Good day my dear reader, i hope you are doing well
Perhaps the most dangerous myth regarding gender in Saudi Arabia is that Saudi Arabia is a misogynistic society.Yes it is a society that denies many women many basic human rights *and denies men many basic rights as well*.The reason i call this a dangerous myth is because you Will have absolutely zero credibility among Saudi Arabian women if you actually say that to them.Most Saudi Arabian women would fiercely defend the Islamic system as much as men do if not even more so. Even in the western world Muslim women would shout slogans such as “my hijab is my shield”, and “i’m a proud Muslim women” or even complete fallacies such as “Mohammed was not a misogynist” .If that is in the western world where there is a high level of freedom and intellectual resources how do you expect Muslim women in Saudi Arabia the heart of the Islamic world to react if this claim was posted.The crushing majority of women there would call it completely absurd.
Allow me to share a story, My mother was an Anti-women driving advocate while i was the opposite.When i asked her for her reasoning she replied “In society, people are defined by responsibilities and not by roles as you think it is a women knows her responsibilities as a man does.If she goes on to the men’s domain, men will naturally demand to abandon their responsibilities to work and gain skills to benefit women.No man on earth can be a better mother to a child than a women, no man on earth can be more protective of their child than their mother if more women abandon that for their own selfish ambitions then men will abandon their responsibilities for their own selfish ambitions as well and the result is a selfish society where men are worthless and women are sex objects and family the most important thing for social structure is destroyed”.Dear reader you may disagree completely with my mother’s statement but that statement should tell us something important about how Saudi Arabian women view gender.It is not a matter of roles at all it is a matter of what each gender considers to be beneficial to their system and to the collective as a whole.
For both Saudi Arabian men and women protecting the system is more important than anything.It is not at all a matter of *men controlling women* but how each gender manipulates the other and work together to destroy those who seek to change it men or women alike.When i was younger i used to read brochures from Muslim women given to other women and allow me to quote a few things that you will find extremely fascinating.”Women in the western world are much like flowers, beautiful and pretty but are begging to be picked by those unworthy of her before being thrown to the side walk.A Muslim women is like a pearl protected and well preserved only to be taken by those who are worthy of her and are willing to serve her” another quote “It is not a secret, Men are sexually hungry and sex is the one thing they always want, it is also not a secret that you as a women are valuable by nature the mere fact that Allah chose you to be a women makes you by default have something all men will take time energy and money for. isn’t that why Allah demanded men to work and serve you? isn’t that why they have to pay for your dowry? and why you keep all of your earned money(which is true in Islam working women have the right to keep all their money and are not responsible for paying for the household) so never ever give your sex to anyone but the faithful and those who fear Allah and take care of you because in the end Allah made men to serve you”.One last quote “Some women foolishly think that liberation will make women happier but that is silly nothing makes a women happier than knowing that she is a women and is fulfilling her part in society as a women. Trying to be “as good as or better” than men is a attempt at telling women that they should be ashamed of being who they are on a fundamental level and that they need to compete with men instead of taking pride in the fact that they are women and are completely different”.
I think the point is pretty much clear here with them,so what can we do? remember what i said before? the Saudi Arabian society is built around eliminating dissent.There are women who wish who can take responsibilities and challenges other than the classic responsibilities given to them and there are men who wish to be rid and relieved of the unfair burdens given upon them against their will by this social structure and both are small minorities hated by the majority and are socially rejected and worse any attempt for such groups to meet or discuss or even form support for each other are harmed by oppressive gender separation that makes contact between such like minded people difficult and not to mention the huge social shaming that will be involved by both genders.
As i have stated before the crushing majority of Malls and theme parks in the capital of Riyadh are “women only” or “family only” being a single male makes you dangerous to the social structure and useless to it.Being a single male means you will receive a lot of discrimination in public markets and makes you by default a suspect by the religious police especially if you try making rebellious statements.In the Saudi Arabian world ,men are pigs if they are not faithful..women are sluts if they are not faithful,in a short statement.
Another delusion is thinking that talking to the Saudi Arabian government is going to change anything.The reason i call it a delusion is because as powerful the Saudi Arabian government is, they are not as powerful as the public order or how the people chose to organize themselves.The royal family does not care if women are allowed to drive or not or have basic rights or not.What they care about is not to do something that would make the public angry at them.The Saudi Arabian people of both genders are proud of their traditions and hold them in high regards.So efforts on part of dissenters of both genders to have their right to reject social organization acknowledged regardless of how they view the other gender if any progress is to be made.Claiming that one gender suffers more and playing the childish *i’m a victim” game, Creates a harmful distortion that causes the very few dissenters to fall into fragmentation and disarray , if that happens the Muslims will feel vindicated and all hope for progress would be lost.
Lastly one last story i wish to share, i was sitting playing with my playstation when my younger sister came to me asking me to take her to the mall.I said “no i don’t want to take you to the mall again i already took you there 2 days ago i can’t stand there for more than 5 hours doing absolutely nothing but watch you shop” she responded “you are not a real man are you?”..i felt insulted and asked her “so a real man to you is someone who does whatever you ask?” she responded “yes! that’s a man’s job”..despite the insult i took her and drove her to the mall because that’s what “real” men and women do follow the system even at their own expense.
Wa Asalam alikum