18
Dec
2007
15 Comments
More by this Author

Pointing Fingers..

by

[ Women Driving in Saudi Arabia ]

Women driving in Saudi Arabia has been an issue discussed by the public and the authorities.. The public seems to be between those who are with this issue, and those who oppose it.. Opposing such a step is not a deal of national threat, nor it is a reason to start a civil war, more than it is a mere backwards traditional obstruction created by people who oppose it from the public, and the “open-minded” members of our beloved government.. Why not see the issues solved by this case, instead of seeking the threats from it?

x Women walking alone in allies to avoid the main street’s attention, just to get to the Store or Pharmacy 4 blocks away.. Would giving a safe, metal box and wheels with enough communication features in them to connect to Mars, be a good solution to avoid the backstreet offenders and criminals of the late hours?

x Women who are in an emergency that requires professional medical help in a public hospital, with no man in the house and not enough money to get a cab.. Would giving a car that is fuel economic, and can drive around good be a good solution to avoid calling people for help or asking a stranger for a lift?

x Women who are widowed by what life offered them, and have children that need food and money, and these women are working already but they need a drive to their workplaces.. Would giving them a car, a mere car, be good enough to help them do their job? or should they look for a public transportation stop or even borrow money to afford a driver?

Now, try finding equally important THREATS and downsides of letting women drive.. Take all the time you want..

I can keep going on and on, but i think if i take every situation of great seriousness that hovers over the Saudi man, and then put a woman in his place, it would certainly give an image of what the modern Saudi woman is facing..

So, with the growing number of women in our working forces, and the growing number of single women (bachelors, widows, divorced) with or without children, Where is the attention? Or should we focus on the unemployed males of society and leave the women to be taken care of by their husbands and their foreign drivers?

((Unemployed women of Saudi is a great deal, and i’ll cover it in a future topic))

A little insight? Marriage cannot be taken for granted, thus doesn’t qualify as a strong reason why women should NOT rely on themselves..

In the public’s eye, it’s easier to let the woman be driven in a car with a non-mahram than to give her her own car to drive.. Am i the only one seeing the stupidity of this?

If the public has something against women driving, then what is it? Keep on looking for a reason, but one STUPID reason strikes the reader.. Culture and Traditions.. The two terms that are already keeping us behind in everything else, found a way to keep another step of development in it’s place standing still..

If you didn’t know, Mr. Saudi Man, and you think you already have an opposition to what am writing about, then think about this..

You might throw at me, women don’t need to have interactions with the car mechanics, or the police, or whatever hassle that comes from driving.. Then maybe you’re sleeping under your rock for too long that you forgot something.. WOMEN ARE ALREADY DEALING WITH STRANGERS, WITH OR WITHOUT THEIR CARS.. Or is talking to a shop owner, the driver, the colleague or whatever male member is any different than those a woman might come across when driving a car?

I don’t consider women driving as a luxury, but as a necessity.. However, having their own drivers, is more of a luxury that is hardly afforded by the larger slice of the public.. Where’s the wisdom in opposing a solution that has more ups than downs? Or looking the other way seems to be another legal solution to everything??

I leave it to you for now..

Yours,

Lou..