frustrated that women can't drive

Of all the misconceptions about Saudi Arabia, one thing is definitely true, women aren't allowed to drive.

image via CNN.com

This fact has become one of THE most frustrating things for me. Before moving here I was all like "Oh, that's okay if I can't drive. I'm sick of driving all the time here in the US anyway. Besides, if I go somewhere my husband will be going there too."...blah, blah, blah. When I first moved to Riyadh, it still wasn't an issue. I didn't work and we didn't have any children. I did attend a semester of school to learn some Arabic and Quran but I took a bus so transportation was easy. And if I went anywhere chances were my husband was in fact with me; grocery shopping, visiting relatives, etc. But after nearly six years a lot has changed. I have a job. I have a little one. I have friends. And hubby has a new job that demands a lot of his time. He is not always available to take me where I need/want to go. If I could drive and have my own car then it wouldn't be a problem, I could come and go as I please. But Saudi Arabia is one of the only countries where women can not legally drive.

I'm not alone. Most women here are frustrated with the fact that they need their father, husband, brother, or driver in order to go anywhere. We are, after all, women and do have lives. There's a huge misunderstanding that this is a religious issue. Let me make this perfectly clear; there is nothing in Islam that prohibits women from driving. My personal opinion is that some people are so insecure with themselves that they feel threatened to give women the right to drive. But we don't need these insecure people to "give" us our God-given rights. Muslim women have many, many rights and they're all right there in the Quran (Shocked that women have rights in Islam? I'll post about them in the near future.). There is certainly a very large number of people, men and women, who are not opposed to women driving, so it'll be interesting to see how this could change in the coming years.

But for now it is what it is. And I knew this before moving here so even though I get frustrated I have to learn to deal with it, for now. Hubby and FIL tried to solve this frustration by buying a new car and hiring a driving for MIL, SIL, and I to share. I have to say that this has helped a lot, but there are still moments of frustration because sharing a car/driver has it's own set of problems. We have to sort out school/work schedules, and sometimes one of us has the car out when someone else needs it. My future goal is to eventually hire an additional driver and buy an additional car. But for now, we have to work out this sharing thing.

A Saudi woman getting into a taxi

image via Yahoo Images

And while I'm on this subject I wanted to clarify a common misconception about women and cars. People have this idea that in Saudi Arabia women MUST sit in the back seat. Is this TRUE or FALSE? This is totally FALSE! Women can't drive but they most certainly can sit in the front of the car. The only exception is if the driver of the car is a male that's not closely related to her, like a driver. Who sits next to a driver anyway? When you rent a limo do you sit up front next to the driver or in the back? Also, many women have their own cars and hire a driver to drive them around. Most houses have living quarters for their driver(s). Our driver lives here on our property. We supply his housing, his meals, and his basic needs like toiletries. I also like to give him money every so often so that he can buy a drink or a snack if he has to wait outside the mall for a couple of hours (you know me and my shopaholic-ism). He receives all of these things in addition to his salary. For women who don't have a car/driver, they have to rely on a male relative to take them around. Women also have the option of taking a taxi, although I personally do not think this is always safe. I have taken taxis with friends, but would never take one alone (As I've mentioned, I have trust issues...besides did you ever see the movie Bone Collector?).

So, as I went back to proof read this post I was quite surprised to find that what started out as my frustration of the day turned into something quite interesting for people outside Saudi Arabia to read. I guess I should post more things like this in the future. So I will try to do a "Saudi life" post on my blog once a week.

Bye for now. ;-)