xii ABSTRACT
Putri Riskya Iriani. The Struggle of Women Against Gender Discriminations in Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Al-Sanea. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2014.
In some societies women are often seen as inferior human beings. Women are treated unequally and are often discriminated while men have the power to control women. Eventually, women realize about their rights and they fight to get the equal treatment as what men get. Saudi Arabia is one of the patriarchal society where women are not treated equally. There are many rules that prohibit women’s mobility while men can have more freedom. The phenomenon of the conservative patriarchal society of Saudi Arabia can be seen in the novel Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Al-Sanea. The novel reveals the struggle of Arab women in order to fight for their rights as women. The writer analyzes the characteristics of the characters in the novel and also the discriminations that they experienced in order to see how women in Saudi Arabia are struggling toward the gender discrimination.
There are three problems that have to be answered in order to see how women in Saudi Arabia are struggling toward the gender discrimination. The problems are (1) How are the major characters described? (2) What are the gender discriminations revealed in the novel? (3) How is the struggle of women toward gender discrimination revealed?
The method of the study that is used is library research. The primary source of the study is the novel Girls of Riyadh while the secondary sources are the books that are related to the study and also internet sources. Feminist approach is used in the study since the study discusses women and the struggle of women to get equality.
xiii
ABSTRAK
Putri Riskya Iriani. The Struggle of Women Against Gender Discriminations in Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Al-Sanea. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2014.
Di beberapa kelompok masyarakat, perempuan sering dianggap sebagai makhluk yang rendah. Perempuan diperlakukan tidak adil dan mendapat diskriminasi, sementara lelaki memiliki kebebasan untuk mengontrol perempuan. Pada akhirnya para perempuan menyadari hak-hak mereka dan mereka berjuang untuk mendapatkan perlakuan yang sama seperti yang didapat oleh pria. Fenomena dari sebuah masyarakat patriarkal Arab Saudi yang konservatif bisa dilihat di dalam novel Girls of Riyadh karya Rajaa Al-Sanea. Novel ini mengungkap perjuangan perempuan Arab dalam berjuang atas hak-hak mereka sebagai perempuan. Penulis menganalisis karakter dari tokoh-tokoh di dalam novel dan juga diskriminasi-diskriminasi yang mereka alami agar dapat melihat bagaimana perempuan di Arab Saudi berjuang untuk melawan diskriminasi gender.
Ada tiga pertanyaan yang perlu dijawab untuk melihat bagaimana perempuan-perempuan di Arab Saudi berjuang melawan diskriminasi gender. Pertanyaan-pertanyaan tersebut ialah (1) Bagaimanakah tokoh-tokoh utama digambarkan? (2) Diskriminasi-diskriminasi gender apa saja yang diungkap dalam novel? (3) Bagaimanakah perjuangan perempuan melawan diskriminasi genderterungkap?
Metode yang digunakan pada studi ini adalah metode studi pustaka. Sumber utamanya adalah novel Girls of Riyadh. Sedangkan sumber tambahan adalah dari buku-buku yang berkaitan dengan studi ini dan juga dari internet. Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam studi ini adalah pendekatan feminis karena studi ini berkaitan dengan perempuan dan perjuangannya untuk mendapatkan kesetaraan.
THE STRUGGLE OF WOMEN AGAINST GENDER
DISCRIMINATIONS IN
GIRLS OF RIYADH
BY RAJAA
ALSANEA
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
PUTRI RISKYA IRIANI
Student Number: 104214015
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
i
THE STRUGGLE OF WOMEN AGAINST GENDER
DISCRIMINATIONS IN
GIRLS OF RIYADH
BY RAJAA
ALSANEA
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
PUTRI RISKYA IRIANI
Student Number: 104214015
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
ii
ASarjana SastraUndergraduate Thesis
THE STRUGGLE OF WOMEN AGAINST GENDER
DISCRIMINATIONS IN
GIRLS OF RIYADH
BY RAJAA
ALSANEA
By
PUTRI RISKYA IRIANI
Student Number: 104214015
Approved by
Dewi Widyastuti, S. Pd., M. Hum. November 13, 2014 Advisor
iii
ASarjana SastraUndergraduate Thesis
THE STRUGGLE OF WOMEN AGAINTS GENDER
DISCRIMINATIONS IN
GIRLS OF RIYADH
BY RAJAA
ALSANEA
By
PUTRI RISKYA IRIANI
Student Number: 104214015
Defended before the Board of Examiners on November 25, 2014
and Declared Acceptable
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
Name Signature
Chairperson : Dr. F. X. Siswadi, M.A. _______________ Secretary : A. B. Sri Mulyani, M.A., Ph.D. _______________ Member 1. : Dr. F. X. Siswadi, M.A. _______________ Member 2. : Dewi Widyastuti, S. Pd., M. Hum. _______________ Member 3. : A. B. Sri Mulyani, M.A., Ph.D. _______________
Yogyakarta, November 28, 2014 Faculty of Letters
Sanata Dharma University Dean
iv
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
I certify that this undergraduate thesis contains no material which has been previously submitted for the award of any other degree at any university, and that, to the best of my knowledge, this undergraduate thesis contains no material previously written by any other person except where due to reference is made in the text of the undergraduate thesis.
Yogyakarta, November 13, 2014
v
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA
ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma Nama : Putri Riskya Iriani
Nomor Mahasiswa : 104214015
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul
THE STRUGGLE OF WOMEN AGAINST GENDER
DISCRIMINATIONS AS IN
GIRLS OF RIYADH
BY RAJAA
ALSANEA
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal 13 November 2014
Yang menyatakan,
vi
Whatever your past may have been,
your future is still spotless
Boona Mohammed
As you get older, you will start to
understand more and more that in
life, it’s not about what you look like
or what you own
It’s all about the person you’ve
become
vii
For
My Beloved Parents
And
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to sayAlhamdulillahirabbil’aalamiin, all praise is
to Allah SWT, the One who owns my life and makes anything impossible,
possible, the One who hears me crying when no one else does, and obviously the One who gives me strength in carrying all burdens, only with His permission that I could finish this undergraduate thesis.
I also want to give my gratitude to my beloved parents,Pak Ngatmi and Bu Harmi whose love for me never ends, the ones who always support me in
anything I do and always remind me when I did something wrong. Only with their guidance I can be who I am now. I also send my gratitude to my great big family that I know always pray for my success.
