The United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia Gender Question - Case Study Example

A Comparative Case Study Analysis of the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia with Reference to Gender Introduction When considering conducting business or even just traveling to another country, it is often necessary to understand how that country’s culture affects the way in which its people might receive you, both as a businessperson and as a tourist. For some countries, the differences between your home and the country visited will not be all that great, as in traveling between two modern capitalist countries. The reason for this is due to the degree to which they subscribe to a particular overall culture and how strictly they adhere to the specificities and laws of such culture. However, in other countries, such as the Arab Nations, it could be quite dangerous to assume that what will work in England will also work in Saudi Arabia. This is because the basic culture in existence there will be significantly different, affecting tremendously the way in which they view certain cultural issues and the importance they place on adhering to their laws, whether one was aware of them or not. One of the greatest areas in which these differences can be traced is in the way in which women are treated or expected to behave within these various countries. Not only laws, but journals, magazines, marketing campaigns and other media ventures can help illuminate the real response to issues such as these through the careful tracking of their targeting efforts. In societies in which women have a large degree of self-control and consumable income, marketing campaigns will strive to communicate to the woman’s sense of self and independence. In societies in which women are expected to accept a subservient role in life, these campaigns will be targeted much differently. Therefore, to illustrate how two countries can be vastly different in their cultural attitudes, particularly toward women, this paper will take a look into the way in which women are treated in media publications in the UK as compared with how they are treated in a country such as Saudi Arabia and link these with cultural models that have been developed by such researchers as Geerte Hofstede, Fons Trompenaars and Edward T. Hall. Theories In looking at cultures of nations, it is often the most obvious signs that we tend to navigate to in order to provide clues as to what is important or not important in a given society. Things such as appearance in the form of clothing styles, appropriate behavior among individuals and the way in which these individuals communicate with each other, other classes and the opposite gender can often provide valuable information to the observer. This outer indication of a culture as it can be materially traced falls into what Fons Trompenaars defines as the explicit layer of a culture – that layer which “contains the manifestations of a culture, its artefacts, the things that can be observed, like its language, food, dress code, greeting rituals, art etc”1 – which are all, in turn, only symbols of the middle layer, or the values of a culture. These values are established by the subconscious and deepest “implicit” layer of a culture, which is developed as a way of life based upon that society’s response to the natural environment in which it exists. Hofstede used these same outer indications of a culture to help develop his concept of five cultural dimensions which include the power distance index, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance index and long-term orientation.2 Using these scales, Hofstede is able to classify countries according to their most cherished principles and make assumptions about the way in which individuals within these societies might be viewed by the whole. Edward Hall, on the other hand, looked more to the ideas of proxemic space, noticing that cultures often varied not only by the amount of space they felt comfortable in on a personal level, but also how people interact differently on a social and public level.3 This translates into the work of Hofstede and Trompenaars by illuminating how different cultures define their space by either individual or group mentalities. For instance, in societies with a high degree of emphasis on the individual, personal space is calculated at a much greater distance than in societies in which space is viewed more collectively. However, this space can also be further broken down into who is allowed to enter the intimate area, social area or public area of an individual, such as the protected women of Saudi Arabia. In addition, it is Hall’s theory of informal learning that provides us with an explanation of why and how culture is transmitted from one generation to the next as well as how that culture can be so drastically influenced by the marketing campaigns typically seen in the west to bring about tremendous change in a relatively short period of time.4 By looking at these measurements painstakingly taken upon several of the world’s cultures, one can begin to understand the underlying principles of another culture vastly different from one’s own and therefore begin to foster more meaningful cross-cultural relationships. Appearances One of the primary areas in which these cultural differences in the