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I support Saudi Women
May. 22nd, 2011 07:45 pmSaudi woman detained for defying driving ban
I think that all too often, we forget that other women in the world haven't access to the same freedoms and privileges that we have. I can't imagine not being allowed to drive. It leaves me without words, just amazed. I don't understand the reasoning. Why allow women to work, but not allow them to get there by driving? I know things are never simple, but to me, it stems from men being too insecure--afraid their women won't need them. Maybe they have guilty consciences because they know their own eyes are always roving, always seeking, so how they could expect women to not do the same? Maybe I don't understand conditions there, and the dangers of a woman alone, but they can say all they want that they're only trying to protect the women, but I'll never believe it.
I'm sensitive to women's rights because when I was growing up, women were still trying to crawl out from under men's rule. My own mother would come home from work each night, cook dinner, and clean up without help from my father. And she'd get up and run to the kitchen to get him a glass of water whenever he asked. I guess I can at least be happy that he didn't "order" her to get it, but he didn't say "please" all the time, either. I don't think young women have any inkling at all of how stifling and diminishing that type of treatment can be, nor that it was unremarkable to everyone involved. It was just how it was. The difference was, my mother complained to me. I guess she didn't have the guts to say it to my father very often, but she let me know she wasn't happy with it. It may not seem like much, but that was her little rebellion. And it worked, because I grew up vowing to never do it myself. And maybe I'm a little too militant about it, because after all, sometimes it's okay to help someone out. The difference is, to do it because you want to, not because you HAVE to.
I'm reminded of that old saying, (which was really popular when I was a teenager, and women were breaking free from male dominance in relationships)
Shoutout to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
selfavowedgeek for the heads-up on this one.
I think that all too often, we forget that other women in the world haven't access to the same freedoms and privileges that we have. I can't imagine not being allowed to drive. It leaves me without words, just amazed. I don't understand the reasoning. Why allow women to work, but not allow them to get there by driving? I know things are never simple, but to me, it stems from men being too insecure--afraid their women won't need them. Maybe they have guilty consciences because they know their own eyes are always roving, always seeking, so how they could expect women to not do the same? Maybe I don't understand conditions there, and the dangers of a woman alone, but they can say all they want that they're only trying to protect the women, but I'll never believe it.
I'm sensitive to women's rights because when I was growing up, women were still trying to crawl out from under men's rule. My own mother would come home from work each night, cook dinner, and clean up without help from my father. And she'd get up and run to the kitchen to get him a glass of water whenever he asked. I guess I can at least be happy that he didn't "order" her to get it, but he didn't say "please" all the time, either. I don't think young women have any inkling at all of how stifling and diminishing that type of treatment can be, nor that it was unremarkable to everyone involved. It was just how it was. The difference was, my mother complained to me. I guess she didn't have the guts to say it to my father very often, but she let me know she wasn't happy with it. It may not seem like much, but that was her little rebellion. And it worked, because I grew up vowing to never do it myself. And maybe I'm a little too militant about it, because after all, sometimes it's okay to help someone out. The difference is, to do it because you want to, not because you HAVE to.
I'm reminded of that old saying, (which was really popular when I was a teenager, and women were breaking free from male dominance in relationships)
If you love something, set it free.
If it comes back, it is yours.
If It doesn't, it was never yours to begin with.
Shoutout to
selfavowedgeek for the heads-up on this one.