I want to express my gratitude to my beloved advisor, Dewi Widyastuti, S. Pd., M. Hum. who always makes me feel excited to come to her office not
only to get her advice regarding my thesis but also to have a fun chat about baking. Also, I would like to thank my co-advisorA. B. Sri Mulyani, M.A., Ph. D. who has helped me with her suggestions in order to improve the content in my
thesis.
Bunch of thanks to Mba Ebta,my beloved cousin who accompanied me
to stay up late working on my thesis, De Icha, whose support for me never ends,
and always reminds me that nothing is impossible, I thank her for all her duasfor
me. I also give my great gratitude to Kak Fajar. He is one of the reasons I can
ix
I want to say thanks to all of my best friends in campus who always support me all the time and always be by my side whenever I need them: Sinta, Diyan, Indy, Mba Aul, Mba Momon, Mba Pucil, Mba Pipi, Pinta, and Michael. Last but not least, thanks to my high school friends and play mate,
because they are the one who can always make me laugh, with whom I can forget all problems I’m facing :AOETISS 2010,Fassa, Neza, ConyandNadia.
In addition, I thank everyone who might not realize their role in my life especially during the hard time I was working on my thesis who I cannot mention each of them.
xi
B. The Gender Discrimination Revealed in the Novel…… 1. Social Life …..………. 2. Domestic Life ……….. 3. Discrimination in Law ……….. 4. Discrimination in Politics ……… C. The Struggle of Women toward Gender Discrimination 1. Struggle Shown through Action ...……… 2. Struggle Shown through Speech …………...……...
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION……….
BIBLIOGRAPHY………..
APPENDIX…...………...…...
xii ABSTRACT
Putri Riskya Iriani. The Struggle of Women Against Gender Discriminations in Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Al-Sanea. Yogyakarta: Department of English
Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2014.
In some societies women are often seen as inferior human beings. Women are treated unequally and are often discriminated while men have the power to control women. Eventually, women realize about their rights and they fight to get the equal treatment as what men get. Saudi Arabia is one of the patriarchal society where women are not treated equally. There are many rules that prohibit women’s mobility while men can have more freedom. The phenomenon of the conservative patriarchal society of Saudi Arabia can be seen in the novel Girls of Riyadh by
Rajaa Al-Sanea. The novel reveals the struggle of Arab women in order to fight for their rights as women. The writer analyzes the characteristics of the characters in the novel and also the discriminations that they experienced in order to see how women in Saudi Arabia are struggling toward the gender discrimination.
There are three problems that have to be answered in order to see how women in Saudi Arabia are struggling toward the gender discrimination. The problems are (1) How are the major characters described? (2) What are the gender discriminations revealed in the novel? (3) How is the struggle of women toward gender discrimination revealed?
The method of the study that is used is library research. The primary source of the study is the novel Girls of Riyadh while the secondary sources are
the books that are related to the study and also internet sources. Feminist approach is used in the study since the study discusses women and the struggle of women to get equality.
xiii
ABSTRAK
Putri Riskya Iriani. The Struggle of Women Against Gender Discriminations in Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Al-Sanea. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris,
Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2014.
Di beberapa kelompok masyarakat, perempuan sering dianggap sebagai makhluk yang rendah. Perempuan diperlakukan tidak adil dan mendapat diskriminasi, sementara lelaki memiliki kebebasan untuk mengontrol perempuan. Pada akhirnya para perempuan menyadari hak-hak mereka dan mereka berjuang untuk mendapatkan perlakuan yang sama seperti yang didapat oleh pria. Fenomena dari sebuah masyarakat patriarkal Arab Saudi yang konservatif bisa dilihat di dalam novel Girls of Riyadh karya Rajaa Al-Sanea. Novel ini
mengungkap perjuangan perempuan Arab dalam berjuang atas hak-hak mereka sebagai perempuan. Penulis menganalisis karakter dari tokoh-tokoh di dalam novel dan juga diskriminasi-diskriminasi yang mereka alami agar dapat melihat bagaimana perempuan di Arab Saudi berjuang untuk melawan diskriminasi gender.
Ada tiga pertanyaan yang perlu dijawab untuk melihat bagaimana perempuan-perempuan di Arab Saudi berjuang melawan diskriminasi gender.
Pertanyaan-pertanyaan tersebut ialah (1) Bagaimanakah tokoh-tokoh utama digambarkan? (2) Diskriminasi-diskriminasi gender apa saja yang diungkap
dalam novel? (3) Bagaimanakah perjuangan perempuan melawan diskriminasi
genderterungkap?
Metode yang digunakan pada studi ini adalah metode studi pustaka. Sumber utamanya adalah novel Girls of Riyadh. Sedangkan sumber tambahan
adalah dari buku-buku yang berkaitan dengan studi ini dan juga dari internet. Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam studi ini adalah pendekatan feminis karena studi ini berkaitan dengan perempuan dan perjuangannya untuk mendapatkan kesetaraan.
Hasil dari studi ini menunjukkan perjuangan perempuan melawan diskriminasi gender. Pertama, penulis menganalisis karakter-karakter dari dua
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the study
Many aspects of life are dominated by men, whether economically or socially. The patriarchy system seems to limit the freedom of women. Women are often seen as inferior human beings that they are discriminated and even oppressed. This is then what is called gender-discrimination. In many societies, whether in the west or in the east, gender discrimination is something common. In some countries, especially in the east, women are discriminated in many aspects of life. They are seen as objects that should stay at home and be responsible for any household matters while men are the one responsible of any matters outside the house.
In almost all societies, women and men perform different activities, although the nature and range of these activities vary across classes and across communities. They have also changed over time. Women are typically responsible for childcare and household work, but they also engage in producing goods for household consumption or for the market. Men are typically responsible for meeting the household's needs for food and resources (Ravindran, 2001: 55).
Sometimes women find it difficult to express their thoughts, and they are oppressed by the patriarchal system in the society since they do not have the same opportunities as men have.
For example, in order to take care of official tasks such as legal matters with bank and other offices, women in Saudi Arabia are not permitted to do the official tasks themselves. Things related to them should be done by their male guardians, preferably family.
The relationship between man and woman who are not family is also regulated by law. Those who are not family or relatives cannot interact in public places freely. If a man and a woman who are not relatives are caught having interaction in public places, they will definitely be punished because it is considered a crime.
One crime for which women are especially targeted is khulwa (the illegal
mixing of unrelated men and women), which can occur whether men and women are dining together in a restaurant, riding in a taxi, or meeting for business (2010:429).
