C’mon Saudis, get with the program…
This morning as I was skimming the news an article regarding allowing women to drive in Saudi Arabia caught my eye. I was blown away. I knew that some middle eastern countries did not allow their women to drive, but I thought it was just a cultural taboo, and not actually a law. Well, I guess I was wrong. I could not even imagine not being able to get into my car and drive. Especially just because I was a woman.
One of the comments that was in the article stated, believe it or not, there are a lot of women who like it that way because they prefer to be shuffled around by their drivers instead. Get real ladies. Stop being a burden on your family! There were many interesting comments about this issue. This situation often causes strain on the folks that are not incredibly rich because they don’t have the money to pay for the drivers to roll their women and kids around, and as a result have to work at their regular jobs and figure out how to to all the family errands and take care of chauffeuring the family around as well (this kind of strikes me as what a working mom does normally anyway, so suck it up mister, but hey). Apparently some 21 some odd years ago there were several women who drove in protest hoping to overthrow this law, but it still has yet to happen and leaves Saudi Arabia as the only place in the world where women are not legally allowed to drive.
I know Americans are very spoiled by this very inherent right that we have here that is so embroiled in our country’s roots. When good old Henry Ford rolled out that first Model-T, there was no turning back our desire to take to the roads. While I think that we are awfully selfish the way that we live our lives in this respect. We can lay partial blame on the way our metropolitan areas and our current suburban sprawl, as it’s difficult to even get a gallon of milk without hopping in your car to do so. Other countries around the world at least have more solid infrastructures in place that make it much easier to get around without turning the key in your engine.
But the point here being, even if it were easier for me to get around, I would not like it one bit if the freedom for me to drive from point A to point B were ever taken away from me. It’d be like taking away my chocolate for God’s sakes. I know of several women in my life that don’t drive. That freaks me out too. My own mother didn’t learn to drive until after she had kids. I can still remember needing to hop on the bus to go to the doctor, and her having to coordinate around my dad’s schedule or ask a sister to squeeze in a trip to the grocery store. Her situation was more because dad needed the car to get to work, and financially they could not afford two cars. Since she never had access to the car while dad was not around, so there wasn’t a huge need for her to know how.
Some of the other women that I know that don’t drive say that they are just too nervous and wouldn’t trust themselves being on the road. It is dangerous to be on the road, and most drivers can certainly relay at least one accident that they’ve been involved in during the course of their driving careers. It is a risky proposition, getting behind the wheel, but the rewards of getting on the open road, to me far outweigh those risks. I have to say that if one of those folks that were freaked out were to drive some day, I’d probably be the one swearing at them as I passed them for driving an idiot, so I guess it’s safer that they not be on the road anyway, but, at least they are making that decision on their own, and not have it forced upon them.
That’s it. That’s my vent for the day. I hope these people wake up soon and break out of this archaic practice!