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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Saudis won't bring women to Olympics

76 replies

sportsfanatic · 26/02/2012 18:18

www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/feb/26/olympic-outrage-saudi-women-athletes?newsfeed=true

The Olympics has a pledge on equality - why the hell can't the International Olympic Committee stand up for what it pledges to believe? Either countries should field male and female teams or they should be banned.

Love (not) the line in the article where it reports that women were once allowed to compete in a marathon in Saudi - as long as they wore abayas. FFS!

OP posts:
BasilRathbone · 28/02/2012 22:56

Absolutely Tunip

And no-one ever points out, that this culture isn't women's culture thank you very much - it's men's culture, a culture which in common with all patriarchal cultures in the world, was inflicted on women by violence and then maintained by violence, a culture designed to ensure that women are totally unable to function as full members of that culture where their voices are silenced and can only sneak out into the culture in the most oblique and creative ways.

No wonder some Western men are so fucking eager to defend their brothers' cultures across the world. No wonder they come up with this bullshit about cultural imperialism and neo-colonialism. It's in the interest of men who want to hang on to their privilege, to have women being genitally mutilated and not allowed to drive and not educated etc. etc., in other far away countries of which we know little, so that they can point at those countries and say: "look - look how nice we are compared to those awful foreign men! We're not cutting your genitals - we let you drive - we educate girls - we don't push you onto your husband's funeral pyres when they die - now FGS sister, STFU about the rape figures and the pay gap and the poverty and the glass ceiling and the labiaplasty and the domestic violence and the lost history of women and the lost voices of women's experience, etc. etc., because look, you could be a Saudi/ Afghan/ Somali/ Insert undesirable male culture here woman and then where would you be? See how nice we Western men are? WTF are you lot bitching about? Now get the tea / get yer knickers off."

Pah. Racist wankers. All patriarchal culture is the same - designed to disempower us and empower men at our expense. How brutally it expresses itself, simply differs depending on how far men have managed to colonise women's psyche.

alexpolismum · 29/02/2012 09:36

Just to say - I am not completely sold on the oil argument.

Iran has oil. That hasn't stopped Western govts from imposing sanctions, etc.

I think it has more to do with the fact that Saudi has a compliant govt, who don't act against Western interests.

LineRunner · 29/02/2012 10:04

Perhaps Saudi Arabia will be our 'aircraft carrier' during any hostilities involving Iran, like it was during the first conflict with Iraq in '91.

Maybe they should send the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse to the Olympics.

Takver · 29/02/2012 19:53

YY, alexpolis, absolutely Saudi has oil plus a compliant government. I'm sure if they didn't play the game re. providing us with their oil, we would suddenly become much more distressed by their lack of concern for women's fundamental human rights.

BasilRathbone · 29/02/2012 20:11

Yes totally agree.

The Taliban really aren't that much worse than the Saudis.

FlangelinaBallerina · 01/03/2012 08:22

JHSM2, it's incorrect to say there's no Saudi women's team that could compete. They have at least one woman who has won a major international medal. Although if there weren't, it would be the fault of the Saudis with power for placing so many obstacles in the way of women's sports. Additionally, they don't mind sending men to lose. So this point, along with all the others you make, is rubbish.

Having said that, looking at the article, has a decision actually been made yet?

kilmuir · 01/03/2012 14:21

who is the woman who has won an international medal

EdithWeston · 01/03/2012 14:28

This Reuters report is about some glimmers of hope of progress on this - something to be welcomed. According to them, there may be, perhaps, one female Saudi competitor.

GrimmaTheNome · 01/03/2012 14:30

No country should be allowed to send a single-gender team. Period.

To follow the lighter notes in this thread, I did once see a Nuns versus Bishops tug-of-war. It was indeed an ecumenical matter of the most delightful kind. Can't remember who won but really, if there was ever an event where 'its not the winning, its the taking part' that was it.

EdithWeston · 01/03/2012 14:33

This is she, and she has previously won a bronze.

The article says: "each country has to field a minimum of one woman in the mandatory quota set by the IOC in order for a nation to take part in the Games". Anyone know if this is correct? If so, it's a despicably low stipulation.

GrimmaTheNome · 01/03/2012 14:37

I think the word you're looking for is 'tokenism'. Trying to cover a wrong with dishonesty.

He said it is not permitted to request that the government introduce sports in schools for girls because such activity is forbidden in Islam.