Even though the regulations seem to take the freedom of women in Saudi Arabia, the majority of Saudi Arabian do not see it as a discrimination, instead they see it as equivalence.It is stated by Kelly that
A healthy majority of Saudi citizens agree with the social agenda of the ulema, and would not view the inequalities between men and women as discrimination, but as equivalence (Kelly, 2010: 425).
Yet, a forceful movement keeps pushing to improve women’s parity with men in terms of civil rights. It is the society that created such inequalities, not the religion. As what Amani Hamdan explains in a journal Women and education in Saudi Arabia: Challenges and achievements, that Women’s issues in Saudi
The awareness of some people especially women in Saudi Arabia about the gender inequality that is caused by society then lead some of these women to criticize it. Hamdan said that Saudi women devise their own strategies to challenge gender inequality and achieve social justice not only in education but in all life matters (2005: 45).
Rajaa Al-Saena as a writer shows her awareness through her writings. In
order to criticize the strong patriarchal system in Saudi Arabia society, she shows
the phenomenon of discrimination towards women in Saudi Arabia that is portrayed in her novelGirls of Riyadh.In the novel she reveals the life of women
in Saudi Arabia especially in Riyadh. She makes a close up view of the patriarchal society in which women seem to have no choice but to accept their destiny built by the culture and the society. Yet these women still have a wish for a reformation. Al-Saenawants to show the reader that some women in Saudi Arabia are wishing for a reform without destroying their religion and cultural values. As she said in her note in the novel,
I hope you will see, too, that little by little some of these women are beginning to carve out their own way—not the Western way, but one that keeps what is good about the values of their religion and culture, while allowing for reform (2005: viii)
Deep inside, these four women are against all rules of the society and culture. They want to be free in living their life, and choose their life partner. Each character shows a different reaction toward the discrimination that they experience. Some of them show a frontal reaction towards the discriminations, while another shows their reaction through their speech.
B. Problem Formulation
The background above leads the writer to formulate several questions to be analyzed further. The writer then formulates the questions as follows.
1. How are the major characters described?
2. What are the gender discriminations revealed in the novel?
3. How is struggle of women toward gender discriminations revealed?
C. Objectives of the Study
In the story, there are four main women characters who are friends and experiencing different yet similar problems in their life and willing to pursuit their happiness in the middle of patriarchal society and strict rules of their country Saudi Arabia. Yet, the study will only focus on two characters who are Gamrah and Michelle because they are the ones who brave enough to show resistance toward gender discrimination in the story.
of Riyadh. The discriminations will be categorized, whether it is social, domestic,
political, or law discriminations.
After identifying the gender-discrimination that happen in the story, the struggle of women toward the discrimination will be identified through the characteristics of the major characters. The way the women struggle toward the gender discrimination depends on the characteristics of the character, thus each character might have their own way of struggle.
D. Definition of Terms
There are terms that should be explained clearly in order to avoid misunderstanding.
1. Characters
According to A Glossary of Literary Terms by M.H Abrams, characters
are,
The persons represented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as possessing particular moral, intellectual, and emotional qualities by inferences from what the persons say and their distinctive ways of saying it--the dialogue--and from what they do--the action (2009: 42).
The writer concludes that character is a person in a literary work such as novel or other narrative work whose qualities can be seen or identified from the descriptions about the character, the dialogue, what other characters say about another characters, and the way the character react toward a certain situations.
2. Gender
A line of demarcation between biological sex differences and the way these are used to inform behaviours and competencies, which are then assigned as either ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’.
It can be said that gender is a way to differentiate two sexes based on their biological characteristics. These characteristics will define the nature of the two sexes whether it is ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’.
3. Discrimination
Based on Eurofond website discrimination is defined as,
Different treatment of individuals or groups based on arbitrary ascriptive or acquired criteria such as sex, race, religion, age, marital or parental status, disability, sexual orientation, political opinions, socio-economic background, and trade union membership and activities. (http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/areas/industrialrelations/dictionary/defin itions/discrimination.htm)
Gender discrimination is the inequal treatment to individual or groups that based on some aspects such as sex, religion, age, etc. Discrimination might cause a person or a group live in limitations or without full freedom.
4. Patriarchy
As stated by Madsen in Feminist Theory and Literary Practice, patriarchy
is,
a cultural (ideological) system that privileges men and all things masculine, and a political system that places power in the hands of men and thus serves male interests at the expense of women (2000:xii).
7
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Review of Related Studies
Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Sanea was released in 2005 in Arabic as
Al-Sanea’s debut as a writer. Girls of Riyadh is a sensational novel that caused a
controversy and was banned in Saudi Arabia.
There are already some studies done by some other researchers on the novel Girls of Riyadh. The first study is done by Eska Dwi Palupi. In her
undergraduate study entitled The Roles of Family and Women on Saudi Arabia Tradition of Marriage as Revealed in Rajaa Al-Sanea’s Girls of Riyadh, Palupi
analyzes the phenomenon that happen in the novel through the social-cultural point of view. She focuses on the phenomenon of marriage in the relation of the roles of family and women in Saudi Arabia society that is revealed in the novel.
In Saudi Arabia society, marriage is controlled or arranged by the family. Meaning to say that men and women can only get married under the approval of the family. As Palupi states that
The other roles of family on marriage can be seen on when the family becomes the decision maker on who marries who and whether a couple can get married or not. The guardian or wali—father or other close male
family member is the one who has responsibility in selecting a family member’s marriage partner. It also can be seen that family’s approval is the most important license to get married. When their family rejects their partner, there is nothing they can do but accept it (2010: 48).
role in the family. Mother becomes the decisive voice related to the household expenditures, the upbringing and education for children, and sometimes in the marriage arrangements. Woman as a husband’s companion is demanded to be a good wife. She should devote her life for her husband (2010: 48). Even though the Saudi Arabia society is a patriarchal society, which means the absolute power is in the hand of men, women in family have their own place to control some matters that they also have power over some things in their family.
Another study about Girls of Riyadh is by Moneera Al-Ghadeer. In her
article Girls of Riyadh: A New Technology Writing or Chick Lit Defiance Banat al-Riyad (Girls of Riyadh,Al-Ghadeer analyzes the way the text is written in the
form of “emails as the other of literature”. The “chick” writing style is used by the narrator in order to reveal the phenomenon of youth especially young women in Saudi Arabia. It becomes a media to see the hidden circumstance among youngsters there. Al-Ghadeer states that
The narrative is a peephole into what a young woman sees in her society and captures what goes inside the hearts and minds of her girlfriends, the younger generation (2006: 299).
