Hundreds of Women in Saudi Arabia Are Running for Public Office

[GennGreymane]

http://time.com/4130387/saudi-arabia...lflow_facebook

Women earned the right to vote and run in municipal elections in 2011

More than 900 women are running for public office in municipal elections in Saudi Arabia, a country that granted partial suffrage to women only four years ago, CNN reports.

The municipal elections on Dec. 12 are the first since 2011, when the late King Abdullah decreed that women could vote or run for office in the kingdom — though only at the local level.

Saudi election officials opened voting registration to women in August, CNN says. The forthcoming election will fill half the seats in the country’s municipal councils; King Salman, who took the throne in January after Abdullah’s death, will appoint the rest.

The kingdom’s adherence to conservative interpretations of Islamic scripture has long made it an inhospitable place for women, who are not allowed to drive and cannot travel or attend school without a male guardian.

[Deleted]

Hundreds of women in saudi arabia are also running from public officers.

[GennGreymane]

Hundreds of women in saudi arabia are also running from public officers.

This is true also

[Bakis]

Must be escorted to work by a male. Hurray

[Deleted]

This is in no way a sign of social progression. Even if it were completely true, a few hundred woman is a drop in a bucket considering that SA has a population of almost 29 million people.

[Bakis]

This is in no way a sign of social progression. Even if it were completely true, a few hundred woman is a drop in a bucket considering that SA has a population of almost 29 million people.

Shitty regimes like to pop some bread crumbs now and then. SA is still a hellhole especially for women.

[Revi]

I'm sure they'll have a lot of influence

[Sorrowseer]

Shitty regimes like to pop some bread crumbs now and then. SA is still a hellhole especially for women.

That's complete bullshit, I know a woman who lives in Saudi Arabia, she is sick of the western view that all women in SA are oppressed.

[I Push Buttons]

Hopefully they don't get stoned to death when they disagree with their male coworkers.

[Bakis]

That's complete bullshit, I know a woman who lives in Saudi Arabia, she is sick of the western view that all women in SA are oppressed.

Good for you, you presumably know one person who claimed she had a wonderful life full of her being able to do things as to her will.

[announced]

Hopefully they don't get stoned to death when they disagree with their male coworkers.

lmao so true. they might only get beaten or raped if they disagree, stoning seems a little bit harsh if they arent gay.

[Revi]

That's complete bullshit, I know a woman who lives in Saudi Arabia, she is sick of the western view that all women in SA are oppressed.

Tell her to try driving a car, go out without a chaperon, wear clothing and make-up that "enhances her beauty", socialize with men she don't know or hell, buy a barbie.

See how free she is.

I will concede, she might actually not be bound by these rules if she's of a high enough social standing. The rules don't apply equally to everyone there, so if she's high in society, she could be right. That doesn't mean women aren't oppressed, it would just mean she's one of the lucky few in the elite who don't suffer the same oppression as the rest.

[Sorrowseer]

Tell her to try driving a car, go out without a chaperon, wear clothing and make-up that "enhances her beauty", socialize with men she don't know or hell, buy a barbie.

See how free she is.

I will concede, she might actually not be bound by these rules if she's of a high enough social standing. The rules don't apply equally to everyone there, so if she's high in society, she could be right. That doesn't mean women aren't oppressed, it would just mean she's one of the lucky few in the elite who don't suffer the same oppression as the rest.

You assume she wants to do that because women in our culture do? That's very narrow minded.

[Ryme]

You assume she wants to do that because women in our culture do? That's very narrow minded.

Want is irrelevant here.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

You assume she wants to do that because women in our culture do? That's very narrow minded.

This is all assuming your story is true and it's mere heresay.

[Dsonsion]

This sounded to me like when Tobias Fünke said there were dozens of them. Meaningless in the large scale of things, and women still not have the same rights as men. At the end of the day, the Royal Family still has the last word on politics.
Abdullah died and if there's hell, he's rotting in it, but there's plenty of offspring and close cousins to keep the oppressive regime going.

[Revi]

You assume she wants to do that because women in our culture do? That's very narrow minded.

No, I have no issue with wanting to behave traditionally and in accordance with her faith. I take issue with not being allowed to chose otherwise and still claim you're not oppressed. You are, you just don't notice because you don't try to do anything different. And she doesn't only claim it for herself, but on behalf of other women, who might actually want an education or to be allowed to do things outside without male supervision. Other women might even want equal rights to men.

You wouldn't notice you were locked up if you never tried to leave. It wouldn't make you less locked up.

Someone in North Korea could say that they aren't oppressed because they do truly want to worship the dictator and plow fields all day. They would still be oppressed, they'd just be very heavily indoctrinated in top of it.

[Sorrowseer]

All the same things can be said of women in our own countries right now, its really tiring seeing the same derision of how saudi women are treated again and again by people who merely look at what they 'cannot do' compared to women elsewhere in the world. I may not be communicating this very well.

Its hard to put into words, but hmm i'll try, seeing what they cannot do compared to others and claiming oppression is not right, the desire to do those things, for good or ill, is not there. Its the same for men not just women, alcohol for the masses is just not a thing there, yet I do not see people complaining how people are not allowed to drink in SA so they must all be oppressed. Try to read over what I have put here and not make a snap judgment off one or two points, its a different mentality there.

[Independent voter]

Well it's a start, we didn't allow women to vote until 1920.

[Deleted]

Well it's a start, we didn't allow women to vote until 1920.

worth noting, Saudi Arabia has been a sovereign state much less time than the US - so they are indeed more progressive