Women or Birds?
November 8th, 2007I would like to share a little incident to give you a glimpse of how much a woman’s life is valued or better say NOT valued in some places. This little incident happened to a very close relative of mine. I will name her Sarah just to keep her identity private.
On a sunny Thursday afternoon Sarah who is a 30 plus young lady went out to the supermarket to buy a few things. While she was walking along the isle she slipped on a waxed cardboard left due to negligence on the supermarket floor. She fell on her back hitting her head to the ground causing her to lose consciousness for a few seconds. Oh.. I forgot to mention that this little incident happened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia just in case you were wondering..
Now going back to the story.. As Sarah was regaining consciousness.. She overheard a woman bystander arguing with the supermarket manager as she was being wheeled out of the supermarket. The lady was asking the manager to call for paramedics for help. The manager explained to the woman that he CAN’T, it is not accepted for paramedics to drive a SINGLE woman without a male guardian (Sarah being a woman alone). The lady offered to take Sarah to the closest emergency room. Sarah thanked her politely and left on her own driven by her own chauffeur to the hospital emergency where she was diagnosed with a concussion, two hairline fractures in her vertebra and a fractured finger. She has been put to bed rest for a couple of weeks and might need surgery to correct a fracture.
The interesting bit in this story is that:
PARAMEDICS DO NOT TAKE WOMEN WHO ARE NOT ACCOMPANIED BY THEIR GUARDIANS IN AN EMERGENCY!!
(They are worried that an injured/dying woman might seduce the paramedics, they would rather she lay there and die.. than be alone with health care providers who can save her life or not to be over dramatic.. prevent further pain and discomfort)
In comparison.. I thought I should mention this story (true story from a local news-paper)
A Saudi woman living in Geneva, Switzerland was cooking lunch in her apartment. She heard some cooing sound outside her kitchen window. She looked out and saw a pigeon trapped on her window railing. She tried to help it but couldn’t. After a few moments of hesitation she decided to call for help. A FEW MINUTES later rescuers from the fire department and the animal shelter came to set that bird free..
The End
I would rather be a bird in Switzerland than a woman in Saudi Arabia.. Don’t you think Swiss birds might have more rights than Saudi women?
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Rasha, thank you for sharing this poignant post. Whenever politics or religion get in the way of reason you know things have gone too far.
Rasha,
We are not in a perfect socity. Just focusing on the negative side only will not serve us greately. Although strongly believe that we should proceed to solve all these negative things, I am proud to to live in Saudi Arabia. although I have lived long years (10 years) in the west, I relized that I belong only here. This feeling is shared by many of my friends too.
Lets be proude of our heritages and solve what ever negative habits we have.
Sultan-well- do solve them then-
Rasha – u do notice these outrages, which makes u stand out from many in your country. You are clearsighted and honest. Good luck
We have to point our problems out in order to solve them.. don’t you think? shutting our eyes and living in denial will prevent us from progressing, advancing and getting better. What does heritage have to do with what I mentioned in my blog? I am proud of many things but what I mentioned above has nothing to do with religion or heritage.
This is BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS I ask for. A woman being denied the right for medical assistance because of her gender is an injustice and discrimination.
I don’t have to remind you of what happened a few years back when a fire burned and suffocated tens of school girls. They weren’t able to evacuate them when the school building caught on fire because the school guard refused to let them out of the school gates without their head covers (HIJAB)!!!
Many girls died.. and what for??? strands of hair being exposed? So.. don’t tell me this has anything to do with religion or heritage.. PURE IGNORANCE is what it is.. Women need rules and regulations that protect them..
A woman has NO EXISTANCE without support of her guardian.. she would be a no body.. and that is a fact. She can’t drive (move around), travel, get married, get a job or an education without a MALE GUARDIAN’s consent..
It always leaves me incensed when i hear of such ridiculous things happening.. Ignorance is a mild way to put it. How can these rules really apply to anyone who has the mildest of common sense and compassion? The West continues to pump funds into states that have little or no regard for basic human rights for women.. I hope that one day, some how decisions such as these will not be based on religious rules, but more on common sense..
Not meaning to be sexist, Sultan, but your response is typical of a Muslim male. You’re content with your life because you think this doesn’t impact your life. That doesn’t make you an evil person or something, but it makes you part of the problem. Inaction is just as reprehensible as being the cause of the problem.
The real question is: Do we continue to believe in what we want to believe, or do we begin to believe in what makes sense? We used to get away with believing whatever we wanted to. But technology and economic interdependence is taking us to a place where we can no longer afford the luxury of false belief. As for me, I choose to believe in what makes sense; and treating our mothers, our sisters, and our daughters badly doesn’t make much sense to me. Do we have the courage to step outside the box that we’ve built for ourselves, and to begin making sense of our lives?
With all respect to u Sultan…
but Saudi rules that are implemented on its female populations is not related whatsoever to religion. Actually, it more or less reminds me of pro-Islam when every female baby was buried alive just because ancestors did that and just because society believes that a daughter brings nothing but shame. its just the same thing, and actually worse, for ‘killing’ a female’s right to ‘live’ while she still breaths just because its tradition and heritage is more unjust than literally killing her.
