Women and gender/SAUDI ARABIA LIT - Literature review Example

?Women and Gender: Saudi Arabia Introduction The of woman and gender in society has always been of interest to scholars but it attained prominence in the twentieth century when women in western countries organized protests and initiated debates in order to obtain equal rights with men. From the suffragettes early twentieth century Britain to the American feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s there has been a pattern of gradual social change, covering areas like voting rights, education, employment and equal pay and this has continued to the present day in Europe and the United States. Internationally the picture has been more mixed, with some countries moving increasingly towards gender equality and others seeking to maintain a clear and hierarchical distinction between women and men in all aspects of society. Many Arab countries, and Saudi Arabia in particular, have a long tradition of strict Muslim gender roles, and at the same time they have modern industrial societies where women aspire to all of the same rights and privileges that men take for granted. The tensions between ideologies such as patriarchy and feminism are the same, but each country’s religious, political and economic situation is different, and so these tensions are expressed in different ways and with different results. This literature review surveys the literature on the subject of women and gender in Saudi Arabia under the following four headings: theoretical background, Saudi religious traditions, Saudi political context, and Saudi economic context. Theoretical Background: Women and Gender. An important foundation for study of women and gender is to be found in the feminist literature of the 1970s. At around this time scientists had begun to untangle the complex interplay between physical sex, which is biological, and the concept of gender, which is a socially determined construct, affecting all human beings from the moment they are born. (Maccoby and Jacklin, 1974) Terminology such as “the sexual revolution” (Millet, 1970) were used to describe a dawning consciousness of women’s subordination to men in patriarchal societies and many aspects of women’s lives were re-examined in this light. This analysis is similar to some Marxist ideas because it identifies the concentration of wealth and power in one area as the source of oppression: “the position of women in patriarchy is a continuous function of their economic dependence.” (Millet: 1970, p. 40) Another American feminist studied the ways in which women in patriarchal societies are conditioned to adopt domestic and subservient roles, stressing the social constraints which are described as “a comfortable concentration camp.” (Friedan: 1963, p. 438) Later scholars moved away from this confrontational approach and emotive language to develop a deep theoretical understanding of gender relationships so that a more modern definition of feminism is that of Deborah Cameron: As an intellectual approach feminism seeks to understand how current relations between women and men are constructed… and in the light of this understanding, how they can be changed” (Cameron and Kulick: 2003, p. xiii). From an early focus on white middle class women, which largely ignored issues of race and class, feminism in the new millennium has taken a more inclusive turn and now examines the interplay of these factors alongside gender in the experiences of modern women across the globe. Saudi Religious Traditions: Women in an Islamic and Conservative Culture. Islamic texts and traditions lie at the heart of Saudi social conventions. In historical terms, Saudi Arabia has a unique position in the Muslim world because it is the place where Islam first began. This distinction partly explains the country’s adherence to more conservative views, and to the strict Wahhabi interpretations of Shari’a rather than the more liberal versions such as those practised in Egypt, for example. Sunni Muslim ideas prevail in Saudi Arabia, since about 90% of the population belong to this group, and a number of practices are rigidly enforced by the mutawwa’in (religious police) including early marriage, polygamy, restriction of movement and dress of women. (OECD: 2006) Critics have seized upon the way that the exact interpretation of religious doctrines varies from state to state, and stress that it is important to reflect on who is making the rules for gender roles and activities, namely men, and how little real choice women have. The definition of what is a matter of culture and religion, and what is a matter of human rights is contentious. Handrahan, for example, compares the human rights offences which occurred in apartheid South Africa with the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia and describes the Saudi situation as “gender apartheid” (Handrahan: 2001, p. 9) The absence of equal voting rights for women is quite obviously matter of serious discrimination and it attracts condemnation from critics both inside and outside Saudi Arabia. From this perspective practices such as the wearing of the abaya (formal black cloak), the niqba (veil) and the requirement for women to always be accompanied by their mahram (husband or close male relative) are seen as violations of human rights. Saudi Political Context: Women in an Arab Monarchy. The structure of society in Saudi Arabia is a monarchy, which means that patriarchal values of hereditary power are enshrined in all the internal political organisations. It is not like the monarchy which exists in the UK, where the Queen has a largely ceremonial role, but rather it is a non-democratic institution where the ruling royal family occupy the positions of power and decision-making. King and Prime Minister Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud has been both chief of state and head of government since 2005, and all members of the council of ministers are appointed by him. (CIA, 2010) Female members of the Royal family and other respected women can and do occupy prominent positions with impressive job titles such as Princess Dr al-Jawhara bint Fahd al-Saud who was an undersecretary for education for womens colleges and Dr Nora Alyousuf, who is one of only six state-appointed “parliamentary advisors” but their powers are limited and many people view these appointments as a cosmetic touch to distract from the lack of influence that Saudi women have in society. (Al-Mohamed: 2008, p. 47) It would be wrong to assume, however, that royal power is always used to oppress women in modern Saudi Arabia and in fact over the last ten years there have been a number of royal decrees which call for the setting up of organisations which review