Saudi women and the abaya

[MonsteraCheeseplant]

I'm reading this article about a few radical women in Saudi Arabia, living without wearing the abaya. The comments under the photos are a bit mad (to me, a cushy westener) saying how she is 'drawing gasps' and calling the abaya 'conservative' which seems somewhat of an understatement.

“I just want to live the way I want, freely and without restrictions. No one should force me to wear something I don’t want.”

I'm sorry to the women of Saudi that I have taken it for granted that this enforced dress code is just the way it is there. The poor woman could lose her job. I hope she is safe.

I'm worried for her safety now to be honest.

She's a courageous woman. The supposed easing of rules for women in Saudi are I suspect window dressing and may take many generations to come to reality.

Thanks for posting this OP. It is easy to forget the appalling state of women's rights elsewhere in the world as we fight to retain our hard won rights in this country.

what a brave woman

the whole society basically wears a uniform, look at all the men in the photos, but it's notable that the women's uniform also doubles as a punishment

it does pose a good question though - when feeling the pressure of society to conform to gendered expectations, what happens if we just....don't

in many cases of course, what happens is male violence, state sponsored or not. and I do fear that's what Mahael al Jaloud will encounter

I'm aware that sometimes people quietly disappear in Saudi, I wonder if how we can monitor if these women are ok.

I think it's s sad that the women get to wear black which draws heat in, in a very hot country, while the men wear white, which doesn't.