Job Discussion Forums

[sinemac]

Watch it on Thursdays at 9pm BBC 2 ,documentary with Kate Humble on Saudi Arabia,quality!

[wawawawonder]

I very much enjoyed it too.

As someone who's never been to the region yet wants to, I'd love to hear of people's reactions to the show. The first episode dealt with Oman and Yemen and then Saudi in the final part. The second was devoted to Saudi in its entirety.

(I don't know how easy it is to access such programmes in Saudi but I'm in Poland and I managed it!)

[Geronimo]

Yes, wawawawonder, I enjoyed the second episode, too.

Did you see my earlier post to this forum after the first episode?

Sadly, the BBC2 TV channel is not generally available in the K.S.A.; nor does the BBC iPlayer function outside of the U.K..

[wawawawonder]

They're not available here either, but...

No, I didn't see your earlier post. I'll check it out.

[Cleopatra]

I've seen a number of documentaries dealing with KSA and to be honest I've grown tired of them.

All of them feature fairly clueless reporters asking the same tired old questions about women driving and so on. They tend to only meet the elite classes in Riyadh and Jeddah and produce quite a disotored picture of life in the Kingdom - then again, this is hardly their fault as reporting restrictions hardly allow for a full uncensored view.

This programme was no exception. I found the reporter irritating and her questions inane. Then again, I have to remember that I watch these things with a rather jaundiced eye. My mother, who watched it with me, said she found it quite informative and that the questions the journalist asked were the same questions any new arrival would ask. So I supose I should remember that these programmes are aimed at those who have no clue about KSA (most people), not those of us who think we know the 'real Saudi Arabia'.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[scot47]

Try reading John Howard Griffin "Black Like Me"

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

I've got me own copy... My point exactly...

NCTBA

[Stephen Jones]

And just to make a change here's a well-informed highly relevant article on Saudi Arabia.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/05/saudi-arabia-womens-rights?showallcomments=true

[Linguist]

[veiledsentiments]

Actually that was Cleo, not me... but I certainly agree with her.

I just read the article SJ linked to.

At least it pointed out the fact that much of the strongest support for the status quo comes from the women themselves. Studies have shown that it is often (usually) the older women who preserve the traditional values within the family structure. At the women's college where I taught in the UAE the students were to go out on work placement their last semester. We had students whose paternal family structure had given permission while the women of the family said absolutely NOT!! And, this was to work in an all female environment... no men.

But, I noticed that the commenters to the article missed the whole point as usual and it immediately deteriorated to the usual hate Arabs... hate Americans... hate Muslims... crap.

VS

[Stephen Jones]

The amazing thing is that all the abusive comments came up in less than two hours. I put up the first comment and then in two hours there were another 39.

[veiledsentiments]

For some reason which I have never quite figured out, these topics have always been very difficult to discuss... even before the current rounds of terrorism and wars.

I recall a discussion that I was having with a clerk in a furniture store in the US who started asking me questions about women's status when she learned that I had lived in the Middle East for many years. (and was back for a year working on my house) I was trying to tell her that we are looking through a different prism of how to run our lives than these women are... when this woman angrily jumped into the conversation to give me the usual garbage of how all Arab Muslim women are mistreated slaves... blah blah blah. The fact that I have lived in that part of the world for 10+ years at that time and taught these women at university... was irrelevant to this woman who had never left the US nor even met an Arab Muslim women. She KNEW and I didn't...

I guess in her opinion, I was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome or something... But really... how can you deal with such ignorance? (similar to the birthers and deathers in US politics)

VS

[johnslat]

Dear veiledsentiments,

Against stupidity the gods themselves struggle in vain.
(Mit der Dummheit kaempfen Goetter selbst vergebens)
Friedrich von Schiller,

Regards,
John

[Linguist]