Consequently, the e-narrator evokes the echoing and referential effects of her narrative, striking fear of semblance in women readers who apparently assume that the e-narrator is exposing their stories, just like the proliferation of gossip in chat rooms or the blogosphere (2006: 298). This undergraduate thesis tries to develop another studies that have been done by another researchers as mentioned above. The first study by Eka Dwi Palupi focuses on the role of family and women in marriage life by using socio-cultural perspective while the study by Muneera Al-Gadheer focuses on the way the text is narrated and the effect of using internet as the medium to reveal a phenomenon. Unlike the previous studies, this undergraduate thesis focuses on the struggle of women against the gender discrimination by analyzing some of the major women characters as seen inGirls of Riyadhby Rajaa Al-Sanea.
B. Review of Related Theories
The theories that are used here are the theory of character and characterization, the theory of gender discrimination, the theory of feminism, theory of literature and society and some information about the women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. These theories help the writer reveals the struggle of women toward gender discrimination as seen in Rajaa Al-Sanea’sGirls of Riyadh.
1. Character & Characterization
One of the important elements in a literary work is character. According to
A Glossary of Literary Termsby M.H Abrams,it is stated
What is possessed by characters could be interpreted by the reader by identifying what the persons says and the way they say it, whether through the dialogue or through their acts. Another thing that is also important to analyze characters is by understanding their motivation which is as also stated in A Glossary of Literary Terms, are ‘the grounds in the characters’ temperament, desire, and moral nature
for their speech and actions’ (2009: 42).
In Understanding Unseens by Murphy, there are 9 ways to identify the
characteristics of characters in literary works. Yet only 5 ways that are used by the author to characterize the character in the novel. They are:
1. Personal Description
The author describes the character’s physical appearance such as skin color, height, face, hair, etc. It’s the reader mind’s eye that work to figure out the characteristics of the character.
2. Character as Seen by Another
The author does not describe the qualities of a character directly but he/she uses other characters’ opinion. The reader will see the characteristics of a certain character through the eyes of another characters.
3. Speech
4. Reactions
By analyzing the way the character react toward certain situations, the reader will have another clues about his/her characteristics.
5. Direct Comment
The author might also describe the character in the novel directly through his/her narration (1972: 161-170).
2. Gender Discrimination
Based on Bernard E. Whitley Jr. in The Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination, discrimination in general is a behavior which deals with the way
people act toward members of other groups and it consists of behaving differently toward people based solely on their membership in a social group. The term discrimination usually refers to acting in an unfair or demeaning manner or to giving someone an undeserved advantage (2010: 370).
One of the forms of discrimination is gender discrimination. Gender discrimination is a kind of discrimination which is based on the gender role. As stated in Handbook of Prejudice, Stereotyping, and Discrimination by Todd. D
Even in this modern era “gender inequalities remain stubbornly entrenched in all regions of the world” whether in the rich or poor countries, the phenomenon of gender inequality is still happening (http://www.unicef.org/sowc07/docs/sowc07_panel_1_2. pdf).
Any acts that limit the rights of a person based on the sexual difference is considered as gender discrimination that make a person cannot have the full freedom to do anything he/she likes in many aspects of life.
3. Feminism
In An Introduction to Literary Criticism, Bressler makes an assumption
that in this masculine world, the feminists declare that it is men who defines what it means to be human, not women (1999: 189). As women realize that the life is dominated by men while women are only seen as inferior human beings compared to men, some critical thoughts arose and use the literature as one of the medium to transfer their ideas. Bressler also explained that in 1972 Judith Viorst recreates Cinderella story which aim is, as Bressler said, to crystallizes the central issue of feminism which are:
1. Men, either unconsciously or consciously, have oppressed women, allowing them little or no voice in the political, social, or economic issues of their society.
3. In effect, men have made woman the “insignificant other” (Bressler, 1999: 180)
Viorst recreates the characteristics of Cinderella as a woman who has her own opinions. As we know that the ending of the original Cinderella story is that Cinderella ends up marries the prince, but in Viorst new creation of the story, she decides not to marry the prince because she finds the prince no more attractive that she pretends that the glass shoe does not fit her foot. Bressler pointed out,
This new Cinderella refuses to be defined as the nonsignificant other. Unlike the old Cinderella, she will not allow herself to be shaped by her society. She realizes that her culture has all too often presented her with stereotypes that she and many others like her have so blindly accepted” (1999: 179)
The old Cinderella character tends to “accept the commandments of their patriarchal society” but Viorst see it differently (1999: 179).
The position of women that is seen as inferior, triggered the emergence of feminist movement, a movement in which women are fighting for gender equality and to be seen as significant and valuable. Maggie Humm in Feminism: A Reader
states,
“The emergence of feminist ideas and feminist politics depends on the understanding that, in all societies which divide the sexes into differing cultural, economic or political spheres, women are less valued than men.” (Humm, 1992: 1)
equally valued, women have to define themselves and assert their own voices in the arenas of politics, society, education and the arts (1999: 180).
Another opinion about the important of fighting for equality for women is by Simone de Beauvoir a French writer. As stated by Bressler,
According to Beauvoir, a woman must break the bonds of her patriarchal society and define herself if she wishes to become a significant human being in her own right and defy male classification as the Other (1999: 182).
In order to have the same rights as men have, women should break the notion in the society that women and men are not equal and women are lower than men.
A particular movement of feminism is radical feminism. Specifically, radical feminism occurs because it is believed that women form a ‘sex-class’. Women are seen as the fundamentally oppressed class. Radical feminism recognizes that the foundation of social inequality is the domination of women by men. The patriarchal system is the root of all oppression of women as what Madsen says that “the sexual oppression of women is seen to underlie the economic, cultural and social subordination of women” (Madsen, 2000:152-153). Radical feminist is against the standard gender role that put women as inferior. Thus, radical feminism intends to “destroy” the sex-class system in order to make a change and stops the oppression in the society so that women can have freedom in living their life without being restricted by any restriction under the domination of men in the patriarchal society.
4. Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia
Women and education in Saudi Arabia: Challenges and achievements, explains
that Saudi women were considered as extension of their male guardians and in Saudi society in general, it is believed that the role of women was basic to maintaining the structure of the family and therefore of society (2005: 45)
Some of the restrictions for women in Saudi Arabia are regulated. The government use Al- Quran and Sunnah as a based of the kingdom law. As Kelly said in her book Women’s Rights in The Middle East and North Africa, that The
Basic Law of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not guarantee gender equality (2010: 425).