treatment of women can be traced is in the style of clothing and other adornments they’re permitted to wear as these can be seen in store windows, magazine advertisements and television commercials. Observable indications of women’s fashions in the UK include conservative clothing in the business wear section with a heavy emphasis on somber tones such as black, grey and brown. This indicates a heavily male-dominated society in that the emphasis continues to be on exterior achievement, power and control as indicated in Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions.2 However, women’s clothing demonstrates a freedom greater than that of their male counterparts in that more colorful women’s accessories are acceptable within the office workspace. Under Hofstede’s system, this fact demonstrates a low power distance index in that there is very little cultural measurement between the sexes (they both have standard forms of dressing for business and women’s clothing requirements are less strict than that of men) as well as a high inclination for individuality, in that women are permitted to express a little more of their personalities in their clothing styles. A look through popular magazines issued in the UK such as Vogue5 and Moda-UK6 demonstrate that women’s fashions indicate a kind of power of their own. Fashions include very little in the way of concealing headwear, while conservative skirt lengths hover anywhere between the knees and the ankles. However, these skirt lengths can go as high as mid-thigh and still be considered quite businesslike and acceptable. Clothing is typically streamlined to fit the body, demonstrating attractive curves while still maintaining an aura of power and independence. Outside of the business realm, too, women have a great deal of freedom in selecting their clothing styles. The punk stylings of the 1960s and 1970s have brought such unusual clothing arrangements as undergarments worn as outer clothing or alone to a more mainstream consumer base within the UK in recent years, although this is still not considered appropriate attire for a business setting. This popular clothing often includes sheer layers, exposed skin, ultra tight or blousy selections that are designed not so much to hide as to entice the viewer to try to see more. Advertising campaigns appeal to the female sense of independence, power and self-assurance. Sexuality has become a marketable commodity and women are viewed with a greater sense of mystery and strength. As a result of this shift in fashions, the informal teachings acknowledged by Hall that have been carried out by the advertisers have been gradually shifting the ‘implicit’ layer of culture suggested by Trompenaars to one that provides women with more equality to men than has been seen in the past. Although the culture is still one of strong masculinity as seen in Hofstede’s methods, that masculinity has been transferred in part onto the female form as well, enabling them to achieve some of the masculine goals of public achievement and expression. In Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, the culture is markedly different. This culture is quite closed, only allowing entry and exit to or from the country by express invitation and release. Visitors are expected to follow the same rules as natives and are punished for breaking them just as severely as if they had been born in that country.7 Within this culture, appearance helps to reinforce this closed nature as fashions remain closed and forbidding. Even for visitors, skin is expected to be covered as much as possible regardless of the outside temperature. Overt displays of skin at the shoulder, stomach and legs are serious breaches of conduct and women should be prepared to cover their heads with scarves at all times. Women’s fashions are designed to be bulky and obscuring, preventing the eye from seeing anything attractive within the woman and rejecting its efforts to see beyond the clothing. Rather than the clean-cut lines or voluminous layers of the UK in which curves are emphasized and celebrated, clothing in Saudi Arabia is designed to mask the curves and provide an indeterminate form for the woman’s silhouette. When appearing in public, “she normally wears a voluminous black cloak called an ibayah, a scarf covering her hair and a full-face veil.”8 Headwear is required for all women living in the country as a sign of modesty and respect for property. However, when everyday clothing is apparent, usually only to close relatives, the colors and styles are vastly different and interesting, using a wide variety of textures, fabrics and designs,9 demonstrating that within the home at least, women are free to express their own taste for beauty, color and form. Through these clothing customs within Saudi Arabia, one can easily see the culture places strong emphasis on power ranking, as suggested by Hofstede, by placing women below every man; yet it can also be inferred that men have a specific system of ranking as well that must be strictly adhered to. Hall’s personal space is completely occupied by the voluminous garments that women are required to wear when appearing in public places, thereby limiting its use to only male relatives and other women within the home or private spaces. By requiring all women to conceal themselves in such a way, all