My British friend Laura asked me during my recent visit to Cambridge: “As a member of the Saudi media, why don’t you defend the Saudi woman’s right to drive a car so that she can achieve freedom and go wherever she wishes?”
I was amazed at the link between women’s freedom and driving a car. It is an illogical link that is common among Westerners. The funny thing is that it is often the first question they ask upon meeting any Saudi. It led me to wonder: Does a woman’s driving mean freedom and democracy? If so then I have none!
Surely the simplest of reasoning will show us there is in fact no direct link between women driving, freedom and democracy. Yes we can all agree that it is important to have quick and easy transportation for both men and women — but it all depends on circumstances.
Millions of women in the modern world do not drive because of their social and economic circumstances. Does that mean that those millions of women are subjugated and enjoy neither freedom nor democracy?
I remained in Cambridge a few months, traveling by bus and suffering the degradation of waiting in the street, taking cover from the rain, not to mention rude treatment by bus drivers — all of which I had to endure because I can’t keep my balance on a bicycle, the most common mode of transportation in Cambridge. As for taxis, they are prohibitively expensive in the UK. It was hard at first and not completely my choice but I got used to it.
On the other hand, a lot of women own and drive cars but in their daily lives suffer family pressures, work and social or governmental persecution. Has driving given them that much desired freedom? Women’s driving is a peripheral issue — there are deeper and more important social concerns. It is dealing with those that will make freedom real for women.
As for Saudi society, I don’t think that the issue of driving is one that worries women because it is our way of life. It seems to be an issue that worries the international press more than it does Saudi women for the simple reason that most Saudi women have drivers. Close family ties in our society reduce the need of a mother, sister or wife for a car in light of men’s desire to help them. Our society has its pillars and traditions which we must respect and live in accordance with — especially those that have been imposed by Islamic law, the law that identified women’s qualities in a way that guards their dignity and protects their rights. This doesn’t mean that we agree with everything related to the condition of Saudi women. Unfortunately, there are traditions and customs that have been imposed too strictly in a way that has no relation to our religion or its noble principles. While it is true that Saudi women aim to change these things, they can only be changed gradually and only when there is a need to do so.
Every society has the right to outline the freedoms that suit it and which are acceptable to it. Differences in traditions between people and societies do not mean a lack of freedom. Furthermore, as Saudi women, we are sure that when women drive it will bring with it a number of traffic and social problems that we could do very well without. From my perspective, the number of Western women that I have met and who envied me and who have wished to live in the same way has been numerous. I don’t blame them.
Arab News Features 2 May 2003