Women in Saudi Arabia cannot have full freedom for their mobility, as Kelly said that the social and cultural rights of women are limited by the same sex-segregation values that automatically limit the expression of all other forms of women’s activities (2010: 447).
Some regulations do restrict the movement of women in Saudi Arabia yet the society also plays an important role that causing the gender discrimination. As Amani Hamdan explains in his journal Women and Education in Saudi Arabia: Challenges and Achievements that Women’s issues in Saudi society are often
mistakenly connected to Islamic teachings whereas women’s inequality is traditionally structured in the society (2005: 45). The strong patriarchal system in Saudi Arabia create a society in which women is inferior. An example of the gender inequalities in Saudi Arabia is in choosing marriage partner. All matters related to marriage are in the hand of the family, as Haifaa A. Jawad explains in
Most marriages that currently take place in Muslim societies are arranged unions, during which force and intimidation are quite often employed to obtain the girl’s consent (1998: 38).
Arrange marriage system is something common that also take place in Saudi Arabia society as an Islamic state.
Women in Saudi Arabia often lacks in choices regarding fundamental life decisions such as marriage, childbearing, and whether to work outside the home. They are under the legal control of their closest male relative (mahram) (Kelly, 2010: 449). Women do not have many choices in order to work, most of the job fields are for men.
The everyday mobility of women in Saudi Arabia is also limited. Women are not permitted to drive a car by themselves. They are also not allowed to take care of any legal matters with bank or any other offices by themselves. For example, until 2005, in order to obtain a commercial license for a business, a woman should proves that she had already hired a male manager and she needed permission from her guardian to go into business or take out a bank loan (Kelly, 2010:438). Without a male manager, a woman could never be able to run a business in Saudi Arabia because men and women cannot interact freely so that a male manager is needed to take care of many things related to official tasks.
conservative patriarchal society has so many legal constraints and social controls that limits the freedom of movement of all women in Saudi Arabia (Kelly, 2010: 431).
5. Literature and Society
A writer is a social being since he/she lives in a society. A society in which a writer lives can give a big influence toward his/her writing. Rene Wellek inTheory of Literatureexplains the relation of literature and society. She states
Literature represents ‘life’ and life is, in large measure, a social reality, even though the natural world and the inner or subjective world of the individual have also been objects of literary imitation (1956: 94)
Literature is often used by authors as a representation of their life, it is ‘an expression of society’ (1956: 95). The aspects of society such as social, economy, or even political aspect in which an author lives, can bring influences in his/her literary work.
A novel, for example can be a description about a certain society in which the author lives, it can represent many aspects of the author’s society that he/she puts in the story as an imitation of the real world.
C. Theoretical Framework
As mentioned in the previous part, there are three problem formulation regarding to this research. Each problem needs a theory in order to be answered. All theories help to analyze the struggle of women in a patriarchal society of Saudi Arabia as seen inGirls of Riyadhby Rajaa Al-Sanea.
way she speaks and what she does, her way of thinking, what other characters say about her, etc. Even though there are four major characters in the novel, the writer only focuses on two characters, they are Gamrah and Michelle. Once the qualities of the characters are revealed, the writer applies the theory of gender discrimination to see phenomenon of discrimination against women in Saudi Arabia society and the effect toward the characters.
Secondly, the theory of gender discrimination is used by the writer to identifying the discrimination against women that occur in the novel whether it is a domestic or social discrimination that cause a struggle for women characters in the novel. The writer will also use the information about women’s rights in Saudi Arabia in order to get a deeper analysis on the gender discrimination issue.
19
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The novelGirls of Riyadhwas written by Rajaa Al-Sanea, a young woman
doctor who grew up in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The novel was first published in 2005 in Arabic language in Lebanon with the original title Banat Al-Riyadh. It was prohibited to be published in Saudi Arabia due to the controversial content since Saudi Arabia is very strict with things related to sex segregation. In 2007, the novel was translated into English and published by The Penguin Press New York and finally available in many bookstores in Saudi Arabia. The novel consists of 286 pages and divided into 50 chapters.
The novel which is written in the form of emails by a woman narrator tells about the life of four Riyadh young women. They are, Gamrah, Michelle, Lamees, and Sadeem. The narrator herself is the friend of these four women. She discovers the life of her friends by sending emails every week to the internet subscriber in Saudi Arabia.
causes a depression for Gamrah but she eventually is able to move on with her life.
Michelle whose real name is Mashael is half American. Her father married her mother who is an American. She cannot have a happy ending love story with her boyfriend Faisal since Faisal’s mother refuses to let Faisal to marry Michelle due to family pride. Nothing hurts Michelle more than the reason behind Faisal’s mother refusal, she just cannot accept the very conservative way of thinking of the Saudi Arabia society that in order to choose a right partner for their children a family background is very important, rich people will only marry rich people. At the end Michelle and her family move to Dubai where she is able to live a better life in a more liberal society.
A bit different from Michelle and Gamrah, Sadeem who already signed the marriage contract with Waleed ends up being divorced by him. He left her without a word, even before their wedding celebration was conducted. The reason why Waleed divorces her is simply because she sleeps with Waleed before she moves in with him. Even though it is not forbidden since they are already legally married, he is shocked by Sadeem’s interest in sex. At the end, Sadeem end up marrying her cousin.
The last is Lamees, she is the one who has the happy ending love story, she marries Nizar, a friend that she loves and obviously loves her. Unlike her other friends, they live happily after marriage.
Girls of Riyadhis simply a love story yet through the romantic atmosphere
dominance. The novel reveals many things about women In Saudi Arabia and the discrimination that they experienced, it also shows how they are struggling to get their freedom without leaving their religious values.
B. Approach of the Study
The approach that is used in order to analyze this study is feminist approach. The study focuses on the struggle of women who live in a patriarchal society, so the writer uses the feminist point of view in order to analyze the women struggle.
Elizabeth Kowaleski Wallace in Encyclopedia of Feminist Literary
explains that feminist implies an intellectual commitment to achieving gender, class, and racial equality, and it often see all aspects of culture, especially literature as the site to transfer the ideas and as a means of eventual change (2009: vii).
In Women: A Feminist Perspective, Jo Freeman said that feminist
perspective starts from the premise that women and men are constitutionally equal. They share the same human capabilities and that is why it demands a critical analysis of the social institutions that cause the inequality (1984: 553).
