The Position of Women in Saudi Arabia Society - Essay Example

Saudi Arabia Name Class Unit Introduction Saudi Arabia is a monarch country in the South East Asia. The country has a population of approximately 19 million people. The monarch is ruled by Al Saud family and the government legitimacy is based on the interpretation of Sharia Law (Al-Eisa & Al-Sobayel, 2012). Sharia Law sets the basis for the monarch governance and civil rights. The status of the country’s constitution is based on the Quran and Sunna (Metcalfe, 2011). As a result, the kingdom is based on the religious institution which has a great influence on the citizen every day’s life. The Islamic religious institution has been in control of the major affairs in the kingdom and especially the male exclusive judiciary. The kingdom has been in opposition to conferring legality to women in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia women constitute less percentage of the workforce in the country. Over the recent years, the women sector in the Arabian society has gained a lot of debate (Elsadda, 2004). This essay looks at the position of women in Saudi Arabia society. The kingdom’s conservatism has denied women in Saudi Arabia the opportunity to participate in public life. The essay looks whether this is this still the case. It also analyses to what extent women have managed to push boundaries, participate and effect change. Through the economic development of the 1970s, the issue of women in Saudi Arabia was brought about. This has continued especially with the social change that was brought about by the Arab Uprising (Al-Eisa & Al-Sobayel, 2012). The issue on the women’s position in the society have been controversial for both conservatives and progressive Arabs. The exclusion of women from the public lives has been one of the major challenges that the kingdom is facing over the years. There are social and political events that have shaped the status of women in the Saudi society (Metcalfe, 2011). Each of the events that took place in the Gulf States had an impact on the position of women in the society. The first and second Gulf wars affected women and were a major challenge to the society. Before then, the society had experienced very little change in its policies to women. With the production of oil, American presence in the Gulf States increased. The American working in the oil industry came with their families and had a great influence on the Arab state. The foreign workforce in the oil and gas industry accounted for over 40% of the workforce. The American women were doing their shopping unveiled unlike the Saudi Arabian women. Soon, Saudi Arabian women started asking for rights as their American counterparts (Hamdan, 2005). The education system treated women and men in different ways. Women were under the Department of Religious guidance while men were under the Ministry of Education (Hamdan, 2005). The main aim was to ensure that women’s education was not to deviate from the original purpose which was to make them good wives and mothers and jobs such as nursing and teaching. Women and men were not allowed to work on the same jobs. This advocated for the patriarchal nature of the Saudi Arabian society which excludes women from the public life (Elamin & Omair, 2010). By 1979, the western influence in Saudi Arabia was becoming more obvious. Women started joining universities, especially after the mecca siege (Bradley, 2015). The women participation in the development of the nation was forbidden and the television stations were not allowed to show unveiled women. In business, women could not conduct business without a male member. Despite this, recent studies show that more than 16,930 businesses in Saudi Arabia are owned by women. Research also shows that women in Saudi Arabia own 40 % of the wealth in the private sector. Until recent years, women were not allowed to deal with money without having a male relative. The rising number of women universities and college has played a major role in shaping the position of women in society (Sidani, 2005). The first official school for girls was opened in 1960s in Riyadh. Prior to this, the main focus of education was on religious rituals with a goal of learning Quran, Sunna and Hadith. These are tasks which required memorisation rather than reading (Kristof & WuDunn, 2009). The education for the girls stopped at puberty where they were now placed under more strict rules of veiling. Education in Saudi Arabia did not change the position of women in the society and the patriarchal nature (Okruhlik, 2009). Saudi Arabia women who have been educated in the west come to the country with very different views. Most of these women have been in support for the women right looking for their progress. Some have been working to implement change and have a feeling that the restrictions on women have become reaffirmed. Despite this, the illiteracy late of the Saudi Arabia women has declined and women have been successful. Technology has been in the forefront to support the trend (Fargues, 2005). Technology has enabled Saudi women to view social trends in other countries. They are able to see women in Oman as ministers and head of institutions at Qatar. This has made them seek for more positions in the public life. Despite the rising level of education among women, there percentage in the workforce remains small. This is especially