The car was from its birth, is a vehicle that provided personal mobility. And, for those of us that drive, mobility offers unprecedented individual movement. The car, without a doubt, has transforms social and economic characteristics within any society. In the early days of driving in the US, women who drove were considered ‘go getters’ and despite male attempts to limit or prohibit female drivers, famous women motorists, like writers Emily Post and Edith Wharton, became notable indicators of urban and suburban women for whom driving was useful, necessary, or adventurous in the early years of the twentieth century. Today, many women in Saudi Arabia face the same challenge and prejudices that Emily Post and Edith Wharton faced in their day. Oddly enough, there isnt any actual law in Saudi Arabia banning women from driving. In 1991, the late Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheik Abdulaziz bin Baz issued a fatwa prohibiting women from driving. A fatwa is different from a government law, in that only followers of the religious leader who issues the fatwa are obliged to follow that law. But given the intertwined nature of Saudi Arabias government and its religious leaders, the fatwa took hold. The government agency in charge of issuing drivers licenses will not issue one to a woman. Saudi Arabias court system relies heavily on fatwas from the Grand Mufti. Abdulaziz bin Baz said at the time that the ban would protect women, because allowing women to drive would put them out in society alone, leaving them to mix with men. If women were stranded by the side of the road due to a flat tyre or car problem, they could end up being assaulted or raped by a man who came to help them. This doesn’t say very much for the men of Saudi Arabia, who profess that their women are precious resources. So what is the underlying fear that made Baz come up with this Fatwa? The underlying fear and opposition to women driving in Saudi Arabia boils down to this: that once the Saudi woman is mobile, she will begin to transform the social and economic makeup of the country. She will break the cloistered environment that has kept her behind the walls of her family compound, and within the invisible boundaries of her country. It will give her the freedom to go to the mall with her friends, to buy groceries, go to work more easily, and escape from her life being scheduled by her father, husband, brother or ex-husband. Mobility is infectious, it’s a freedom that once gained will never be forgotten and difficult to deny. Mobility is the instrument for change. The October 26 Movement calls on Saudi women to take to the streets and drive on October 26 in protest of the ban. The campaign also initiated an online petition, which has been blocked inside Saudi Arabia, asking the government to “provide appropriate means for women seeking the issuance of permits and licenses to obtain them.” If the government refuses to lift the ban and provide a valid legal justification, the activists call upon the state to establish a legal mechanism for citizens to express their wishes. Join with us at Imperfectly Perfectly and stand with those Saudi women who want their basic rights as human being recognized. - Carlo Micieli Sources: autolife.umd.umich.edu/Gender/Walsh/G_Overview2.htm autos.aol/article/saudi-arabian-women-drivers-protest/ Imperfectly perfect
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 12:11:13 +0000
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