And You Thought WE Were Effed Up...

[REPOST from my MySpace blog on Aug. 26, 2008]

Now, I don't mean to put focus on a middle eastern country, as it's SO easy to do with all the generalized and baseless hatred running rampant in America...but I thought I'd share snippets of an article I read today on AOL about the ban on female drivers in Saudi Arabia.

When Ruwaida al-Habis' father and two brothers were badly burned in a fire, she had no choice but to break Saudi Arabia's ban on women drivers to get them to a clinic. Using the driving skills her father taught her on the family farm, al-Habis managed to reach the clinic's emergency entrance without a hitch. "When I pulled up, a crowd of people surrounded the car and stared as if they were seeing extraterrestrial beings," the 20-year-old university student told The Associated Press. "Instead of focusing on the burn victims, the nurses kept repeating, 'You drove them here?"' Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans all women - Saudi and foreign - from driving. The prohibition forces families to hire live-in drivers, and women who cannot afford the $300-$400 a month for a driver must rely on male relatives to drive them to work, school, shopping or the doctor.


Can you believe that? Paid live-in drivers. Hell, if I were a man living in Saudi Arabia, that would be an awesome job! An easy $400/mo!

Previously, women who spoke out against the ban paid heavily. In November 1990, when U.S. troops were in Saudi Arabia following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, some 50 women drove family cars in an anti-ban protest. They were jailed for a day, their passports were confiscated and they lost their jobs. The reaction was so harsh that lifting the ban was barely broached again until recently. Supporters of ending the ban on female drivers point out that the prohibition exists neither in law nor in Islam. There is no written Saudi law banning women from driving, only fatwas, or edicts by senior clerics that are enforced by police. No major Islamic clerics outside the country call for such a ban. Conservatives say women at the wheel create situations for sinful temptation. They argue that women drivers will be free to leave home alone, will unduly expose their eyes while driving and will interact with male strangers, such as traffic police and mechanics.

Are you shi**ing me? I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound anti-religion or anything...afterall, if it's not affecting ME PERSONALLY, why should I care what others believe, enforce, do, etc? (with the exception of crimes against humanity, of course.) Anyway, I'm all about freedom of religion...and freedom FROM religion. The whole idea, though, of men being able to wear what they choose, do what they want, go where they want to go, work where they want to work, marry who they want to marry.... but women have to cover up with long robes, veils over their eyes, do not have the right to choose, own land...DRIVE? My opinion is that it's STUPID. That's just me. I'm sure the women there feel that it's a stupid rule but wouldn't dream of arguing against it or their religious belief system. Fight, for so many of them, has been bred out of them through example and tradition and punishment.

Kudos to the men and women who are trying to change the obviously ridiculous "rules" in their respective countries. Afterall, it was only 80 years ago that women were not allowed to vote in America, and in this country's youth, any women showing ankle or above were considered harlots. A lot has changed, thanks to liberal-minded, level-headed people in this world. America still has a long way to go, though. In some ways, Canada is even leading the way with laws that allow things that just seem so common sense, yet we lag behind and still reflect a very patriarchal a repressive governmental system. Democracy is regressing here and is PROgressing in other countries. Have you looked around? Haven't you noticed? If you haven't, then you're not paying close enough attention.

Believe it or not, the world and society hasn't always been in the charge of power-hungry men. In America, it has...but not in much, much older cultures. The Maori people, for instance, shared decisions, land, even battle with their women. This blog is not to say that I am a separatist. I believe, though, that women should be equal, and even in 2008 we are not. Can you believe there are still people, including Barack Obama, still fighting to give the right of equal pay for equal work to women? This is STILL a problem!

I am a gay woman, and that makes me a double minority in this country (let alone Idaho), but that won't stop me from fighting for my human rights. For the men out there who are fully aware of their advantages simply for being the sex that they are, and are working hard at bringing equality, at all levels, to the table...I applaud you. I will applaud until my hands bleed because, to me, men fighting on our behalf are just as heroic, if not more, than women today and those before us that took a stand against inequality.

There are so many causes to fight for, so many wrongs to right. I don't think "fairness" across the board will become a reality in my lifetime, but I hope we provide a leap forward for our future generations. That's all I can wish for. All things considered, I feel very fortunate to live in a country with, say, a lot fewer problems than other countries. We still have our fair share and we have a long way to go before we are, indeed, the greatest nation in the world that we CLAIM to be. In order to really reach that title, we must first be champions of equality, fairness, TRUE "We The People" democracy and leaders in basic human rights...among other things. Unfortunately, we fall short in many of those, and we are slipping backwards, in case you haven't noticed.

Alright, it's time for me to get off my soap box. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, as I'm sure it's probably just preaching to the choir, but I want it to be a record on the internet so that maybe we can someday look back on it and say.."Wow, women weren't allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia? That's hilarious." Let's see how fast history changes...IF it does.