due to segregation of women in the workplaces. The market is also filled with foreign workers in positions that can be taken by the women (Al-Ahmadi, 2011). The Arab social norms continue to prevent women to participate in the public sphere. The attempts to empower women have been in most cases taken as western agenda. The women issue is a struggle between tradition and modernisation (Hanley, 2005). At the moment, over 90 per cent of the employed women in Saudi Arabia have an education qualification above high school. In 2013, statistics shows that 48.3% of the graduates in Saudi Arabia were women. The rising levels of education among the women are a great move towards public participation. Despite this, the national education system in Saudi Arabia does not prepare women in competitive jobs. Women in most cases are limited to working in traditional fields such as teaching and healthcare (Okruhlik, 2009). The unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia among women has been on rise. Since 2000, women participation in the labour force has been rising despite the high unemployment (Sabbagh, 2005). There are several issues that have contributed to the high level of women unemployment in Saudi Arabia. The empowerment and participation of women in the public life have been promoted by the shattering of the stereotypes. The Arab youth and rise of social media have acted as the agents for change (Fargues, 2005). There has been an increase of Saudi Arabian women in civic actions. From 2011, social media use has continued to grow in Saudi Arabia. Apart from being a tool for social networking and entertainment, social media is being used for almost every aspect of life. Social media affect the way business is conducted and also engagement with the government. There has been an increase in women participation in the social media as witnessed during the Arab spring (Al-Ahmadi, 2011). Women participation in sports is also low in the kingdom. There has been no active framework for women involvement in sports in the kingdom. Most of the women lack education on the importance of health and wellness (Fargues, 2005). This has led to the government to come up with plans to introduce sports for girls in the public schools. Despite this, it will take time for these programs to succeed due to culture and traditions of the kingdom. The only well-known sports federation for women in the kingdom is Jeddah United Basketball club (Al-Nozha et al., 2005). The country has culture where women are not allowed to drive. As more western culture is exposed to Saudi women through the internet and television, there are more struggles for women to be liberated (Omair, 2008). The king has started coming up with plans to empower the women through the use of education. The decision to allow women to participate in sports will be a major step in women empowerment in the society. The Olympic organisation has always been a major champion for women rights to participate in sports. In 2012, Saudi Arabia was able to have female athlete in London games. This was a major step towards women empowerment (Sidani, 2005). Islamist feminism has been a major way in which women empowerment in Saudi Arabia have been carried out (Golley, 2004). This is through faith based approach and looking at the Islamic teaching using a feminist perspective (Sidani, 2005). Muslim women have been able to differentiate both religious and cultural barriers to participation in sports. This has helped the women to discover that Islam does not forbid women from participating in sports. Through sports, it has become possible to enhance the physical wellbeing of people and also support their intellectual and social development (Okruhlik, 2009). Women still has to consult their guardians when performing every aspect of their life. For example, a woman cannot go to school without having the permission from her guardian. The guardian has the permission to force the women to leave job at any point (Fargues, 2005). The legal guardian can also pressure the women into marriage or refuse to marry her off and keep her wealth. There have been complaints by women against legal guardians who are abusive. There have also been men who have come forward and denounced the legal guardians (Okruhlik, 2004). Despite the guardianship laws, most of the Saudi Arabian women have been working hard to improve their quality of life. They have been challenging the social views and policies that demean them and allow unequal treatment. Women participation in education has been on rise with their enrolment surpassing that of men. At the moment, the government is the primary employer of women in Saudi Arabia (Pharaon, 2004). Women comprise over 30% of the government employees with large number working in the ministry of education. Research at 2011 showed that women owned enterprise in Saudi Arabia accounted for 4.7% of all businesses. Most of the female owned enterprises are involved in wholesale and retail trade, clothing and textiles. There are also many registered enterprises which are owned by women but registered under men. Despite the progress in made by women in Saudi Arabia, lack of employment opportunities is a major concern (Al-Ahmadi, 2011). When looking at the women rights in Saudi Arabia, the issue of guardianship is one of the main agendas. This is an issue that have to be dealt with to allow more women to participate