Saudi Women's View

Another great article in the New York Times, this time examining young romance from a Saudi woman's viewpoint.

The Painful Logic of Saudi Arabia

There is a great article in the NY Times today, that offers a glimpse into the lives of two young Saudi men as they try to navigate their culture's warped view of romance, honor, women and love. It is just a small glimpse, a tiny flash, of how absolutely masochistic, twisted and insiduous Saudi sociey is today. When calling your fiance on the telephone is something that has to be kept absolutely secret at all costs, or eating a meal in a restaurant with a man is cause to hide your face in shame, you know there is something seriously wrong.

Music will soothe even the savage beast...

This article starts out so cheerful and then in the last few sentences turns so sour! Come on people! Where's your hope?

Best Objectified Mindless Piece of Meat!

So the hunt is starting for Bahrain's annual May Queen. Typical beauty pageant drivel here. Just your basic parade of smiling, subservient women willing to be judged on their physical appearance alone. The age limit is 15-24, further reinforcing the fact that women are only valuable as long as long as they retain a youthful appearance, and that they obiviously will be judged on nothing but the attractivenss of their figures.

But don't forget, this is the 'progressive, modern' middle east and this year women will also be judged on 'their good moral standing'. And you know what that means: married, definitely not divorced, hopefully not employed, never talks to much or offers their own unique opinion, doesn't have male friends, and keeps her house clean. Oh, how wonderful.

I particualarly like the mention of the 'grooming session' that all of the women will undergo, to really drive home the point that they are pretty little products to be commodified and ogled at. Is there a learning session? A debate session? No, a grooming session. Why would women care about anything other than slapping on a bit of makeup and teasing their hair? Honestly!

Serious Problems.

Can you believe they are still talking about this? They are really, honestly and truly, debating taking measures to find and deport all of the foreigners on this island whom they suspect of being gay. Really. Is this 2008? Does Bahrain want to be a modern progressive nation, or not? You can't have it both ways.

They want to spy on students in schools in order to 'stamp out homosexuality' as soon as it is detected. They want to deport 'foreign gays' and not grant anyone suspect a visa. Really.

The members of parliament voted in favor of the government preparing a study to determine how 'widespread the threat of homosexuality is in Bahrain.'

I want to scream. Like I have already said a million times, there are real problems in this country. People do not have food, people do not have adequate housing, children are not able to recieve even vaguely decent education, sectarian violence and unrest is on the rise....and what is the parliament doing? Are the focusing on the real threat to this nation's safety, security and happiness? Of course not.

You have got to be kidding me...

This article in the GDN reports on a call from the Wefaq party for medical doctors to only practice on patients of the same-sex. Women doctors would only be allowed to work on women patients, male doctors would only be allowed to work on male patients, except in case of emergency.

Ridiculous! How utterly, fantastically obscene and horrific that in a country with real problems, religious sectarianism, rampant corruption, pollution, human rights violations, etc, the parliament is focusing its energy on turning back history and setting back human progress hundreds and hundreds of years.

I grew up in Saudi Arabia, perhaps the most demented and repressed country on earth, and I found that the more the clerics and religious leaders tried to clamp down on anything that could possibly be percieved as flirting, mingling between the sexes or enjoyment of any kind, the more crazed and obsessed with sex the populace became.

For example, in Saudi Arabia there have been fatwas issued warning people to be wary when sitting down on a chair recently vacated by someone of the opposite sex, in case the remaining heat left over from their body creates arousal. SERIOUSLY.

Never in my life had I ever thought twice about sitting down wherever and whenever I wanted. But now I was supposed to stop myself from sitting down after a man because it might turn me on? How depraved and perverted do they think I am? A seat is just a seat, no matter who was just sitting in it.

Just like always, because of the religious leader's twisted actions, a place where many people had never before seen anything sexual is suddnenly transformed into a swirling mess of libidinous behaviour and wanton scandal.

When I go to a doctor it is just a doctor. He or she is a trained professional. I do not hesitate to tell them exactly what is going on and I never think twice about letting them do their job. Never has anything remotely sexual or scandalous occurred. And once again, in the pursuit of 'religious purity and protecting the honor of women', the mullahs and the clerics have spotted sex, sleaze and sin in what was previously just a doctor's office.

Let's not even get into their reasoning behind same sex undertakers.....