uncertainty of place is removed while the use of the black cloak ensures all women are seen equally, and making it impossible to place a large degree of emphasis on individuality within the broader culture. Behaviors These traits can also be seen in the way in which individuals behave in this society. One of the greatest indications of the way in which women are viewed as subservient to men in Saudi Arabia can be seen in the law that prevents women from operating vehicles, thereby forcing them to remain dependent upon others for transportation for long distances. In addition, only men will typically shake hands with other men, regardless of the business situation, as a concession to Western forms of address. According to Hofstede, the usual form of greeting among businessmen involves grasping right hands at the wrist, grasping the shoulder of the other person with the left hand and exchanging light kisses on either cheek.10 Saudi men working with businesswomen from other countries adjust to the situation differently as businesswomen in Saudi Arabia are rare. Consistent with the idea that women are the property of their male relatives as indicated in the forms of dress that keep them concealed even from their closest relatives, females are only permitted to travel if they have first obtained the permission of their husbands or oldest male relative, be they father or brother. This is true regardless of the woman’s age or national citizenship. In addition, “to ensure that conservative standards of conduct are observed, the Saudi religious police [Mutawwa] have accosted or arrested foreigners, including U.S. citizens, for improper dress or other alleged infractions, such as consumption of alcohol or association by a female with a male to whom she is not related.”11 The United States Department of State reports that the Mutawwa may require proof that a couple is married or related when seen out in public. “Women who are arrested for socializing with a man who is not a relative may be charged with prostitution. Some restaurants, particularly fast-food outlets, have refused to serve women who are not accompanied by a close male relative. In addition, many restaurants no longer have a ‘family section’ in which women are permitted to eat.”12 The Mutawwa are an excellent example of how a culture works to ensure that there is very little uncertainty in the way in which people conduct themselves in Saudi society. Rules are set by the religion (Islam) and enforced as they have been interpreted by the ruling body upon the general populace regardless of nationality through such means as fear and censorship. Trompenaars might argue that this harsh and brutal enforcement of the rules of Islam might be an extension of the harsh and unforgiving landscape of the surrounding desert, yet the fact that rules are so strictly enforced serves to perpetuate this way of life as any sign of deviance is promptly punished. Such common areas such as cinema or theaters – areas that have been considered entry points for women into the public sphere in other parts of the world – are either expressly forbidden or not available to women in Saudi Arabia. By contrast, individuals in the UK are much freer to express themselves in more than just style of dress. Leading the way in terms of women rising out of their traditional roles as one of the few countries in the world that allowed a woman to rule as queen, women in the UK are now accepted in society as individuals who are capable of operating vehicles, holding a job, owning a company or property and determining their own direction in life. To restrict women from using a vehicle would prove crippling to the British society and to refuse to recognize her in a business setting would open the doors to litigation on the grounds of discrimination. With such an open market base, in which women are not only allowed, but hold enforceable rights, to seek employment or pursue education, it would be impossible to enforce such laws that would require women to have permission from their male relatives to move about the public sphere. Entire corporations have developed to cater solely to the female market, each holding significant voices of their own to ensure these rights remain protected. To refuse service to women, then, would be economic suicide on a national scale. And the current trend is for more, not less, women entering the upper echelons of management, bringing even greater social change in how society defines the roles and responsibilities of women. Communication However, that is not to say that there are not certain restrictions in the way in which people communicate in the UK. Just as in any culture, there are differences in the ways in which two people should communicate in order to avoid offense. While women in the United States will often feel free to discuss intensely private subjects with a person they have just met and conversations among women in Saudi Arabia are severely limited to closely related individuals thanks to their restrictions in movement, women in the UK fall to a healthy in-between state. They feel free to discuss private issues with close friends, but as a rule, private lives tend to remain private and work lives tend to remain at work. However, thanks to such public meeting spaces as the library, cinema, shopping malls, theater