JEDDAH, 3 May 2006 — In a move meant to rejuvenate the Saudi literary scene, the Ministry of Culture and Information announced new board members for Saudi literary clubs. No women, however, were appointed to any of the boards.
There had been rumors that Dr. Lamia Baeshen, literary critic and professor in the English department of Jeddah’s King Abdul Aziz University, was a possible nominee.
What made the rumors seem feasible were statements from officials encouraging women writers plus the fact that the Jeddah Literary Club was the first in the Kingdom to open a women’s section in which there was interaction between them and their male colleagues. The rumors did not, unfortunately, become reality and neither Dr. Baeshen nor any other woman was appointed to the boards.
There had been considerable demand for changes within the clubs, with those in favor arguing that the clubs had become stiff and static and had failed to fulfill any literary agenda. This was the basis for a request to elect board members and for women to be allowed to serve on the boards. The ministry consequently changed the composition of the boards in Riyadh, Makkah, Jeddah and the Eastern Province.
The changes were not made as a result of elections but as official appointments; the reason given for there being no elections was the absence of any mechanism within the clubs to organize elections. Promises were made that there would be elections within a few years, once the newly-appointed members had reorganized club administrations.
Dr. Baeshen told Arab News that the board members were in favor of her joining them. Unfortunately, officials could not agree and told the board that such a step could not be taken only in Jeddah.
Dr. Baeshen explained that she had been working for six years, doing exactly the same job that the men are doing. Officials constantly tell her to wait for a year or two and that things will change. Every official that Dr. Baeshen approached, according to her, said that if the decision were up to them, they would do it. What she wants to know is if the officials cannot make the decision, who can?
“No one is ready to stand by the women,” she commented. She admitted that she was not impressed by the appointed board members in Jeddah. “I was hoping to see some diversity,” she explained, saying that she wanted painters, cartoonists, actors and media people to be involved. She says it is important to get young people participating since they will be the leaders in the future.
Hanaa Hijazi, a Jeddah-based short story writer, agrees with Dr. Baeshen and says that excluding women was “a ridiculous move.” She asked why it was not possible to have a woman on the board in Jeddah only. “If the atmosphere in Jeddah will allow women on the board, why not have women? Why does it have to happen in every club or not at all?”
Hijazi added: “Male writers often speak of equality. But do they really mean it? I have my doubts.”
Saad Al-Bazea, newly elected president of the Riyadh Literary Club, said that the problem of including women on boards would be solved when things were organized and elections took place.
According to Al-Bazea, board members are not to blame. “We are appointed by the ministry. Meaning we cannot appoint other members. We have no authority.”
An additional problem facing the club in Riyadh is that it lacks a women’s section. Al-Bazea said that the club’s fiction group meets in a modern, well-equipped tent in the club garden and that they might do the same thing for women “as a temporary solution”. He said that Culture and Information Minster Iyad Madani had promised financial support and they were waiting for it.
The fiction group in Riyadh decided to take matters into its own hands and do something for the women. They asked the women to write down what they wanted to say and e-mail it to one of the male members who would read it out at the meeting. The solution does not appeal to the women but they admit it is better than doing nothing at all.
Asmaa Al-Zahrani, literary critic, poet and lecturer in the department of Arabic literature at Riyadh’s King Saud University, was one of the women writers who sent her comments by e-mail. She said that merely reading her message to an audience of only men was not adequate recognition. “Unless women serve on boards, how can we ask for and implement these changes?” she asked.
Unless the officials keep their promises to women, the women have only two choices: Either they can wait patiently as they have already done or they can leave the existing literary clubs. Then at the gates of Saudi literary clubs, the signs can read: “Literature — for men only.”