in society. There are issues with underemployment, education and codification of sharia law. The legal system of Saudi Arabia is based on Quran and Sunna. The law system is not codified since clerics have been opposed to it (Zuhur, 2003). This makes the legal scholars to interpret the holy texts in ways which they find suitable. It is also feared that codification will lead to end of interpretation. This have made the judges makes varied ruling based on their personal judgements. The results have been varying verdicts especially in the cases addressing the women rights. This has restricted the role of women in the social spheres. Women are thus forced to rely on guardian so that they can have consent in managing their daily lives (Al-Ahmadi, 2011). Saudi business women have been able to use their social influence to advance the position of women in society. The business women have an identity that helps them to stand out and mobile the women lobby. They have additional legitimacy and influence as compared to other Saudi women. In 2005, four business women were able to join the Jeddah Chamber of commerce. This gave them an opportunity to negotiate for women with the government (Okruhlik, 2004). There have been several forums which have addressed the position of women in the Saudi society over the years (Sidani, 2005). At the moment, many sharia experts have expressed their support for lifting the driving ban on women. There have been claim that there is no legitimate justification for women nit t drive. Some of the experts have called for campaign to educate the youth to respect women who drive. The extreme religious opposition to the issue of women driving makes it hard for the acceptance (Okruhlik, 2009). Despite the progress made in Saudi Arabia, the country has developed a reputation of being the most restrictive Arab society for women. Most of the women in the country are still physically invisible in the public sphere (Okruhlik, 2004). The kingdom still lags behind in women employment and participation in arts. At the moment, Saudi society is still conservative and family oriented. There is division of labour between men and women where men role is providing for the family. Despite this, it is clear that women no longer view their primary role as catering for the family. For the Saudi, the change is inevitable. There is a lot of pressure for the empowerment of women. There is rise in self-employment especially among the women which allows women to work outside their homes. Women are a major potential for Saudi Arabia economic development through their contributions to the nation. The gender debate provides a great avenue for reforms in the country (Al-Ahmadi, 2011). Conservative religious clerics still sees that allowing women to sports will lead them to immorality. This has made women participation in sports to be low as compared with men. The government policy on women participation in the sports is still unclear despite lack of law prohibiting women participation. The views on sports participation by women appear to be abused on the cultural norms rather than religion. This is due to culture that supports the women role as housekeeping and raising the children. There is also an underlying assumption on religious teachings. Those against women participation in sports downplays obesity and claims that it would increase financial burden to parent. They claim that the negative and corrupting influence of engaging women in sports outweighs the positive aspects (Okruhlik, 2004). The international community can pressurise Saudi Arabia to empower women. This is through placing demands that does not contradict with the kingdom Islamic faith (Arnez, 2010). There is need to abolish the guardianship role so that women can make decisions on their life. The existence of forced marriages under the role of guardianship makes it hard for the women to make major steps in their fight for equality. There is also need to codify rules and regulations to ensure that women are not exploited. As women continue gaining space in the public sphere, their influence and ability for self-empowerment will be enhanced (Zuhur, 2003). Conclusion At the moment, the conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made some steps to address women empowerment. Despite this, women are still oppressed under the kingdom religious and cultural norms. Women are restricted from involvement in the public sphere. Education and Influence from the western cultures have made it possible for women to have some impact on the conservative Saudi Arabian government. Women in Saudi Arabia have actively engaged in the private sector through business. This has given them a platform to express themselves. Also, women are highly educated in the workforce as compared to their male counterparts in Saudi Arabia. There have also been efforts to include women in sports despite the harsh criticism present by conservative clerics. It is evident that lack of codified laws have provided avenue where women are denied their rights through wrong interpretation of laws. Islamist feminism provides an avenue where women can continue pushing for empowerment through based on Islamic teachings. There is need for more pressure for Saudi Arabia to empower women. This will make it possible to eliminate guardian roles which deny women freedom. 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