Saudi Women Can't Drive 55– Or Any Other Speed
The Committee of Demanders of Women's Right to Drive Cars will petition King Abdullah this week to remove the blanket ban on women driving. Although the petition has a snowball's chance in Riyadh of receiving acknowledgement– never mind consideration– it highlights the lack of anything remotely resembling democracy in The Land of The Two Holy Mosques. As the Associated Press reports, Saudi Arabia's prohibition against women driving is not based on secular or Islamic law. It's down to fatwas issued by senior Islamic clerics, who claim driving "creates situations for sinful temptation." Automotively aspirational women have attempted to overthrow the ban before– without success. "In November 1990, when U.S. troops were in Saudi Arabia following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, some 50 women got behind the wheel and drove family cars. They were jailed for one day, their passports were confiscated and they lost their jobs." And these are our allies against Islamo-fascists?
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BINGO dimitris. Funny how Iran, with its free elections, is considered "evil" while Saudi Arabia is not.
Sometimes when my wife critisizes my driving and reminds me of all the speeding tickets I've accumulated in my life, I'll mutter something about moving to a country like Saudi Arabia. She'll squint her eyes and give me a look that says, "you've crossed the line, mister".
Man... what was that episode of "American Dad" where they move to KSA and his wife sings her song about how great KSA is for women. Anyhow, the rational behind the prohibition, and most of the other restrictions such as requiring a family male escort, no legal right, etc, etc. is to protect their cherished women. To a lesser extent, a lot of the male issuers of such fatwas honestly believe that women are too emotional to think clearly. My point is that the attitude reminds me a lot how many American slave owners treated their slaves. They often spoke of how well their treated their slaves, took care of them, and protected them from the hardships of life like education, voting, etc, etc. I'm dead serious. They honestly felt like they were doing them a favor, like keeping pets. So it boils down to the simple fact that women are not accepted as equal human beings. They need special handling since they are delicate, precious, and stupid.