Saudi Affairs
On Jan. 19 this year, the world lost a unique figure in the global women’s movement. She was the French writer and resistance fighter Françoise Giro. A pioneer in the French women’s movement, as well as holding the post of minister for women’s affairs in the Ministry of Culture, in 1953 she founded the magazine “Elle”. When asked when she would stop fighting for equality, her answer was: “When the day comes when incompetent women can hold important positions — as men do.”
The world is male in leanings and ideas — incompetent men who couldn’t manage a company, let alone a country, hold the majority of government posts. The Arab world is no exception. It runs on the idea “It is who you know rather than what you know” that is important.
Recently the new Cabinet was announced. There were photographs and brief biographies of the new ministers as well as of those whose terms have been renewed. The new Cabinet includes a number of ministers with excellent qualifications, some holding postgraduate degrees from prestigious universities around the world. They have been carefully chosen, are of unimpeachable reputation and seem to deserve their positions. Women were of course totally absent.
When will women in this country find real solutions to their issues and concerns? Who will represent them in this new Cabinet? Which minister should they call upon when all doors are closed in their faces? How will any employee in any ministry be able to help women if women are not allowed to communicate with any government sector?
We live in troubled times. The current situation and the challenges and dilemmas facing the country require a carefully considered vision of the future and reform. The men and women of this country must stand shoulder to shoulder to ensure that Saudi Arabia remains a land of peace and security for all of its people. However, this will not happen while more than half the population remains second-class citizens.
France has the most liberal and democratic system in Europe. Though it gives equal rights to women and men, it also has a ministry to deal with women’s issues. We in this country, on the other hand, have partitions to give each sex its privacy and we haven’t even established a simple government office to improve women’s situation.
The house, street, work place and government offices are all men’s domains. When will a woman’s voice be heard in the courts? When will she have a role to play in the decisions of the Education, Labor and Justice Ministries? When will she be represented on the Shoura Council? When will there be a ministry dealing with women’s issues? Why aren’t the “bold ministries for a new phase” modernized to improve women’s standards as other ministries have been modernized?
Both the traditional assumption and the prevalent mindset regarding women’s competence should be totally rejected. Women the world over have proven that they are no less competent or intelligent than men. They have been employed in all sectors and have done their jobs to the same level of competence and excellence as men. Saudi women are no less capable. In those areas where they have been allowed to work, they have excelled. Saudi women are capable but they need a ministry of their own as well as support by Saudi men who possess the courage and authority to provide them with further opportunities. This will not happen if our minds remain mired in false reasons that seek to annul women’s role and bury her in the darkness of ignorance from the cradle to the grave.
We can’t remain isolated from change. If we want to have a presence in the world, to have real weight and a positive role in the global political climate instead of being swept away by a great flood of greed and arrogance, then we must begin to change with the sincere intention of improving the status of women for a better future.
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