Please Let Us Drive - Link to Blog by a Saudi Woman

Here is a link to a wonderful blog entry about Saudi women driving from the Saudi Woman blog written by a Riyadh native and mother of three named Eman Al-Nafjan. The blog is great. The entry on driving has two wonderful video clips and many comments.

http://saudiwoman.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/please-let-us-drive/

As an aside, to pile on arguments in favor of Saudi women driving, a few years ago, I met a prominent Saudi female economist. She told me that the sheer amount of cash flowing out of Saudi Arabia to foreign drivers would be so much better reinvested locally...if families didn't have to pay for drivers. It would help diversify the economy, and would give those with fewer means the wherewithall to consider doing things like opening a service business.

Happy Saudi National Day - Happy KAUST Inauguration

September 23rd is Saudi national day - and a fitting day on which to officially inaugurate the founding of the King Abdallah University of Science and Technology. Within its walls, the university has similar, if not identical social rules to that of Saudi Aramco, the Saudi oil company that is managing the university. Women can drive, and men and women mix on campus and in the classroom. I think the press has been paying more attention to this than to the academics of the place. I have to say it intrigues me, but having visited Aramco's Dhahran headquarters and known friends who lived and worked there, I'm confident that it will be an amazing place. I hope they can transplant the Aramco ethic of behavior to the new university campus.

Feeling like a Saudi Woman - American Bedu

Feeling Like A Saudi Woman - American Bedu

Below is a wonderful posting on the well-known blog "American Bedu". The writer asks for comments from Saudi women who drive while abroad. Be sure to check out the comments!

Here is the link: http://americanbedu.com/2009/06/28/feeling-like-a-saudi-woman

Saudi Arabia's vice squad eases up — but just a little | McClatchy

Saudi Arabia's vice squad eases up” but just a little McClatchy


At right and above is a link to an interesting article about the so-called 'religious police' in Saudi Arabia. I'm including it because it opens and closes with a member of the police explaining to his daughter why society is not ready yet to allow women to drive, even though he admits that Islam does not forbid women from getting behind the wheel.

He cites the circular argument - that there would be too many young men harrassing young women drivers. In my opinion this circularity works the other way as well. If there were women drivers, everyone in society would behave better on the roads!

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Saudi Gazette Editorial in Support of Saudi Women Driving

At right is the link to "Right to Drive," an editorial piece from the Saudi English language daily, The Saudi Gazette. The editors are in favor of women driving. I particularly like the ending of the editorial.

"It is both impossible and unwise to encourage women to get an education and then stunt their opportunities to employ it fully in service to their nation by not allowing them to determine when they will go somewhere and how they will go somewhere without first consulting a male driver. If we are to utilize our greatest asset, we must give them the freedom of movement. And that means the right to drive. "

Women's Transport Solutions Needed by Laura Bashraheel

Another nice piece by Laura Bashraheel in the Arab News, discussing many aspects of the driving issue such as the cost of drivers and the difficulty of getting visas for them. This from the 6/27/09 Arab News. I think the piece is insightful because it gets below the surface issues usually covered in stories about Saudi women driving.


You can read the full story by clicking on the title of this post. It is also listed on the right side of this page with all the other news stories.

"Your Car Is In the Lift, Madam" - An Interesting Article on Women and Cars in Riyadh

The latest link at the right is to a story about women in Riyadh and their cars - about how they buy cars, and how women are helping to sell cars to well-heeled clients. The article also has some good quotes about the issue of women driving. This article is by Caryle Murphy, and it appeared in The National. I like the photograph too, by Alex Maalouf.
To read the story, click on the title of this post.