If you have ever been pulled over at any time in your life, you will not believe what women in Saudi Arabia are getting arrested for while driving. To put it simply: nothing.
Saudi Arabia bans women from driving a car. You’ve read correctly. While some of you were joking around, saying women should never be allowed out of the kitchen, well, in some parts of the world, that is a reality.
Some of you may think local police are bad; you haven’t dealt with the Saudi Arabian police. This ban against women driving is a huge slap in the face for women everywhere. What are they trying achieve by not letting women drive?
Picture this: Your dad is sick, and the only person to take him to the hospital is either you, your sister or your mother, and while your dad is being taken to the hospital, you are pulled over for driving while female. That is exactly what happened to a Kuwaiti woman, who was arrested Nov. 4 for taking her diabetic father to the nearest hospital.
What’s interesting is that Kuwait has taken a leap forward when it comes to women’s rights.
It’s Saudi Arabia that is still struggling with the concept.
Saudi women are not allowed to drive cars, travel aboard, open a bank account or work without permission from a male relative.
When does this become too much? Is this when feminism should strike or is this when culture should be respected? This is the dilemma of intersectional feminists everywhere.
A woman should not be held up to the standards of her culture. She should be granted the freedom to do whatever she wants with herself.
While this may be a part of the Saudi Arabian culture, it is starting to upset the generations ahead of us. On Oct. 26, more than 60 women gathered to stage a protest against the driving ban.
It is absurd to think that such a simple thing as driving can actually be a privilege for other countries around us, but that is indeed the case. While some of us in the West may see driving as a huge drag, Saudi women are being arrested for trying to make a better life for themselves. Women are still being oppressed and are often treated more like property than actual human beings.
While Saudi Arabia is en route to becoming a part of the twenty-first century, feminism — by Saudi women, of Saudi women and for Saudi women — still has a lot of work to do.
Reach the columnist at tweerasi@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @tishnii.
