Women in Saudi Arabia

David attended a meeting at the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority yesterday afternoon which turned out to be a pitch for foreign investment. The group included one woman and she was treated the same as the men. From what our guides have told us and also from our interactions with the Saudis we met yesterday, the culture is slowly changing. The science and technology school we visited yesterday is co-ed. Our guide said his four daughters wanted to learn how to drive and he plans to take them outside the city and teach them (he understood they might need to know how to drive in an emergency or if they travel outside the country). One of the men David met joked with him and said he would be spending his vacation in Dubai where he could drink, gamble and check out the pretty women. Two of our three guides didn't care if we wore abayas or not - the other would have been offended.

Of course, our guide (above) also told us that he's fallen in love with another woman and if he can convince her father that he can take care of her, he'll take a second wife (which means he'll need to keep two households as he can't just bring her home like a puppy). He's waiting to tell his first wife about his plan after he's sealed the deal. Both the men and women on our bus were shocked, to say the least.

I wouldn't want to live in this culture but I also think change is slowly coming. Wearing an abaya for only a day was fun but I'm sure it would grow old (and uncomfortable when the temperature climbed to 100 in the summer). I'm disappointed that I've not had the opportunity to speak with any women while in Saudi Arabia - I've barely seen any women! Still, this is the first country we've visited that I would like to spend more time in. I wonder if I'll find Cyprus and Lebanon as fascinating.

David did meet three women in Al Ula who work in the oil and gas industry and live in a town on the Red Sea. One was Canadian, one Argentinian and one was from Italy. They too wore abayas but told David that they are treated well and with respect and enjoy living here.

 

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