No Gender Segregation Wall at Shoura?→

A Saudi newspaper says officials may consider dropping plans for a barrier separating men and the newly appointed women in the country’s top advisory body.

The reports follow the swearing-in ceremony Sunday for the first women in the ultraconservative kingdom’s Shura Council. There was no barrier during the event as the 30 women sat on one side of the chamber and the 130 men on the other.

Worth mentioning that most of the talk about using a barrier between men and women at the Shoura Council chamber has been mostly speculation on the part of local media as government officials preferred to remain vague about the nature of seperation. Now it seems that women will simply be sitting in one side of the chamber with no barriers between them and their female colleagues. Media were not allowed to cover the first session that took place Sunday, but the state news agency has distributed one photo showing the female members in their seats.

Gender Segregation at Colleges Limits Women’s Access to the Job Market→

Writing in Arab News, columnist Mohammed al-Saif implicitly calls on the government to end gender segregation in higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia:

It is no secret that gender segregation in education has been the status quo in Saudi Arabia since public education for females was officially introduced in the early 1960’s. Interestingly, the Kingdom is the only Muslim country in the world that still does not have coed schooling in all education levels, from primary school to university.

However, it could become the logically subsequent phase to the current mixed-gender working environment, and this could represent a new social challenge to its mostly conservative society.

Although recent statistics show that women constitute 58 percent of higher education graduates in Saudi Arabia, their educational background still does not guarantee them a job after graduation.

The current education structure limits women’s access to the labor market through restrictions on certain areas of study and access to a wider scope of jobs, such as engineering, media, and architecture. In addition to that, it is costing the country double the budget as it is paying twice for education facilities Kingdomwide.

It is worth noting, however, that the gender mixing at the workplace is still facing a staunch resistance by the conservatives who recently forced the Labor Ministry to erect walls to segregate men from women at retail stores.

The Great Wall of Segregation

The government decision to segregate women and men employees at retail outlets is drawing mixed reaction, Arab News reported.

“It is a totally bad idea to have a wall built to separate both sexes in shops,” Dalal A. Kaaki, director of women business center at the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told the newspaper. “The harassment can happen anyway when a man comes to a saleswoman with his family.” But Aisha Natto, member of Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, defended the decision to erect a partition between men and women. “It is not a wall,” she said. “It is up to the ceiling. So for those who understood it as a wall, it’s clearly not a wall but just a partition.”

Is a 160-cm high partition a wall or not? It seems we can’t even agree what is a wall anymore. Like Hamoud Abu Talib, I really would like to know how did the government reach the 160cm number. Did they conduct a study to measure the average hight of Saudi citizens and concluded that this is what is needed to separate men from women? Abu Talib writes:

On one hand, I am happy that the Hai’a and the ministry have agreed that women can work even if it means they have to be surrounded by these 160-cm separation walls. On the other hand, however, I cannot help but express astonishment at the agreement for which there is no justification whatsoever.

Women’s employment is a decision that the Council of Ministers approved and it must be implemented. This means that no further agreements or approvals are needed. It is true that we have finally allowed our women to work. It is equally true that our consent has been wrapped in several impossible conditions that have nothing to do with women in the workplace.

What if a female employee is taller than the wall? Do we bring in specialist doctors to shorten her? I really want to know: Why 160 cm?

Jeddah Literary Club Rejects Gender Segregation→

The head of the Jeddah Literary Club has ruled out banning women from sitting in the same hall as men during the club’s activities as requested by some people.

“People have the right to voice their views and the club also has the right to make the decision it sees fit,” Abdullah Al Sulami said. “Whoever wants to attend our activities is most welcome to do so, but those who feel that they are not in line with their convictions may leave. The club is for all and we welcome all people,” he said, quoted by local Arabic daily Al Madina on Wednesday.

Al Sulami made the comments after a group of people who wanted to attend the “Saudi Elite and Alienation Issues” lecture protested against the presence of women in the same room as men and threatened to leave if they were not told to move to another room.

Reasoning with the protesters, Abdullah Jadaa, the club spokesperson, said that women had often opted to sit in the same hall as men even though the club provided a separate area for them.

“We have since the launch of the club taken into account privacy matters of those who attended our activities,” he said. “However, women have developed the habit of sitting in the same hall as men and now refuse to move out.” According to the daily, most of the protesters eventually changed their mind and attended the lecture.

A more accurate translation of the lecture’s title would be “Saudi Elite and Westernization Issues.” The religious conservatives who objected to the presence of women in the hall decided to leave after the head of JLC said women have the right to be there. Good for the women for standing their ground, and kudos to JLC for not bowing down to a bunch religious bullies.

Saudi, Male and Single→

Saudi Gazette reports:

A number of single Saudi men have voiced their dismay over the negative attitudes of members of society in dealing with them, especially in matters such as renting apartments or shopping in malls.

Speaking to Saudi Gazette, they aired their grievances saying that many people think bachelors are a threat to families, particularly to young women.

Ayman Felemban, a 26-year old Saudi living in Jeddah, said that it is very difficult for bachelors to rent an apartment because of various restrictions and widespread reluctance on the part of building owners to rent to bachelors.

“Wherever we go, we face rejections and objections. People are not ready to accept the idea of leasing apartments to us or having us live close to families. It’s as if we are wolves that will pounce on women when given the chance,” he said.

Felemban rents an apartment in an all-male building because his family lives in Madinah and he was unable to find an owner willing to trust a single male tenant.

“We are not allowed to live in apartment buildings where families live.

The extreme segregation between genders makes for a paranoid society.

Conservatives Launch Twitter Competition to Fight Gender Mixing

Saudi conservatives do not like it when men mix with women. They hate gender mixing. They actually hate it so much they are organizing a competition to raise awareness of what a dangerous “phenomenon” gender mixing is.

The motivation to organize the competition, said its supervisor Abdullah al-Mohaisnee, is reports of gender mixing at Princess Nora University that surfaced last month. The ministry of higher education later denied the reports and said in a statement that it is their policy to adhere to Islamic values.

“The main goal of this competition is to highlight the Westernization creeping into society,” al-Mohaisnee said during an interview on the Islamist al-Majd television. Below is a promotional video for the compeition:

The competition will take place on Twitter, explained al-Mohaisnee. Users are asked to read a book warning against gender mixing by Saudi cleric Abdulaziz al-Turaifi then answer questions by replying on the social networking site. Participants will compete to bag 50 prizes, including cars, jewelry, iPhones, iPads and more.

Saudi Arabia practices a strict interpretation of Islam and gender segregation is the norm in education and the workplace. As the government tried in recent years to push more women into the workforce, gender mixing has increasingly become a contentious issue in the country.

Will Conservatives Ever Be Happy?→

Khalaf al-Harbi:

Princess Nora University, at least for me, is blatant proof that it cannot satisfy the hardliners even if it has realized all their prohibitive demands. This is the largest women-only university campus on the face of earth. It has been designed to cater to nearly 50,000 students in addition to women academics, administrators and metro drivers. Young Saudi women have completed their professional training in order to operate the metro service on the giant university campus, besides creating fences to stop men entering this legendary women’s fortress.

The uproar triggered by reports of gender mixing at PNU few weeks ago is yet another evidence that many Saudi conservatives are still unable to get over their small fears and look at the big picture.