Besides, whats more religiously acceptable :a woman driving her own car or sitting in a car with a male stranger( her driver)?
Now a common sense question: didn’t it occur that women tended to Muslim warriors after each battle they went through during the Prophet’s life? at least then, she was the ‘paramedics’ and she was the one conscience and capable of seducing any male patient…however, i don’t recall reading anything about the Prophet banning women from doing that or injured males from seeking women’s help.
Seriously, people, and i mean Saudi clerics and legislators, should think about what theyr saying rather than dumbly following a heritage that is hollow of all sense, religion, and meaning.
Dear Dahlia,
I think you got my comments wrong. I never ment to say that woman has got all their right. I just wanted to say that we should fix our own problems while having to tresure our own heritage. in other words, I would rather be a Saudi Women (with all these problems) than to be a Cat in Geneva.
Thanks Rasha for a great and heartfelt post.
Sultan,
I very much agree with this statement.
I really think that Rasha does too, comparing freedoms doesn’t mean she takes shame in who she is. But I’ll leave that up to her to explain.
The link to this article was sent to me by a friend this morning. From the thread it is clear that it is being circulated.
The article is concise and to the point. It raises awareness and reveals challenges.
Sultan; you prefer to be a female in Saudi rather than a cat in Switzerland; though you have experienced neither.
Being a woman in Saudi is a very challenging experience. I haven’t been a woman but I have been in situations where I was deprived of my most basic rights… the sense of bitterness is overwhelming. This is in spite of the fact that I was able to talk back, and that which I was deprived off is acknowledged as a right.
Now imagine someone whose whole life is deprivation of such rights. Such a person would either mutate into a sub-human whose feelings have been numbed, and whose sense of humanity has been identified with this “de-right” she has been forced into … or she may decide to be an ultra-consumer in the hope that control over commodities may serve as a consolation for the lack of control over her life … or she may choose to preserve her sense of humanity and thus would continually suffer pains that exceed physical pain at times… Rasha falls in the third category, and such a person should be applauded for her expressive capacity.
I reviewed other articles Rasha wrote. She writes skillfully and gracefully. The simplicity of her style is pulling, and the commonness of her insights deep.
It makes one proud to see such writers from this country.
Rasha,
I am so proud of you to raise such topic. I truly respect and appreciate your honesty.
With your permission, I have translated this into Arabic to be posted in the web around the world.
I am just a TrueHasawi wishing justice and respect for men, women, and children in Saudi Arabia.
Thank you again.
Wow.. I didn’t expect such comments!
I truly thank you all for your encouraging words.
Sol and Nissim Dahan,
What we need these days is just simple common sense.. Active grey matters to comprehend and believe in what truly matters.
I totally agree with you
Example:
It is simple.. human life vs. uncovered hair.. hmmm.. I don’t think it’s too challenging to understand that human life is more important! Daaaa
And yes, it is true that in this time and age it is sad and dangerous for us to be so far behind (where basic human rights haven’t been established properly) while other countries are making leaps..
I agree with you Dahlia, This has nothing to do with religion rather it has more to do with how many men percieve women in this country.. We need a big time change!
Thank you Esra’a for your defence
and yes, I compared human/women and animal rights to emphasize the issue we are dealing with.
Sultan.. If your mother/sister/wife needed help and was refused that right, wouldn’t you feel devastated and angry? I think you would. Again.. this has NOTHING TO DO WITH HERITAGE..
I won’t make this any longer but I was touched by reading both Abdullah and TrueHasawi’s comments.. thanks guys
TrueHasawi,
I would like you to post the link here if possible so I can have a look at it..
Thanks again
Since I am “Hasawi” I posted it to begin with at this site:
http://ahsaweb.net/vb/showthread.php?t=141048
Don’t be discouraged if some comments are not friendly…so far I got one hit who rather to be a pigeon.
It is a shame that we mix traditions with religion. What happenned to us? This is about saving a human life. we don’t need to call for “Fatwa” to OK that. Why can’t we think outside the box for once?
TrueHasawi
Hey Rasha,
great article..
[...] → Women’s rights, from a Saudi’s perspective [...]
DEAR SULTAN
OUR YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!!!!!!!!!!
PROUD!!!!!!
YEAH SINCE YOU ARE A GUY YOU CAN SAY STUPID THINGS AS BEING PROUD OF BASICALLY KILLIG WOMEN AND HAVING NO RIGHTS AT ALL
GO SAUDI!!
RASHA
CONGRATULATIONS
YOU ARETHE ONLY ONE ENLIGHTED IN THE COUNTRY
THE REST ARE BLIND AND SO IGNORANT THAT IS REPULSIVE
sultan
you just demonstrated how ignorant men are about human rights
how sad
Again a strong and honest article! Human rights have not even reached most parts of Saudi Arabia. I still can’t beleive they would let a HUMAN BEING DIE!!!which means lose her life, which means torture for her & her entire family.MEN INCULDED just because of these ignorant and useless rules!
I hope this reaches enough people, and makes people think with their common sense, so no more lives are lost by ignorance, and stupidity!
Great job Rasha.. keep it up!