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[007]

Saudi women can sell - not drive - cars
By DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press Writer

"RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi women still can't drive cars, but they can sell them. Potential buyers can go to an all-women showroom where, for the first time, other women will help them choose a car and answer questions about horsepower, carburetors and other automotive features.

Neither the saleswomen nor the female buyers can take the car out for a test drive because women are banned from driving in Saudi Arabia - even though they have been allowed to own cars for decades and hire male drivers. Almost half the autos belong to women.

So touchy is the issue of women driving that people who previously called for dialogue about whether Saudi Arabia should remain the only Arab nation that bans female drivers have been largely silenced by a wave of condemnation from conservatives. Mindful of those sensitivities, the Riyadh car dealership that opened the all-women showroom asked that its name not be used.

The seven female saleswomen at the spacious showroom insist they aren't pushing for female driving but only providing comfort for women who want to buy cars and don't like to go to dealerships run by men. With the sexes segregated in schools, restaurants and banks, interaction between salesmen and women customers is awkward for many Saudis.

"I don't support women driving even if a permission is given for them to do so, because the society is not prepared for such a step," said Widad Merdad, one of the saleswomen, which is privately owned and - like many in Saudi Arabia - offers a range of cars.

While the introduction of car saleswomen into the work force may seem a gain for Saudi women, some say that for every step forward, women suffer other setbacks.

"I'm sorry to say that I have found in the Western world men and women with much more manly stands than ours here, where we claim a monopoly on values and principles," Mekkawi wrote.

"Would I be blamed if I felt like a third-class or even 10th-class citizen?" she added.

Some people wonder if the new all-women showroom will meet the fate of a similar business forced to close shortly after it opened in Jiddah a few years ago.

A Saudi woman in public relations said anything that brings women closer to cars is seen as a threat by conservatives, who think female driving will open the way for women's emancipation.

The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being harassed, said she was forced to cancel a women-only private viewing of new models of a popular car a year ago when religious police agents stormed into the dealership hours before the reception.

When told the reception was intended only to show cars to women, the police retorted that the vehicles could be taken to the women's homes for private viewings, she said.

It's not only men who oppose women driving, however.

Ruqiya al-Duwaighry, in a letter to the opinion page of Al-Watan, wrote that driving "strips women of their femininity" and puts them in situations that might violate the ban on the sexes mixing.

Driving "may subject her to give up the veil or mix with strange men, such as workers at gas stations or security men at checkpoints," she wrote. "Women, by nature, cannot cope with such hard work."

Others say women should at least learn how to drive so they can cope in emergencies, especially in households that cannot afford drivers. The Saudi Gazette recently told the story of a woman who disguised herself as a man to drive her elderly father to an emergency room as he was having a heart attack.

At the showroom, where a half-dozen cars sit on gleaming marble floors shielded from the view of people outside by blackened windows, Merdad said the employees get several weeks of training - but not how to drive.

The showroom is attached to a dealership run by men with more than 100 cars on display. Female shoppers can watch a live feed of that showroom on a flat-screen TV in a comfortable seating area. If one sees a car she likes, it is brought into the female showroom."
END OF QUOTE.

Car Dealer: So, Madam, which car do you want to buy? The purple Mercedes-Benz S-Class S500 Sedan, or the yellow Nissan Pathfinder?

Women Driving in Saudi Arabia? Why Not?
What difference does it make who sits on the driving seat?

The questions is: What is the punishment for a woman who drives a car?

[Stephen Jones]

[colt]

Plenty of Bedouin women out in the bush may be seen driving their pickup trucks as it is an economic necessity. And woe to any matawah who gets in her way, she's likely to run him over.

[Queen of Sheba]

They may also face a ban on travel, and their husbands will, at the very least be fined and harrassed, based on accounts of several of the 50 women who drove 12 years ago on the streets of Riyadh.

[007]

[007]

I did finD some interesting information concerning women driving in Saudi Arabia:
http://fedothespacecowboy.blogspot.com/2005/12/saudi-arabia-on-women-driving_11.html

QUOTE:
In her latest post, Farah commented on an interview with Fawzia Al-Bikker, an enlightened Saudi lady, author, and academic. The first question in the interview that Farah commented on was:

"She drove," and "he drove," what is the difference between the two, besides that of the pronoun in use?

To add to the frustration, I found this thread in an Arabic forum talking about the recommendations of the Saudi Consultative Council, "Majlis Al-Shura," to the Saudi Council of Ministers, "Majlis Al-Wuzaraa," regarding the legislature that would allow woman to drive in Saudi Arabia. I translated it to the best of my ability and may I add, the recommendations are a complete ridicule!

Without further a due, here are the aforementioned recommendations:

Note: Anything in italics is by me; they're simply comments.

Regulations and Instructions for Operating a Vehicle:

That she may not be under 30 years of age.
She is required to present a written consensus from her legal guardian that explicitly states his approval of her driving a car.
She must obtain a driver�s permit from the Women�s Learning Center for Automobile Operation.
That she must be decent in her attire and that she may not wear any form of cosmetics whatsoever. (Would a bikini count?)
She must drive within city limits. And she may not venture beyond that without the accompaniment of a male guardian or his equivalent, i.e. �Mahram.� (What about road trips? Come on! You Gotta have those!)
On weekdays, Saturday to Wednesday, she is allowed to operate a vehicle in the hours between 7:00am and 8:00pm. However, on weekends, Thursday and Friday, she is only allowed to operate a vehicle in the hours between 12:00pm and 8:00pm. (What if it was an emergency, like her best friend just broke up with her boyfriend or something!)
She must carry a mobile phone with her for cases of emergency. (Oh, that's smart. "She can afford a car, she must be able to afford a cellphone;" oh, that's real smart. Does it have to be an STC phone too? I see a trend here.)
The Women�s Traffic Center must be contacted immediately in cases regarding troubles, violations, or motor vehicle malfunction. (What if she wants to learn how to change a tire?)
A specific fee is to be paid in advance and accredited to the female�s driving license account. This fee should cover any costs of car towing or repair that the Women�s Traffic Center may charge. (Oh, can she pay her mobile phone bill with those license credits too?)

