Running to Stand Still: Saudi Muslim Women in Asir are Banned from Jogging!
Posted on 10/01/2011
Well ladies – if you miss a bus in Asir, Saudi Arabia, seems you won't be able to run to catch it. Jogging, among other forms of physical activity practised outdoors are now officially out of bounds if you're a Muslim Saudi woman. The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, Saudi Arabia's religious police, have banned Muslim women in parts of Asir from jogging, claiming that the streets are unsafe. Not surprisingly, the measure has prompted some criticism from local women in the area, who claim they've never felt it unsafe to put a spring in their step on the streets.
The Saudi Arabian Poetry Reality TV Show and the Heroic Housewife
Posted on 29/04/2010
Saudi Arabian Muslim woman, poetess and housewife Hissa Hilal’s name will possibly go down in history with Arab audiences. The niqab-wearing Saudi scribe attracted attention across the Arab world as audiences of around 70 million tuned in to her appearance on Million’s Poet, a reality TV show that focuses on the classical Arabic art-form of Nabati poetry. Hissa’s candid and controversial verses that challenge the religious authorities of her homeland have earned her a mixture of acclaim and criticism from Arabs and Muslims in her native Saudi Arabia and the surrounding nations.
Haifaa Al-Mansour: Saudi Arabia’s First Female Film Director
Posted on 30/03/2010
Put yourself in Haifaa Al-Mansour’s shoes for a second and try to imagine what it must be like to be Saudi Arabia’s first female film director. The movie industry is a tough business for any dane, but its tougher still for a Saudi Arabian woman, when cinema is illegal in her homeland. Haifaa intends to change all that, and by the looks of things, she’s well on her way to succeeding. This is a woman who means business...
Women at the Wheel... Has Saudi Arabia's Ban on Female Drivers Really Been Lifted?
Posted on 06/07/2009
In 2008, the Saudi Arabian government announced it would let Saudi women drive. Following a raging debate and ongoing demonstrations by Saudi women and women’s rights advocates, the ban on letting ladies behind the wheel finally seemed to be on the point of dissolution. Women have been forbidden to drive in Saudi Arabia since 1932, although the state has the highest rate of car accidents per capita in the world. How come Saudi women are always in the car but never behind the wheel?
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