and reform Saudi social and political structures. The royal decree of March 9 2004 called for the establishment of an Institution for Human Rights and another one of Sept.12 2005 set up an official Saudi Committee for Human Rights. Commentators have also pointed out that some of these female royals have been active in charity work, and in bringing new ideas to the table such as Princess Moudy bint Khalid of the Al Nahda Philanthropic Society for Women which has been tackling the growing problem of urban poverty in Saudi Arabia, and who has “been working to promote local women as an alternative to foreign labor,” (Murphy, 2003) The difficulty for women in Saudi Arabia is not a lack or ideas, nor even a lack of political will, but rather a deeply entrenched tradition which simply stops any innovations in their tracks. In one of the few acts of open resistance by women in Saudi Arabia, when In international terms Saudi Arabia has always had great cultural and religious significance but it is increasingly also taking a leading role in international politics, for example in working with American military forces and in encouraging dialogue between East and West on matters of security and international relations in the Middle East. There are signs that awareness of women’s issues is beginning to come to the fore in a situation where global tensions bring East and West, somewhat paradoxically, into more frequent contact with each other. Al Dabbagh (2009), for example, in her analysis of leadership amongst women’s groups in Saudi Arabia notes that context shapes identity formation and pinpoints the 9/11 context as one which gave birth to the first officially sanctioned public questioning of the ideology of ideal womanhood within Saudi Arabia. In contrast Ahmed notes that the societies in the Arabian Peninsula, and Saudi Arabia in particular, have reacted negatively to increased influences from outside this conservative area and concludes that “the societies in the region, particularly Saudi Arabia, have attempted to erect impregnable cultural and ideological walls… Although the peninsular countries have opened up education to women, in most other ways the old strictures remain in place.” (Ahmed: 1992, p. 241) Saudi Economic Context: Women in a leading MENA economy. Saudi Arabia has a population of 25.8 million, in 2009, and 72.9 of these are Saudi citizens with the rest being described in the official statistics as “non-Saudi residents.” (Central Department of Statistics website). When one thinks of Saudi Arabia’s profile in the contemporary world it is impossible to ignore the importance of the oil industry. Because this natural resource brings great wealth to the ruling class in society, the economic system is defined as a “rentier state” (Beblawi, 1990). Power is exercised through this influx of wealth, and there is no direct connection between the workers, with systems of voting and taxes, and the wealthiest members of society. The immediate result of this is that ordinary citizens have very little voice and and not much leverage with decision makers. Some argue that the oil industry being a male-dominated and technical field, reduces the presence of women in the labour force, and this factor, rather than religion, is what causes gender inequalities: “Oil and mineral production can also explain the unusually low status of women in many countries outside the Middle East, including Azerbaijan, Botswana, Chile, Nigeria, and Russia.” (Ross: 2008, p. 107) Following this line of argument, a diversification of Saudi employment opportunities into areas such as factory manufacturing for export, and service industries, would be a valid practical strategy to encourage an increase in women’s participation in the workforce. Furthermore, a move by the Western customers of the oil industry towards other energy sources might impact on the relative importance of the oil industry, and this, too, might positively influence the potential for female employment in Saudi Arabia. Evidence of the difficulties that Saudi women experience in the world of work is found in the surveys conducted by Alturki and Braswell who identified the gender-specific constraints of the regulatory environment and the lack of access to capital as the main barriers to women in business in Saudi Arabia. Interestingly, they noted that women in all Islamic countries experience difficulties in achieving family/work balance, suggesting that this may be a generic female experience across cultures, but that in almost every category Saudi women report more obstacles than other national group: “Saudi businesswomen… face female-specific challenges that are a result of extra restrictions and requirements for businesswomen that are not required of men.” (Alturki and Braswell: 2010, p. 22). The detail of this report itemizes some of the most significant obstacles such as indirect access to government services (p. 24), the requirement to appoint a mudeer (male manager) ( p. 26), absence of licensing for popular business activities such as beauty salons, day-care and after school activities (p. 26) and lack of enforcement of supportive business laws (p. 27). Further restrictions in women’s mobility and access to capital make life as a Saudi businesswomen very difficult. The the prognosis for the future which they reach nevertheless that “Businesswomen in Saudi Arabia are overwhelmingly united in their plans to grow their rather than maintain present levels… In contrast, women in other MENA countries do not unanimously have growth oriented goals.” (Alturki and Braswell: 2010, p. 45) Another paradox of Saudi economic policies is the success of some of its charity and development work, designed and funded according to Islamic financing principles. Microfinancing has proportionally benefitted many more women than men in third world countries such as Pakistan, where analysis showed that the effects of microfinancing were judged greater than men (Hussein & Hussain, 2003) and that “women’s rate of default is less than one-third that of men” (Hussein & Hussain, 2003, p. 41) The barrier to women’s business activity within Saudi Arabia is not due to Islamic financing laws per se, which in fact are proving more effective than western capitalist investment approaches both in achieving humanitarian goals like relieving poverty and in addressing gender inequalities. Kabeer (1995, 2005) argues for more far reaching Islamic financing interventions which tackle social issues such as gender as well as purely monetary needs, so that long term change can emerge rather than just short term initiatives. References Ahmed, L. 1992. Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 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