C. Method of the Study
The method that is used by the writer in this undergraduate thesis is the library research. The writer uses sources from both books and Internet. The writer only uses reliable sources from Internet to support the study. The primary source of the study isGirls of Riyadhby Rajaa Al-Sanea.
The second sources of the study are from books and Internet. For this thesis, the writer used A Glossary of Literary Terms by Abrams, Bresslers’s An Introduction to Literary Criticism, Understanding Unseens by Murphy, Maggie
Humm’sFeminism, A Reader, Deborah L. Madsen’s Feminist Theory and Literary Practice, and some other books to find related information on discrimination and
women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.
In conducting this research, the writer used several steps. The first is by reading the novel and understanding the content. The writer focuses on the two major characters in order to analyze the struggle of women toward gender discrimination. After reading and understanding the novel, the writer formulated some problem formulations that can be used as the writing guidelines.
The second step was finding and understanding a theory on characterization to be applied in the study. This theory was used by the writer to analyze further the character in the novel in order to answer the first problem formulation.
struggle of the women as objects in the conservative patriarchal society where men are dominating.
The theory of the relation of literature and society also added by the writer in order to understand the function of literature and its significant related to society. The writer also studying about the gender discrimination and women’s rights in Saudi Arabia in order to find more information related to the discrimination experienced by women in Saudi Arabia and their limitation of human rights.
24 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter discusses the three problems as stated in the first chapter. The first part discusses the first problem which is about the description of two major characters in the novel and how they are described. Secondly, the focus is to answer the second problem about the gender discriminations that are experienced by women in the novel. The last part is to answer the last problem about the how the struggle against the gender discrimination revealed in the story.
A. The Descriptions Major Characters
There are only two characters that is analyzed in the study and in order to understand the characteristics the characters the writer uses Murphy’s theory on character and characterization. There are only 5 ways used here from the 9 ways that Murphy has. They are, personal description, character as seen by another, speech, reactions, and direct comments. Through characteristics of the characters, the writer tries to reveal the struggle of women toward gender discrimination in Girls of Riyadhby Rajaa Al-Sanea.
1. Gamrah
a. Hardworking
As a single parent, Gamrah realizes that she has no husband to depend on
anymore, she needs to work in order to earn money and be an independent woman
even though her parents are still able to fulfill her needs. When Sadeem decides to
start a party organizer business, she asks no one but her closest friends to be in
responsible for the business Riyadh. Gamrah does not let such opportunity to be
wasted. Gamrah works very hard even though she had to work until late at night.
Gamrah wouldn’t get home before two or three in the morning, although during the final third of the month she would return an hour or two earlier, in time to do the Qiyam prayers** at the mosque with her mother and sisters (Al-Sanea: 2005: 233).
Gamrah who lives in isolation after her divorce can finally prove to her
mother that she can be independent by her hard work, and does not need to be
protected like a little child anymore. Her mother can finally let her daughter to go
out of the house without the companion of her brothers. Gamrah also proves to her
mother that she works really hard by get her mother impressed with the profit she
gets from the business.
At first, Gamrah’s mother wouldn’t let her go out on these work missions alone, but she began going easier on her daughter when she noticed how seriously Gamrah took it all. What most impressed Um Gamrah was when she saw her daughter make her first profit—for arranging a dinner party in the home of one of Sadeem’s professors at the university (Al-Sanea: 2005: 233-234).
As a widow, Gamrah’s hardworking characteristic can be a way for her to struggle
and fight against the discrimination against women in order to get equality. She
proves that a woman can be independent and survive without the help of a man.
She could break the rules in her family and show that being a widow is not a
disgrace.
b. Brave
a long consideration, she decides to call Kari who is Rashid’s affair and she asks her to meet up. Even though Gamrah’s English speaking ability is very poor that she might find difficulties in communicating with Kari, she still has the courage to call her and meet her.
Gamrah called Kari at the second number and asked to meet her. She introduced herself first. Kari answered calmly, saying she was willing and ready to come to Chicago to see her at the next available opportunity (Al-Sanea, 2005: 80)
Gamrah, who had never expected an offensive such as this, found that the cat had gotten hold of her tongue. Even without understanding Kari’s speech completely, what Gamrah did absorb was enough to make her suddenly snap out of her stunned silence and explode in Kari’s face, cursing in weak English and in Arabic, too (Al-Sanea, 2005: 83)
Secondly, during the two months interval before Gamrah meets Kari, she
needs to make sure that she is pregnant, knowing that her husband forbids her to
get pregnant by always asking her to take certain pills to avoid pregnancy.
Gamrah knows that it is just her husband trick because he is cheating on her, and
that a child in their marriage will only get their bond stronger and make things
more difficult for her husband.
During those two months, Gamrah stopped taking pills without consulting her mother, whose opinion she knew anyway: “All you’ve got is your children, my dear. Children are the only way to tie a man.” (Al-Sanea, 2005: 80)
Her husband got so angry when Gamrah told him about her pregnancy. It is a brave
action she takes in order to get her marriage continues even though she has to face
the oppression toward her.
The second slap came and she fell to the floor, sobbing painfully. Rashid left the apartment to run into the arms of the “unworthy one,” leaving Gamrah cursing and slapping her cheeks and spitting at him, in a state of hysteria, close to madness (Al-Sanea, 2005: 85).
Gamrah realizes that she has the right of herself and her body, thus her brave
characteristic helps her to get her rights as a women no matter what consequences
that she should face. Without her bravery she will not be able to resist her
husband’s oppression towards her.
2. Michelle
a. Tough
Michelle is a tough person because no matter how hard the problem she is facing she is always able to overcome it. For example when she has to face the fact that Faisal, her boyfriend should leave her and marry another woman—since it is a family decision—she is able to survive by not letting herself drawn to the sadness. When Faisal tries to pursue her again, she makes a firm decision not to fall to any of the attractions of Faisal and that she has to be strong. Her toughness can be seen in one of her speeches when he talks about Faisal to her friend.
That’s why I went on refusing him and denying my feelings and not letting myself be sucked into his weakness. One of us had to be the strong one. I decided it was going to be me (Al-Sanea, 2005: 269).
Marriage is a very sensitive matter in Saudi society. One cannot decide who he/she wants to marry because family is the institution that will decide such matter. Yet, not matter how hard the problem she is facing, she stays strong and she is able to overcome any problems, she says it herself “I know I can face whatever hassles stand in my way (Al-Sanea, 2005: 269)”.
