http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=81212&d=23&m=11&y=2006&pix=opinion.jpg&category=Opinion
Thursday, 23, November, 2006 (03, Dhul Qa`dah, 1427)
The Surgical Removal of Women?
Abeer Mishkhas, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Just when you think you have heard it all, something new and
incredible tops everything that has gone before. Are you ready? Well, just a
day or two ago, a group of women doctors - medical doctors - attending a
conference in Riyadh were asked to leave the hall since a male speaker - a PhD
on the teaching staff at King Saud University - refused to address a group
consisting of both men and women. And so what happened next? Surely, I hoped,
the man was told he had two choices: Either deliver his speech to the mixed
audience of doctors or leave. No, that is not what happened. The organizers in
fact asked the women to leave the hall and in spite of protests from them, they
left the hall in yet another battering to the worth and dignity of Saudi women.
Just to complete the picture, I must add that the speaker had
been asked to speak on the ethics of organ donations from brain-dead patients
which was the subject of his doctoral dissertation. The topic is no doubt an
interesting one which most doctors - even female ones - would like to hear and
discuss.
No matter how the blame for this disgraceful incident is
distributed, there is one bitter but, I fear, inevitable question: Why did the
women leave the hall? I believe they should have stayed put, demanding their
rights as medical practitioners to attend the conference along with their male
colleagues. The women at the conference, I hasten to point out, had not sneaked
into the hall. They were invited guests and they were invited precisely because
they are medical professionals. As such, I think they should have insisted on
being treated with respect as both women and professionals. I remind them that
rights are easily lost if they are not demanded and defended. There are always
plenty of people here who happily usurp rights, especially those of women and
minorities.
The comments of the women were published in the press and one
of them said, "We had every right to be there. We were attending a scientific
medical conference. If he did not want to attend because the audience was a
mixed group of men and women, that is his problem - not ours." She is of course
right but sadly, this is all tears over spilt milk. I only wish they had
remained in the hall, in front of the audience. I wonder what the male doctors
thought of the speaker's demand. For the record, in addition to the women
doctors, there were also female journalists and TV presenters covering the
conference. I hand this gentle scolding to my sisters even though I feel sure
they were so shocked and surprised at what was happening that they had no time
to consider what they should do or how they should react. What I am saying is
of course all with the benefit of hindsight.
Then of course there are the organizers. They set up the
conference and invited the guests. Why did they not show some courage and
integrity and ask the man to leave if he felt unable to deliver his speech to a
group of highly educated and well-qualified men and women? The real problem
here is really the prejudice and discrimination on the part of so-called
educated men. Many of them must have studied abroad and got degrees from
universities in other countries. Still, regardless of where they studied or
what they did outside the Kingdom, they returned home with a closed mind that
considers a woman's rightful place to be in the home.
Some of these women teach the daughters of our well-educated
enlightened gentlemen but yet, as far as those gentlemen are concerned, the
creatures remain "only women." They are no more than mothers and sisters, a sex
that apparently, despite qualifications, education and experience must be kept
out of sight. How needlessly sad and wasteful it all is!
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