and a host of business places in which women are welcomed as potential customers, women here are able to maintain a wide variety of relationships with other women, so ideas can be shared, developed and implemented more readily than in a more closed culture such as Saudi Arabia. Where communication among individuals is concerned, though, the media provides a large, if unrecognized arena for observation. Television shows, regardless of the country in which they’re produced, generally tend to reflect in some part the daily lives of those who might watch them. Advertisements used in print media or on billboards will also tend to show scenes that epitomize that culture’s ideals. Therefore, to find billboards depicting slender, smiling, young women in attractive, stylish clothing as they showcase the latest office gadgetry is not so uncommon. To find television shows in which men and women interact freely is also a given aspect of society. These shows depict free conversation, discuss everyday issues and explore differing opinions regarding those issues. Within the story line, women are just as apt to notice important change as men, are equally capable of holding interesting employment and are not criticized or punished for making fun of the men. Subjects can range from family life to business life to social life, female centered to male centered, drama to comedy, fact to fiction and everything in between. The production of these movies is sometimes done by men, sometimes by women, and roles throughout the production staff can as easily have a woman’s name attached to them as a man’s. To those watching, none of these things are remarkable or inconceivable as occurring in the world as they know it. Only the very specific particulars, such as degree of achievement toward the ideal states in life, might be different in the television world versus the ‘real’ world. However, to a woman living in Saudi Arabia, such images are not available. Television in Saudi Arabia does exist and is available to anyone with access to a television set; however, the shows available on them are markedly different from the shows available in Britain. Children’s shows depict happy children following the rules of the Islam tradition and suffering the consequences when they work to test the limits of these restrictions, but a great deal of the information available on television has to do with news and sports, as they are reported from the state-run Broadcasting Service of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.13 These channels generally report on world events as they affect Saudi Arabia or the King in a positive light. “Criticism of the government and royal family and the questioning of religious tenets are not generally tolerated. But in 2003 signs of an increasing openness began to appear, with some formerly taboo topics receiving press and TV coverage. The September 11 attacks on the US and instances of domestic terrorism were said to have brought about a bolder and more candid reporting.”14 For the most part, little mention is made of Saudi women in the media, a trait that was noticed and remarked upon by Hofstede as well. “Do not discuss the subject of women, not even to inquire about the health of a wife or daughter,” he advises. “Sports is an appropriate topic.”15 By avoiding the topic altogether, the media escapes concerns of censorship or inadvertently breaking the restrictions and the population at large receives the message that women are less than a topic of concern within the public realm. Although some Saudi households are able to receive messages from without the boundaries of their country, and therefore understand that there are more liberal ideas out there than what they have become accustomed to, there is little room in which these individuals might operate to extend these ideas further into their boundaries and no room in which to expand upon them. As all movies, books, newspapers and other materials are censored before they are permitted within the country, there is no method by which anyone could circulate information that does not coincide with the beliefs and positions supported by the royal family. The advent of satellite television and the internet is slowly changing this mindset, though. Although most Saudi newspapers do not carry the same mix of coverage that a UK newspaper might in terms of addressing women or women’s issues directly, there is evidence that some change is occurring. In the Arab News for instance, there were at least two stories related to women. The first is a column expressing the difficulty one woman is having in listening to other women in Saudi Arabia arguing for a continuation of the status quo rather than opening up the workplace to allow women, indicating that not all Saudi women feel they are currently in the best position, nor do all Saudi women currently feel they are being oppressed.16 The other story addresses the issue of allowing women to operate vehicles, admitting that even the most traditional of men are no longer objecting to the idea on a general base, yet are having difficulty with the thought on a personal level.17 Significantly, both of these articles were published and both of these articles were written by women, indicating that not all communications are as tight, as controlled or as rigidly male-centered as might be