The tough characteristic of Michelle is also proven by her friend’s opinion
about her. She is seen as a strong person by her friend. Gamrah really “wished that she could draw strength from Michelle (Al-Sanea, 2005: 175)”.
b. Critical
As a person who used to study in America, Michelle’s characteristic is influenced by American culture. As explained by Hamdan that Saudi women and men who have been educated in the West return to the country with different visions for the future, they see their society differently. Those who support women’s rights tend to seek and implement change (Hamdan, 2005: 55)
Michelle cannot stand the society which in her opinion is “sick”. Different from her other friends who tend to keep silent and not voicing their mind, Michelle is the one who often criticizes the men in the society. Her critical characteristic can be seen through her own speech. Michelle says “I could have challenged the whole world if my love had been from somewhere else, not a crooked society (Al-Sanea,
2005: 270). She criticizes the society that in her opinion is “crooked” or twisted.
She also says that the society is a “sick” society. She said so because it seems like
no one is free for choosing their marriage partner or deciding any important things
I have complete confidence in my-self, and I know I can face whatever hassles stand in my way, but frankly I don’t have the same confidence in Faisal or in any other guy in our sick society (Al-Sanea 2005: 269)
Michelle’s critical characteristic can also be seen in her speech when she
talks about women. In her opinion, women in the society never tried to become
strong, women in her society tends to keep silence that they always accept
everything, they are defeated by the society around them and never show their
opinion.
We always act the role of the helpless females, completely overcome by circumstances, and as if we don’t have a say in anything or opinions of our own! Utterly passive! How long are we going to keep on being such cowards, and not have even the courage to see our choices through, whether they’re right or wrong? ( Al-Sanea, 2005: 125).
When she talks about men, she is also critical. It can be seen in her reaction
toward Gamrah when they talk about Nizar who is Sadeem’s husband, Gamrah
thinks that Nizar is very considerate by letting Sadeem to stay in Riyadh to finish
her study until she graduates. Gamrah is amazed by Nizar’s decision because it is
so uncommon. Yet, Michelle argues her, she agrees that Nizar is quite considerate
but it is not something that is surprising.
This isherlife, and she’s free to run it as she wants, just as he’s free to run his as he wants. Our problem hereis that we let men be bigger deals than they really are. We need to realize—assume, even—right from the start that things like letting us graduate are not even optional, it’s just what makes sense, and our eyes should not fly out of our heads if one of these men actually does something right! (Al-Sanea 2005: 235)
Michelle thinks that what Nizar did, does not have to be seen as something big, it
is what a man should do. She shows that society has been wrong all the time, that
characteristic can reveal the gender discrimination in her society and also shows
that deep inside, a woman realizes that she has to fight for the equality.
c. Brave
Michelle is not afraid of saying what is right in her opinion and also do something which for some people is risky. Michelle is always questioning the Saudi Arabia society which in her opinion is “sick”. Sometimes her brave characteristic scares her friends. Her braveness can be seen from the direct comment about her.
Michelle had become truly frightening lately, the way she talked about freedom and women’s rights, the bonds of religion, conventions imposed by society and her philosophy on relations between the sexes (Al-Sanea, 2005: 175).
She is not afraid to talk about things that are actually taboo to be talked about in Saudi society. Women’s rights and religion matter are sensitive matters in the society.
Michelle’s brave characteristic can also be seen in the way she reacts toward a situation during Gamrah’s wedding celebration. In Saudi Arabia, the wedding celebration separates men and women in different rooms before the groom can finally join the bride. In women room, all women can dress up as they like that they do not need to cover their body withhijabor veil. Once the groom and all other
men join the women room to get the bride and the groom meet each other, all women should cover their body in order to protect them from the sight of men. Yet, Michelle prefer to stay as the way she is, she does not care whether men can see her body shape in her gown.
Michelle braveness can also be seen in her decision to drive a car and dresses up like a man. In Saudi Arabia, it is forbidden for a woman to drive a car even if the person owns an international driving license. What Michelle did is actually a crime due to the law in Saudi Arabia and she might be accused for driving. Yet, Michelle is brave enough to still drive and to avoid being caught by the religious police of Saudi Arabia, she dresses up like a man.
The hostess greeted them wearing baggy trousers with lots of pockets and an oversized jacket—gear that artfully concealed any sign of femininity— plus a bandanna that hid her hair. To top it all off, she had on a pair of colored sunglasses that gave her the appearance of an adolescent boy who has escaped parental surveillance (2005: 14)
Wearing man’s clothes is inappropriate and against the law of Islam that become the
base of law in Saudi Arabia. The risk of being accused for driving by the religious
police of Saudi Arabia, shows how brave Michelle is.
d. Educated
Michelle and her family live in and her family moved to Riyadh when she
is in the second year of middle school. Since at that time Michelle did not have the
ability of speaking Arabic, she studies in a school that all the classes are taught in
English. After graduated from high school, Michelle continues her study in King
Saud University and studied computer science there.
Right after graduating from high school Michelle intended to study in a
university in America, yet her father did not give the permission that she ended up in
a university in Saudi. The reason why her father did not allow her to go is because—
since they already lived in conservative Saudi society—he was influenced by the
anyone who will marry them when they go back to Saudi and bad rumors about her
will spread.
Her father’s nosy sisters had really gone out of their way in this case to stuff her open-minded father’s head with retrograde ideas. They warned him of the likely consequences of letting her go abroad all by herself to study. Girls who traveled out of the kingdom to study, the aunties argued, found lots of unflattering talk swirling around them when they returned. And then they couldn’t find anyone who would marry them (Al-Sanea, 2005:46)
Her father who is actually an open-minded person, got the influence from his sisters
who are very conservative. On the other hand, while Michelle is not allowed to study
abroad by herself, her little brother Meshaal is allowed to go for summer boarding
school in Switzerland.
The atmosphere of their home had become very bleak with her depression and the departure of her brother Meshaal to Switzerland for his summer boarding school (Al-Sanea, 2005: 112).
In Saudi society, it was a hard battle for a woman to get formal education, they only
got religious education in the past. Thus, even now many conservative Saudi people
see that education for women is not needed. Amani Hamdan in his article Women
and Education in Saudi Arabia,says that the struggle for women education in Saudi
Arabia is an ongoing battle (Hamdan, 2010: 47)
Eventually, Michelle is able to study abroad. She is depressed after break
up with Faisal that she asks her father to let her go and study in the US. This time her
father let her go as a way to cure her broken heart. Her father does not give
spontaneous refusal because he knows that Michelle is in a bad psychological
condition.
weight she had lost and the paleness that taken hold of her face in recent weeks had an effect on his decision (2005: 112)
Michelle continues her study at the University of California in San
Francisco major in communication. In San Francisco she met her cousin Matty who
helps her taking care of anything related to her study there. Later Michelle find
herself have a crush in Matty but when she tells her father, he cannot accept it since
Matty is not a Moslem.
