Give me light

MY DOCTOR told me that I have severe Vitamin D deficiency. She said I needed to get enough sun exposure because the best and safest source for Vitamin D is sunlight; otherwise I would have to take injections or a supplement.
Now, you would think that getting enough sunlight is not a problem in a country like Saudi Arabia, but the fact is, not getting enough sunlight is a very common problem for people living here especially for women, and it is a very serious health issue. According to a recent medical report, 80 percent of Saudi females including schoolgirls suffer from Vitamin D deficiency. The problem is also very common among men especially as they get older and less active.
Vitamin D deficiency symptoms are hair loss, bone and muscle pain, heart palpitations, sleeplessness, memory problems and general weakness. Yet even without symptoms, the lack of vitamin D can pose serious health risks, such as kidney and liver diseases.
Women suffer from a high rate of bone fragility and low bone density as they age and their hormones change after menopause. This makes them prone to fractures even from minor falls, requiring them to go through painful treatment and procedures such as hip and knee replacement.
Being the nocturnal society that we are and our aversion to being out during the day because of the heat, we spend most of our daytime hours indoors, whether at home, school, or work, in air-conditioned room with shaded windows that barely allow in natural sunlight.
For women it is even worse because even if we make the effort to go out in the sun, we are required to cover all up, in black, of all colors, so our skin is not exposed to sunlight that we might get while out walking for example. Making time to sit by a window that brings in a token of sunlight is not always possible and is not the same as direct exposure.
Going out in the garden of the house or the roof might be risky and not very appropriate because if the woman’s face is uncovered and she is wearing clothes that reveal her arms and legs, she worries about neighbors spying from their windows, or the driver or gardener hanging around.
In a society like Saudi Arabia that is very protective of the privacy of its women, any hint of exposure is a prelude for scandal.
With our obsession of allocating places for women separate from men, how come we do not have women-only beaches like they do in Dubai? Or outdoor women-only cafes fenced with the necessary partitions to shield women from public view? Or women-only enclosed but open-air track fields?
Most likely, I will be accused of trying to corrupt the modesty of women and expose them to western lifestyles for suggesting such places where women can be in an open-air public place without being covered from head to toe. Yes, I want to expose women to natural light because it is necessary for our health. I want us women to be exposed to sunlight, because it will make us stronger and more active. I want women to live in the light because that is our natural place physically and metaphorically speaking.

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