believed. Conclusion As can be seen in the case of the changing face of media in Saudi Arabia as well as the quickly moving faces of the media in the UK, culture is both reinforced and changed by what we see on television, in the magazines and newspapers as well as what we hear in our homes and our hearts. According to Hofstede, culture is the “software of the mind … It invisibly performs the management function.”18 Trompenaars says that our cultures develop as a natural reaction to the environment in which we find ourselves while Hall states that we learn our cultures through informal instruction, the subconscious messages that are sent through our elders’ actions and what we are exposed to as we grow. With the changing environment of faster communication, increasing women’s voices within the marketplaces and changing ideas of what constitutes the ‘ideal’ lifestyle, it can be seen that whether the society is considered progressive as in the UK or regressive as in Saudi Arabia, regardless of how ‘open’ or ‘closed’ the culture might be, change can and will arrive through the very same channels through which it is expected to be preserved. Footnotes 1 Keceli, Nihal Camille, Jensen, Malene Juel and Jakobsen, Elsebet. (1 September, 2004). “Fons Trompenaars.” Teaching Culture in TEFL Classes. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://elsebet.jakobsen1.person.emu.dk/south_africa/here.htm#Trompenaar> 2 Hofstede, Geert. (2003). “Geert Hofstede: Cultural Dimensions.” ITIM International. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.geert-hofstede.com/>. 3 Brown, Nina. (2001). “Edward T. Hall: Proxemic Theory, 1966.” Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.csiss.org/classics/content/13> 4 Wischmeier, Jake. (2000). “Edward T. Hall.” Minnesota State University. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/fghij/hall_edward.html> 5 Vogue Magazine. (2006). Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.vogue.co.uk/> 6 Moda-UK. (2006). Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.moda-uk.com/> 7 Hofstede, (2003). 8 Saudi Arabia. (2002). Clothing. ArabNet. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.arab.net/saudi/sa_clothing.htm> 9 Lamsa, Arabia. (2006). Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.lamsa-arabia.com/eng/index.htm> 10 Hofstede, (2003). 11 US Department of State. (10 August, 2005). “Saudi Arabia.” Bureau of Consular Affairs. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from 12 US Department of State, (2005). 13 “Country Profile: Saudi Arabia.” (3 November, 2005). BBC News. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/791936.stm> 14 “Country Profile: Saudi Arabia,” (2005). 15 Hofstede, (2003). 16 Al-Khalaf, Mody. (20 January, 2006). “From One Saudi Woman to Another.” Arab News. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.arabnews.com/?page=9§ion=0&article=76521&d=23&m=1&y=2006&pix=community.jpg&category=Features> 17 Simpson, Emma. (6 January, 2006). “One Step Forward for Women, Giant Leap for Man.” Arab News. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.arabnews.com/?page=9§ion=0&article=75836&d=6&m=1&y=2006&pix=community.jpg&category=Features> 18 Arnott, Dave. (2000). Corporate Cults: The Insidious Lure of the All-Consuming Organization. New York: AMACOM Books. References Al-Khalaf, Mody. (20 January, 2006). “From One Saudi Woman to Another.” Arab News. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.arabnews.com/?page=9§ion=0&article=76521&d=23&m=1&y=2006&pix=community.jpg&category=Features> Arnott, Dave. (2000). Corporate Cults: The Insidious Lure of the All-Consuming Organization. New York: AMACOM Books. Brown, Nina. (2001). “Edward T. Hall: Proxemic Theory, 1966.” Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.csiss.org/classics/content/13> “Country Profile: Saudi Arabia.” (3 November, 2005). BBC News. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/791936.stm> Hofstede, Geert. (2003). “Geert Hofstede: Cultural Dimensions.” ITIM International. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.geert-hofstede.com/>. Keceli, Nihal Camille, Jensen, Malene Juel and Jakobsen, Elsebet. (1 September, 2004). “Fons Trompenaars.” Teaching Culture in TEFL Classes. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://elsebet.jakobsen1.person.emu.dk/south_africa/here.htm#Trompenaar> Lamsa, Arabia. (2006). Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.lamsa-arabia.com/eng/index.htm> Moda-UK. (2006). Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.moda-uk.com/> Saudi Arabia. (2002). Clothing. ArabNet. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.arab.net/saudi/sa_clothing.htm> Simpson, Emma. (6 January, 2006). “One Step Forward for Women, Giant Leap for Man.” Arab News. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.arabnews.com/?page=9§ion=0&article=75836&d=6&m=1&y=2006&pix=community.jpg&category=Features> US Department of State. (10 August, 2005). “Saudi Arabia.” Bureau of Consular Affairs. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from Vogue Magazine. (2006). Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.vogue.co.uk/> Wischmeier, Jake. (2000). “Edward T. Hall.” Minnesota State University. Accessed 20 January, 2006 from < http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/fghij/hall_edward.html> Read More