Gender is the state of being male or female in relation to the roles in tradition , culture and society, that are considered suitable for men and women. Whereas gender stereotypes are roles or characteristics that are believed by the society to be appropriate for either women or men. Saudi Arabia being the second country in the world in gender inequality, it is proved to have more negative stereotypes than other countries which include the following.
Men are guardians of Saudi women: ‘Saudi women live under the guardianship of male family members namely their fathers, uncles, brothers, husbands and if they’re divorced or orphaned, their sons.” This is stated by the Saudi law. The human rights watch article also emphasizes on how a Saudi woman’s life is controlled by a man from her birth until death where she is not free to do anything without her male guardian’s permission but a man can do whatever he wants without permission from anyone. The ABC news article gave an example of a teenager girl called Rahaf Alqunun who was beaten and locked up in a room simply because she had cut her hair without permission from her male guardian.
In emphasis, there is an instance of a Saudi woman called Sara whose husband abandoned 15 years ago but did not officially divorce her. She had to take care of their daughter and her disabled daughter in law, but the government could not financially assist her because she was legally married and therefore still lived under her husband’s responsibility regardless of the fact that her husband had walked out.
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In addition, Saudi women cannot travel or get a passport on their own: When a woman wants to apply for a passport or travel to any place, she must ask for permission from her male guardian first. Some women are also not allowed to leave their homes to go to the neighbourhood without a guardian’s approval, and this only applies to women because men can travel and get passport without seeking permission from anyone. This is because Saudi men think women are weak and incapable of making right decisions and women should be taken care of and controlled in everything they do.
Furthermore, women cannot choose marriage partners or divorce: A woman in Saudi Arabia is supposed to seek permission from her male guardian for marriage or divorce and she cannot choose her marriage partner because no one believes she is able to make the right choice. “When a woman wants to divorce her husband, he can ask for anything in order to give her a divorce, even to give up custody, but a man can even say ‘we are divorced’ in a text message” Sura, 62-year-old retired university lecturer told the human rights reporter.
Besides, they are specific careers for males and females: Saudi society restricts some specific professions like judges and drivers to men because they think women cannot pursue those kinds of careers like . There are only a few careers that women can pursue where in 2015, Nassima al-Sadah, a woman from Saudi Arabia run for local elections, because by that time women had been allowed to run, but later, her name was removed from the ballot because she is a woman and she was later arrested for being a women’s rights activist.
People of opposite sex cannot interact in Saudi Arabia: Women in Saudi Arabia are supposed to limit the time they spend with male whom they don’t have a family relationship with, where especially in public places like offices, markets, buses and others, there should be different entrances and exits for different sexes and women sit in their own section that is specifically made for them. This shows how separate women should be from people with opposite sex.
Saudi women cannot try on clothes when shopping: This is because people think that regardless of the fact that fitting rooms are private and hidden, just a mere thought of a women undressing behind the curtains or the doors of the fitting room is a problem in Saudi Arabia. But what about a mere thought of a man undressing? Saudi people don’t mind.
Women in Saudi Arabia cannot wear clothes or make-up that expose their beauty: Maureen Dowd, a writer, wrote about her journey in Saudi Arabia, where she wore a skirt to go to an interview with the Saudi minister of education but when she went out of her hotel room, a man yelled to her to go get her abaya, a long garment worn by muslim women, because if she didn’t, they would kill her. She went back and added more layers of clothes, but still got into trouble because members of the Mutawa boredown could still see her neck and the outline of her body so they confiscated her passport.
Conclusively, Saudi Arabia is a place where women’s abilities to work and make proper decisions are undermined because as stated above, Saudi women are not allowed to drive, choose marriage partners, make decisions without a guardian’s approval and they can’t live without depending on their male guardians.whoever tries to go against these is punished by the law.
