http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=87726&d=6&m=10&y=2006
Friday, 6, October, 2006 (14, Ramadhan, 1427)
Message From Water Crisis: 'There Are No More Men'
Lubna Hussain, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I can't think of another country in the world where the front
page of a national newspaper could carry a headline like the one gracing the
Arab News last week: 'Women Made to Sit With Water Tanker Drivers'.
The narrative told the sorry tale of how the severe water
shortage in Jeddah had set the stage for the unlikely scenario of women cloaked
from head to toe in black, hitching up their abayas and clambering into the
passenger seats of trucks to prevent them from being hijacked by water-deprived
citizens.
It not only displayed the incredible lack of strategic
planning vis-a-vis this essential commodity, (we do live in the middle of a
desert in case the authorities didn't notice) but also the well-known fact that
even in matters of water distribution there exists an invisible pecking order
that we must implicitly abide by. The cups of those who can offer kickbacks and
afford corruption overflow whilst the rest of the population must sadly remain
thirsty. It would be rational to assume that, prior to this incident, no one
here could have foreseen women getting into the passenger seats of cars driven
by men who were not their legal guardians, leave alone into the cabins of
industrial trucks, without being targeted by the religious police or, at the
very least, severely chastised and rebuked by the male members of their
families. But that's what necessity does. It dictates situations otherwise
seemingly unimaginable.
And where were all the men who are supposed to be the
self-imposed guardians and protectors of these women? Why weren't they the ones
taking it upon themselves to provide water for their households? Isn't it a tad
ironic that so many of them insist on exercising their authority over their
womenfolk when it comes to issues of education, employment et al but when it
comes to the boring and monotonous chore of queuing up for water, they give
them license to fend for themselves? The whole state of affairs was summed up
very poignantly by an elderly Saudi woman, Umm Fatmah who said, and I quote,
"There are no more men - how can there be when I'm here at my age and my
daughter is sitting beside a stranger alone?" It seems therefore, that when it
comes to matters that suit their convenience men are perfectly OK with women
behaving proactively. So long as men here are in the driving seat, both
literally and figuratively, they don't have a problem.
I recently had a discussion with a friend of mine who is
destined to leave the Kingdom for good. I found it hard to understand her
motivation considering that she had been the director of an important
government agency, is highly educated and could have a very bright future here.
"Why," I asked with genuine curiosity, "would you want to
leave?"
"Because," she said plaintively, "I am too tired of the fact
that even though I am the one supporting the entire household I am just not in
control of things."
"But you make all the important decisions," I remarked.
"Well, even though I make choices, I cannot really make
decisions. My brothers contribute nothing financially to this house, not even a
penny, and yet every so-called 'decision' I would like to have the freedom to
make has to be implemented by them. Even though I was in charge of making
strategic plans for the country, I cannot truly propose to do anything for
myself. As a woman I can't travel without their permission. I can't even rent a
place. When my father was alive he made sure that things were done immediately,
but now every time I need something from my brothers I have to think ten times
before I ask. They behave as if they are doing me the biggest favor in the
world. I am tired of begging them for petty little things and it creates so
much unpleasantness having to nag away at them.
And now that I have quit my job and want to go into business,
at every step of the way I have to have a male representative to convey what I
am perfectly proficient of expressing myself. I will be totally reliant on
someone who has neither the competence nor the education to understand the
intricacies of what I do, but because of his gender is qualified to stand in a
line that I am excluded from. What, as an educated individual, could be more
frustrating than that?"
What indeed? No doubt, there has been significant progress
made with regards to women's issues and I sincerely believe that under our
current leadership this noble and necessary initiative will gain momentum as
time goes by.
However, we still have an awfully long way to go. I have said
it before and I will say it again. I strongly believe that Saudi women are as
professional and capable as their male counterparts, if not more so. It would
therefore be quite encouraging to increase their participation in the
decision-making processes that affect their lives and their future.
A truly novel approach might be to ask women directly what
they want instead of asking the men of this country what they think their women
want. It may come as a surprise to learn that queuing up for tankers at the
Jeddah Water Administration is not top of their wish list.
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