On Sunday, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah granted women in the country the right to vote. He also gave women the right to run for public office. In a statement on state television, he said:
“We refuse to marginalize the role of women in Saudi society in every field of work. Women have the right to submit their candidacy for municipal council membership and have the right to take part in submitting candidates in accordance with Shariah.”
As it stands in 2011, due to the way Saudi's interpret Sunni Islam, women are highly restricted in their day to day life. Saudi women are not allowed to drive. Men and women are segregated in all aspects of activity. Law mandates that women go to their own schools, restaurants, and even shopping malls.
Women are forbidden from holding positions in many fields in the job market. This is, unless they are servicing the needs of another woman, of course.
So, it remains to be seen how this is going to play itself out. This was a nice gesture on the part of King Abdullah, but, unless monumental changes to women's rights take place in Saudi Arabia in the next few months, his actions will be nothing more but that - a gesture.
How will a Saudi woman win a public office, when she's legally not allowed to work the sales counter at a men's clothing store, or even cut a gentleman's hair in a salon? How will women in Saudi Arabia have a say at the polls when they have to rely on their husbands to drive them to cast their ballot?
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