloting planes.
A recent example of what seems to be an improvement is the introduction of government identification cards (ID) for women. It is a challenge to get the application form and fill it in as required. The second step is for the male guardian to allow the woman to have an ID. In many instances, the guardian’s permission is a prerequisite before getting government and private services. It is hard to grasp the rationale behind requiring a male guardian’s permission for a woman to get her own ID!
Fundamental changes in society neither come only by political decrees nor by the individual efforts of women’s groups — though both contribute. For instance, a decision making women equal to men in certain situations may be followed by another which denies them that very equality. An example is the Kuwaiti Constitution, written in 1963, which states that “all citizens are equal: male and female.” Another later decision then denied women the right to vote. Women’s associations in the Arab world drew praise from the UN’s first Arab Human Development Report which effectively raised and addressed subjects that had formerly been taboo.
It is true that Saudi society is unique in many ways; it is also true that every society has its unique features. A strong society that is secure knows that its essential values will not be threatened nor compromised by modernity. We have known times in our history when science and literature flourished because diversity was prominent in Islamic society.
We can say that women’s development has come a long way. Has it been as good as possible? Of course not. Are women satisfied with their current status? Of course not. Is there hope for the future? Of course, there is hope and progress every day. It will probably take decades to reach a comfortable balance between demands for modernization and adherence to the old system. What we need is a qualitative change rather than a quantitative one regarding women’s roles in society. This will mean linking women’s causes to society’s causes. The main issue is not to allow women to drive or to force them to cover from head to toe; it is rather to reclaim their identities in society as full partners with equal citizenship and equal legal entitlements.
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(Sheikha Althakafi is employee relations, policy and planning officer at Saudi Aramco. She is based in the Eastern Province.)
13 June 2003
