Minister of Labor Ghazi Al-Gosaibi caused uproar at the Jeddah Economic Forum when he said that his ministry was finding difficulties hiring women because they demand segregated workplaces. He said he had received many letters from Saudi men saying that their wives or daughters would not work in a mixed environment and if that were the only choice, the women would be better off staying at home without a job. The minister’s remarks were not well received by many Saudi women who said his explanation was a pitiful excuse for not employing women.
If we look back at events of last year, we will see that a law was passed by the Council of Ministers which states that all government departments must create separate women’s departments within a year. The year is now almost up and we still have not heard of new women’s departments in government departments. The minister of labor has so far made no comment about this matter. The questions that are crying out for answers are: What happened to the law that was passed last year? Why isn’t it being implemented?
Once again, we find ourselves talking about culture in Saudi Arabia. I agree with what some Saudi women have said in Arab News and other Saudi dailies that women should be given the same chance as men, an equal chance, in the development of this country. Islamically, there is nothing wrong with that; the status quo, however, is something else. Most women are still limited by social traditions and customs that have been operating for centuries and which have become the social norm. This kind of cultural barrier in Saudi Arabia will always be an obstacle to social and political development. We must learn to live with this truth; we cannot turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to it.
At present, the principal jobs done by women in the Kingdom are two: Education and medicine. A small minority works in banks and a few other jobs. Freedom and liberty, especially for women, are not handed out on a silver platter. Women in Europe and the US struggled for decades to enjoy the rights and privileges they have today. These rights and privileges would never have come to them had they remained a silent minority or had they called for change only from within the home.
If there is one thing we learn from history it is that it is written by those who defy the odds. And that is what needs to be done by many Saudi women today. Even though writing columns in newspapers and magazines is a good sign, every Saudi female who honestly believes that change should come upon Saudi society should start with herself — “the person in the mirror.” As I look back at the few Saudi females who, before they were banned from doing so, wanted to stand as candidates in the municipal elections, the majority were from the Western region of the Eastern Province. Not a single woman from conservative areas such as Riyadh or Al-Qassim stepped forward as a candidate.
Some well-educated and highly competent Saudi women in Jeddah have no problem appearing in public to talk to mixed audiences as we have seen at the Jeddah Economic Forum. The million-dollar question is: Why don’t we see that happening all over Saudi Arabia, starting with its capital city? My answer is: Cultural chains everywhere in the Kingdom.
The many reasons given by Saudi women in the central region who call for change but who prefer to be behind the veil are the typical ones: “My father would disown me.” “My mother would say I was shaming the entire family.” “I would be the talk of the town.” At the same time, Bothayna Al-Nasr, the first Saudi woman to appear on the first Saudi satellite channel as a news anchor, also has a mother and a father. She too has a background. And even though she has been bitterly attacked by many conservative Saudis on the Internet and elsewhere and accused of being corrupt and doubt cast on her origins, she has made her stand. She is defying the odds and that is why she will be remembered today and tomorrow. Our history will not forget her. Neither will many Saudi women or I.
Last year a Saudi woman asked a senior member of the royal family when women would have more rights in the Kingdom. He answered by citing how the majority of those objecting to the mixing of administrative staff in the Ministry of Education were women. In fact, the women flatly rejected the idea. Last year when a female Saudi student asked Prince Abdul Majeed, governor of Makkah, if the day would come when a Saudi woman could be a minister, he answered that there was nothing to prevent it if the women worked hard.
Saudi women will not be able to attain all their rights as long as the majority are silent or as long as the minority who speak out still refuse to shatter their own cultural chains and become examples for others. If they all do a little, they can all do a lot.
