“I was offered a job as a presenter on a documentary for one of the Kingdom’s leading news channels. As a journalist this was great; a brilliant opportunity for me to get ahead in my career,” said Fatima Mohammed.
“However, my parents became very angry for even mentioning the idea and asked me to look for a inconspicuous behind-the-scenes job because it would be shameful for my family to even see my name in the paper,” she added.
Jobs where there is a mixing of genders are also taboo for many tribal families. “My dream job was to be a doctor and save lives, but my father forbade me from even thinking about this because there is a lot of intermingling of genders among doctors and nurses. He didn’t want this for me even though he is a doctor himself,” said 27-year-old Amahi Mohammed.
“I graduated from high school with an A+ and thought they would be happy for me to go to medical school, but even that did not push them to do so. I ended up studying marketing,” she said.
“Even after graduating from college, my family said that it would be impossible for me to work because I will be soon getting married. They said my future husband will want me to stay at home as a mother and wife,” she added.
Being financially independent is not an option for women who come from tribal backgrounds, said 38-year-old Hessa Al-Harbi. “Most women from our tribe have to either give their entire salaries to their husbands or fathers, or give them part of the money, or leave their ATM cards with them and then ask them for money,” she said.
“I think it is a male thing to want to be in control of women and their salaries. I was against it at the beginning, but knowing that there is no arguing on the matter, I gave up,” she added.
Teaching is the only job that is accepted among Saudis because the working hours are short and there is no mixing among genders, said Afaf Al-Ghamdi. “I studied science at college hoping I could apply at a hospital and work in a laboratory. As soon as I graduated, my parents told me that teaching is my only option because the working hours are reasonable and there is no mixing of genders in schools,” she said.
“I was really frustrated with this decision but my mother argued that no one would marry me if I worked long hours and had male colleagues. I’m 34 years old and I’m still single even though I’ve been working in schools for the past 10 years,” she added.
