i haven't read all the postings in this topic.
To set the record straight with women in Saudi Arabia .....
the reason that is so, is because women can only work as school teachers teaching girls or as nurses. As nurses, I imagine they can only work in women's only and/or children's only hospitals/clinics.
Because Saudi Arabia holds 2 of the 3 holiest sites of the Islam religion (Mecca is the holiest of the holy, Medinah is the second holiest, and Jerusalem is the third), Saudi Arabia feels compelled to follow the Koran in the strictest sense of the word for religion abiding and law. It doesn't improve things that the Moslem sect that the royals follow are among the strictest in that religion, even stricter than Sunni and ... (the name escapes me).....
In essence what you have is a segregated society, where obedience of how Arabs comport themselves in public is measured by religious police. to give you an example, if a couple holds hands in public , they get punished. Western women who go out in public must wear a shawl type clothing over their wear, and the shawl must not show a V at the neck (which leads the eye to the cleavage) and it must extend to mid calf height. When I worked in Saudi, there were reports of European ladies being spray-painted with green paint by the religious police below the neck if they showed too much skin there.
Women can not drive. So, there was a lot of resentment that rose in the first Gulf War (~1991) when American lady soldiers drove all their trucks, and hence that is likely the reason why the Americans weren't welcome the second time around (2003) when they launched their attack on Iraq.
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I would imagine that Victoria knows that she is in a country where she is the exception to the rule. I cannot imagine that she would get arrested for an impropiertary. Her embassy and Foreign Affairs would have 'walked through' her visit through every imagineable and un-imagineable detail. And remember that all press in Saudi is stage-managed. Government controlled. Even the pictures you see here have been thoroughly vetted before they have been released for publication. In closing, it should also be remembered that men are men especially in Saudi, and were Victoria to step out of line, it would be a great coup for that lucky man. I was once at a beach in Jeddah with some Swedes and Danes (men and their wives and kids), and most everyone was surprised how the Saudi men stood in the water - with their robes pulled up - in a semi-circle all around the beach and gawked at the ladies in their bikini's. A different culture ......
To set the record straight with women in Saudi Arabia .....
“Women make up 50 percent of graduates in Saudi Arabia,” she said, “but represent only five percent of the labor force. That is a very low return on an investment. Female inclusion will boost the average household income and release a huge amount of entrepreneurial talent.”
the reason that is so, is because women can only work as school teachers teaching girls or as nurses. As nurses, I imagine they can only work in women's only and/or children's only hospitals/clinics.
Because Saudi Arabia holds 2 of the 3 holiest sites of the Islam religion (Mecca is the holiest of the holy, Medinah is the second holiest, and Jerusalem is the third), Saudi Arabia feels compelled to follow the Koran in the strictest sense of the word for religion abiding and law. It doesn't improve things that the Moslem sect that the royals follow are among the strictest in that religion, even stricter than Sunni and ... (the name escapes me).....
In essence what you have is a segregated society, where obedience of how Arabs comport themselves in public is measured by religious police. to give you an example, if a couple holds hands in public , they get punished. Western women who go out in public must wear a shawl type clothing over their wear, and the shawl must not show a V at the neck (which leads the eye to the cleavage) and it must extend to mid calf height. When I worked in Saudi, there were reports of European ladies being spray-painted with green paint by the religious police below the neck if they showed too much skin there.
Women can not drive. So, there was a lot of resentment that rose in the first Gulf War (~1991) when American lady soldiers drove all their trucks, and hence that is likely the reason why the Americans weren't welcome the second time around (2003) when they launched their attack on Iraq.
......
I would imagine that Victoria knows that she is in a country where she is the exception to the rule. I cannot imagine that she would get arrested for an impropiertary. Her embassy and Foreign Affairs would have 'walked through' her visit through every imagineable and un-imagineable detail. And remember that all press in Saudi is stage-managed. Government controlled. Even the pictures you see here have been thoroughly vetted before they have been released for publication. In closing, it should also be remembered that men are men especially in Saudi, and were Victoria to step out of line, it would be a great coup for that lucky man. I was once at a beach in Jeddah with some Swedes and Danes (men and their wives and kids), and most everyone was surprised how the Saudi men stood in the water - with their robes pulled up - in a semi-circle all around the beach and gawked at the ladies in their bikini's. A different culture ......