Other Islamic nations don't seem to have noticed any such prohibition. Do we have any Muslims on this thread who can comment on this please? Smile

FlangelinaBallerina · 01/03/2012 19:46

She did wonderfully Kilmuir and I hope we'll all be cheering for her if she's ever allowed to attend the Olympics. Please, if she's in London and anyone has a ticket for the opening ceremony or her event, support her as loudly as you can!

At the moment, the Saudis lag behind such paragons of gender equality as Afghanistan, Iran and DR Congo. Something to really be proud of. Plenty of other Arab Muslim countries have sent women.

LemonTurd · 26/06/2012 06:15

Just seen this on BBC, Saudi women are coming to London Smile

This will be the first ever Olympics where every country has female athletes competing.

here

PlentyOfPubeGardens · 26/06/2012 08:51

I wouldn't get too excited, Lemon. They were only going to send one woman and she's not coming now because her horse is injured.

Whatmeworry · 26/06/2012 09:00

Taekwondo nuns

And I agree, if South Africa ran the West's oil supply there would have been none of that boycott nonsense.

Frontpaw · 26/06/2012 09:06

I thought the comen competed in shooting and archery?

From a country that loves horses, I suspect they have some fantastic show jumpers.

Is it that they can't wear the strip (can't imagine beach volley ball going down well) or that they can't do sports, etc? I see plenty of women jogging and swimming in 'modest' attire (although I can't see them being able to do great speeds).

Does that mean that the male athletes aren't allowed to watch non-muslim athletes compete?

2012 or 1812?

EatsBrainsAndLeaves · 26/06/2012 10:30

I think we should do something about this. Even if it doesn't change anything it shows.

  1. That we think it is clearly wrong.
  2. It lets other people in the UK and other countries know this is happening
  3. It lets women in Saudi know that anybody actually cares. How soul sapping must it be if you see things like this happening from your country, you try to fight against it in a very oppressive country and nobody else in any other country seems to care.
  1. I would suggest an e petition. I know we can't post links to it here, but we could pm or tell people where to find it. Does anyone know how to do this.
  1. Write letters. Again if anyone has time to do a post with a suggested letter and names and addresses/email addresses of who people can send it to so we can cut and paste it and pst on fb, etc that would be great.
  1. A demonstration. I was going to avoid that part of London during the olympics, but for this yes I would go and demonstrate. And again if we publicise it on fb and twitter, other who are not MNers will go.
EatsBrainsAndLeaves · 26/06/2012 10:31

x posted lemon - that is great! Glad to hear they have backtracked.

EatsBrainsAndLeaves · 26/06/2012 10:32

Oh I was wrong - they are not. So is anybody up for doing this then?

PlentyOfPubeGardens · 26/06/2012 10:59

I'd be up for joining in with any planned action, but lack the expertise or time to organise anything myself. Can we not link to e-petitions? I think I've signed quite a few after following links from here.

LemonTurd · 26/06/2012 11:43

Oh no Angry I posted that link as I thought they'd made a final decision.

LemonTurd · 26/06/2012 11:48

nowomennoplay.org

grimbletart · 26/06/2012 12:03

From today's D. Telegraph. Dalma Malhas won't be allowed to take part because she was blocked by the International Equestrian Federation as she has not met the minimum competence standard to tackle Olympic fences.

www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/equestrianism/9354850/London-2012-Olympics-Saudi-Arabia-allow-female-athletes-but-show-jumper-Dalma-Rushdi-Malhas-not-qualified.html

So yesterday"s report by Associated Press that some would be allowed provided they qualified has shown Saudi Arabia in all its hypocritical glory i.e. they already knew that the only one with a snowball in hell's chance was not up to standard anyway, so they could let the allowance go through knowing full well it was academic. Bastards.

The king wanted Saudi women to compete (just as his father brought in education for women) the dictating Royal Family are actually trying to drag the country into the 21st Century (well 19th anyway) but it is the religious nut jobs that are causing the problem.

EatsBrainsAndLeaves · 26/06/2012 18:42

Plenty - MNHQ edited my thread on lara croft because apparently to link to e petitions here is against Talk Guidelines and lots of posters had reported it Confused. I have seen lots of e petitions here related to FWR

PlentyOfPubeGardens · 26/06/2012 18:48

Oh I never knew that! I did sign the Lara Croft one, BTW, thanks for posting it.