Implementation Requirements:

The establishment of the Women�s Traffic Center, which should take care of all reports of violation and requests for any needed help from local car repair or towing services, as well as administrating the issuance of traffic tickets to women drivers.
Finding a toll-free number for the Women�s Traffic Center. (Oh, so the license credits won't pay for her bill after all, huh?)
The placement of Women Traffic Centers within cities, administered by local religious authorities. (Uh oh!)
The creation of several companies that specialize in light car repairs and towing in correspondence with the Women�s Traffic Center. (That would definitely help in solving the unemployment problem. Amazing, simply amazing.)
The female driver�s permit should be renewed annually and the specific fee abovementioned should be paid accordingly. (But of course.)
Male traffic officers and policemen should call in the feminine police in situations regarding traffic violations by female drivers and ensuing ticket issuance. Male officers should not talk to female drivers no matter what. (Yes, ladies, if you're in a car wreck, don't die. Wait for the feminine police to come first.)
Punishment should be applied to those who fall foul of the system, with no exceptions, because disobedience of any of these laws is a desecration of the honors and the security of this country. (Words of wisdom.)

Sanctions:
Concerning the public:

The penalty of talking to a female driver is imprisonment for a period no less than a month with a monetary fine. (Yes. So girls, if you see your friend driving a car, don't talk to her, you might be punished as well, because you're distracting her from the steering wheel.)
If found guilty, anyone accused of harassment, molestation, or pursuit of a female driver is to receive a penalty of imprisonment for a period no less than 8 months with a monetary fine. (Male driver: But officer, my house just happens to be next to hers! Officer: Agool, la yekthar.)
The punishment of whoever tries to bother a female driver on the road is a day in custody with a monetary fine. (Guys, I'm afraid it's no more sudden brakes, Riyadh-style U-turns at the traffic light, and no more "swimming" between lanes on the road 'cause you didn't have your cup of coffee that day.)
Concerning the female driver:

If the female driver is found guilty of an act that violates good behavior and the Shari'a for the first time, (God knows what would happen the 2nd time) she is castigated with the following:

Temporary confiscation of her driving permit for a period no less than 6 months with a fine ranging between 500 and 1000 Saudi Riyals, in addition to taking a written pledge from her avowing that she will not repeat such misconduct. This written oath should be imposed by women traffic authorities. (Say you've been a bad girl. Come on, say it! Oh yeah, say it again. Again! AGAIN!)
Officially informing her legal guardian of her actions through the Organization of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. (These guys stick their crooked noses and scruffy beards into everything, don't they?)

END OF QUOTE.

[goingbald]

Dear all,

It's bad enough with the shabab driving cars and harassing women these days. If you go to the malls (not a nice experience, they're horrible places) you see all kinds of stuff going on.

The argument that " religious conservatives (sic) say women driving leads to their emancipation" is total rot. Emancipation is a highly misleading word. The Collins English Dictionary (2000) defines it in a very different way to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. In my humble opinion, emancipation is a word whose definition is as elusive as the definition of "terrorism", "freedom", et al.

IF one assumes that emancipation means women being made equal with men, then this can never be possible. What kind of "emancipation" is it when women are actually put in danger by being allowed to drive? What kind of emancipation is it when women may get shot at checkpoints by police who think they might be terrorists? What kind of emancipation is it when you have women being followed in cars, harassed, then calling their male relatives to beat the living daylights out of whoever is following them?

Not to mention how dangerous and stressful it is to drive in this country. Women driving does indeed mean women being stripped of their femininity, in my humble opinion.

Ibn Baz and Ibn Uthaymeen (former Grand Mufti of KSA and member of the Council of Senior Scholars respectively) made statements about the ill effects of women driving. Ibn Uthaymeen listed, if my memory serves me correctly, about 10 evils of it. In KSA, you have people for whom their religion is dearer to them than their own selves, and you have others for whom it is not.

See here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/31/AR2006053101994.html

And also here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/28/international/middleeast/28hughes.html?ex=1285560000&en=53e3bbcccd8fa7b4&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

While I condemn extremism in religion in any form (and this is due to the clear Islamic texts forbidding it and ordering moderation in all matters), I also condemn the extremely dangerous liberalising call which threatens to erode the social fabric of this beloved country (it may have problems but it has much to make it beloved to its inhabitants and its visitors) and turn it into a social cesspit. In fact I struggle to find a sufficiently strong adjective to describe this effort by many people, Muslim or not.

Examples of such cesspits are the US, UK, and any other country which signs up to the ridiculous notion that anyone who, in particular, does not allow women to roam around exposing all of their body except their *beep*, vagina and bottom, is somehow doing them a disservice!!

This whole debate about women driving goes on and on. Why is it that people are so hellbent on getting Saudi women to drive?

Because the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, despite its problems and shortcomings, is the last country on this earth where some effort is made to hold on to Islam with one's molar teeth.

Many people know this, and it enrages them.

Cheers,

gb

[dmb]

*ignorant dmb here* where in the Koran does it say that women can't drive?