Michelle does not finish her study in University of California, she only
spent two years there because her father decided to move to Dubai, UAE. It was her
father’s plan from the beginning, moreover after knowing that her daughter loves her
non-Moslem cousin (Al-Sanea, 2005: 135)
In Dubai, she still continued her study in communication. She entered the
Departement of Visual Communication at the American University in Dubai so that
her two years in San Francisco will not go to a waste. Major in communication is a
way that leads her way to success. Later she gets a chance to work in a famous TV
station in Dubai and become a producer for her own TV program (Al-Sanea, 2005:
185).
Through the description about her, it can also be seen that Michelle is an educated woman. Her education also influences her way of thinking because she can see things from the Eastern and Western perspective at the same time.
B. The Gender Discriminations Revealed in the Novel
In this section, the gender discrimination in the novelGirls of Riyadh will
be revealed. The discriminations are categorized into 4 categories. The first is
discrimination in social life, which reveals any discriminations against women in
their interaction with people outside the house. The second is discrimination in
domestic life where women are discriminated in their home even by their own
parents. The third is the discrimination in law where women cannot have the same
rights as men have in the aspect of law. The last is discrimination in politics, the
freedom of women in Saudi Arabia in political life is very limited due to the
Kingdom’s regulation.
1. Social Life
Social life is a combination of some components which are interactions,
people, and places outside the house. A social interaction, as explained byJos ́e A. Scheinkman in his journal, Social Interactions, refers to particular forms of
externalities, in which the actions of a reference group affect an individual’s preferences (https://www.princeton.edu/~joses/wp/socialinteractions.pdf).
As mentioned before that Saudi Arabia society is a patriarchal society, the
very extreme one. Men in Saudi Arabia have more power than women do. Whether
socially or domestically, women only have limited freedom. The mobility of women
in Saudi Arabia is hindered by the gender discriminations. Women are not allowed
to go out of the house without their male guardian or at least the permission from
their male guardian. They should behave carefully, they are not allowed to drive a
depend on their mahram (male guardian), it could be their fathers, brothers, or
husbands. Women in Saudi Arabia is a full dependant of their mahram. Lastly, the
extreme patriarchal society of Saudi will challenge the education of women.
Women especially the youth who are not yet married are expected to
behave with instruction especially during social gatherings because the way they
behave will influence their life. Such phenomenon can be seen in Girls of Riyadh
during a gathering where many women gather.
You barely walk,you barely talk, you barely smile, you barely dance, be mature and wise, you always think before you act, you measure your words carefully before you speak and you do not behave like a child.” (Al-Sanea, 2005: 6)
From the quotation above, it can be seen that the freedom of women in Saudi
Arabia is limited. They should act and behave according to instructions, they are
not free to do anything they like and cannot be just the way they are.
Another discrimination is the prohibition to drive for women. Actually
there is no written regulation about the prohibition of women to drive. Yet, the
government do not allow women to get a driving license. In order to have a driving
license, some women will go abroad and apply for international driving license. As
mentioned before that women need to fully depend on their mahram, it means that
wherever they go they should be accompanied by their mahram. That is why it is
taught that women do not need to drive because by driving, it might threaten their
guardian system (http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/24691034).
Women’s lack of mobility remains a salient point of contention in the
kingdom, as they still are not allowed to drive a car (Kelly, 2010: 426). Women in
often break the rules and they still drive, and in order to avoid being accused, they
dress up like a man. As said by Mohammed Jamjoom in CNN news, some women
would find it (dresses up like a man) as the only solution for them in order to drive a
car and not being caught
(http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/25/world/meast/saudi-women-drivers-jamjoom/).
As seen in Girls of Riyadh, Michelle has the courage to drive a car, she
owns an international driving license that she applied abroad and in order to avoid
being accused, she disguises herself by dress up like a man so that the religious
police will not recognize her as a woman.
The hostess greeted them wearing baggy trousers with lots of pockets and an oversized jacket—gear that artfully concealed any sign of femininity— plus a bandanna that hid her hair. To top it all off, she had on a pair of colored sunglasses that gave her the appearance of an adolescent boy who has escaped parental surveillance (Al-Sanea, 2005: 14)
Another discrimination related to gender is that women in Saudi Arabia
are not allowed to take care of any official tasks by themselves. For example
when they need to take care of things related to a bank or any other offices, they
need a male guardian to help them. Also in running a business, a woman needs a
permission from her guardian and a male manager to conduct the business. In this
case, the function of the manager is—as mention before—to take care of things
related to official task, such as to take a bank loan, etc.
Such discrimination can be seen in Girls of Riyadh. It is experienced by
Sadeem. Sadeem starts a new business, it is a party organizer. She sees a big
chance for such business in Saudi because most of the party organizing sector is a
the business she needs to take care of many legal matters and in order to do so,
she hired her cousin, Tariq, to help her with anything related to official task.
Tariq, Sadeem’s cousin, helped them take care of official tasks, obtaining a commercial license and other necessary documents. Since women are not always permitted to take care of legal matters with banks and other offices themselves, Sadeem made him their official agent for legal affairs (Al-Sanea, 2005: 226)
Even though this matter is not regulated, without a man hired by a woman to be a
manager, women in Saudi Arabia will never be able to run a business because it is
kind of impossible for them to interact with people especially men in order to deal
with official tasks, since men and women relationship is very restricted. This is a
discrimination that limits the mobility of women.
The patriarchal system in Saudi Arabia which gives the power in the hands
of men, also resulted in the chance to get married for women which has something
to do with their education. Even though women in Saudi Arabia are no longer
forbidden to get a proper formal education and that formal schools for women are
already provided by the Kingdom, but still by having a high education or only a
modest one can influence a woman’s life. It will be one of the most important
considerations for a man to marry a woman. As Hamdan said in his article that women’s education did not change the patriarchal nature of Saudi society. Women in every field are subordinate to men (2005: 48).
InGirls of Riyadh,Sadeem, one of Gamrah’s friend is always questioning
whether it is a blessing or a curse for a woman to have knowledge. Referring to
