Hannah Fuller

English W170

Carina Saxon

December 12, 2012

Saudi America

Domination can be defined as the exercise of control or influence over someone,

something, or the state of being controlled. The domination of women by men occurs in

both the Eastern and Western cultures despite their obvious societal and lifestyle

differences. In Saudi Arabia, women are forced to cover up every inch of themselves

excluding their eyes, they are not allowed to drive, and they are often excluded from the

work force. In Western nations, women are pressured to exploit themselves for the

pleasure of men, they are stereotyped in a multitude of ways (such as the belief that

women are bad drivers, which is oddly similar to the sexist laws in Saudi Arabia that

prohibit women from driving), and are paid as much as fifteen percent less as men in the

work force simply because of their sex. This is absolutely ridiculous and should be

addressed. However, as one might imagine, there is a complicating problem. Each culture

looks at the other as a sexist culture dominated by men, and similarly, each culture looks

at their own lifestyle as somehow free. Some choose to fight against this in protest, such

as M.I.A, an English recording artist that is a descent of Tamil. She is known for her

controversial opinions that she displays through her music and her actions, such as

flipping off the camera during the live super bowl 2012 half time show performance with

Madonna and Nicki Minaj. This may not seem like a big deal, but due to the lack of

censorship since the show was live, people of all ages saw this, and viewers were angry

with the television network NBC and the NFL. This could have resulted in possible

lawsuits. She uses her fame and musical talent in her “Bad Girls” music video (set in

Saudi Arabia featuring M.I.A. herself and other Arabic women driving, drifting, handling

guns, and living fast) to voice her opinion of the lifestyle that the government in Saudi

Arabia imposes upon women. (Arukpragasm) In this case, M.I.A. is the in-group because

she can psychologically identify with the Arabic women being Tamil herself with similar

skin color, on top of being a woman. Out groups protest in different ways because they

may not be able to completely identify with Arabic women (such as an American

woman), yet they are still women oppressed by men. An example of this is a political

comic signed by “Evans” featuring an American woman in a bikini and an Arabic woman

in a niqab. (Evans) Living as a woman in Saudi Arabia is comparable to living as an

antelope among a pack of hungry lions; deadly.

Any rights that women appear to have in Saudi Arabia are clouded by

technicalities and loopholes in the laws and the government. “In a time of falling state

revenues and declining living standards, a time when tens of thousands of high school

and university graduates want and need to work but cannot find jobs, can the government

of Saudi Arabia still keep women economically marginalized and under the legal control

of men? The answer is yes. In fact, one can even argue that it is in the government’s

interest to do so…” (Doumato ) The Saudi Arabian government considers it a challenge

to respond to the novel demands of women to work. Part of the problem is that the

government will not allow unrelated men and women to work together. There are some

areas in the work force that allow women to work, but only because these organizations

only employ women. If they also employed men, women could not work. Everything is

sex segregated. Women can be lawyers, but they can never become judges. There is one

obstacle and loophole over another that women must overcome if they want to work at

all! (Doumato )

As a woman, one might choose have the opportunity to work in America as

opposed to having to jump through hoops to work in Saudi Arabia, however, the two

have their sexist similarities. For example, a workingwoman in America will be paid up

to 15% less than a man doing the exact same job. This amounts to more than 400,000

dollars or more over a lifetime that has been lost due to sex. This is absolutely ridiculous

and I personally cannot believe something has not been done about it. In this day in age

with the economy the way it is, women cannot afford to riot in the streets and risk losing

their jobs, so no change is coming about. “Women in the United States were fired for

participating in ‘Alice Doesn’t’ day; and New Jersey and New York state ERA’s were

voted down, following campaigns against equal rights by a conglomeration of insurance

brokers, tankers, and the communist Party, USA” (Moira ) Women are stuck in an

economic loophole, unable to change their rate of pay to make it equal to their fellow

male co-workers. Is America all that different from Saudi Arabia regarding this?

“Saudi Arabia banned the importation and use of contraceptives because the

‘kingdom needs more and more males for work and more and more females to bear and

raise babies.’” (Moira) “The world Moslem League ruled that ‘birth control was invented

by the enemies of Islam.’” (Moira) These facts may sound familiar to the average

America woman. Male politicians (who make up most of the politicians who run our

country) want to control our right to contraceptive methods. Once again, how different is

the American culture from the Arabic regarding the treatment of women?

Views about women are influenced by people of power and influence (such as

politicians). Jean Jacques Rousseau, an important figure in this history of philosophy,

thought that women should continue to be dependent and submissive, while men should

be dominant. (Darling) He defends men who come at women with unwanted sexual

attention, claiming that it is a form of punishment, and that women’s stated desires or

wishes are nothing to be concerned about. (Darling) This exact mindset that Rousseau

had in the 1700’s is still present in today’s modern society. An example of this is Todd

Akin, who coined the famous term “Legitimate Rape,” and claimed that no woman will

become pregnant from rape because the “female body has a way of shutting that whole

process down.” Fortunately in the last election, the female population (which makes up

51 percent) was able to shut him down. However, men like him are still the dominant

influence of our culture today. This is not only demonstrated through politics, but also

pop culture and the media itself. The political comic helps to demonstrate how each

culture has brainwashed their people into believing that they are free, and that the

opposing culture is not.

This comic shows two women, an American woman wearing nothing but a bikini

and sunglasses, and an Arabic woman completely covered by her black niqab. The

American women is looking over her should at the Arabic women, and a speech bubble

comes from her head that reads, “Everything covered but her eyes. What a cruel male-

dominated culture!” (Evans) The Arabic woman is also looking over her shoulder, and

her speech bubble reads, “Nothing covered but her eyes. What a cruel male-dominated

culture!” (Evans) The American woman feels free because she is not forced by her

government to cover almost every inch of her body, and feels sorry for Arabic women

because of the oppressive culture she comes from. Likewise, the Arabic woman feels

sorry for the American woman because she is pressured by the Western culture to exploit

herself for the pleasure of men. (Evans) Each culture is dominated by men, but in

opposite ways, and ironically, each woman cannot see the oppression within her own

culture, yet manages to find it in others. This political comic helps to demonstrate my

point: the lack of equal opportunity between the sexes calls for a change. This is, the 21st

century after all, isn’t it?

Technically yes, it is the 21st century. However, people still continue to tolerate

and follow oppressive gender roles that were prevalent in the 1950’s and even earlier. It

has not even been 100 years since women fought and won the right to vote in America,

and while women in Saudi Arabia have been granted the right to vote, it will not be

effective until the 2015 election. The fact that voting, which should be an equal right for

all people, has to be “won” sickens me, and it is even more discouraging that since then,

little progress has been made. However, some are trying to make progress, like M.I.A.

A particular scene in the “Bad Girls” music video that is extremely powerful is

one in which M.I.A is not even present it, and the scene itself is only a few seconds long.

Chanting, “Live fast, die young, bad girls do it well,” an Arabic woman takes the wheel

of a car in Saudi Arabia. (Arukpragasm) As the camera zooms in on her face, she looks

directly into the lens with a piercing gaze as she pulls up the fabric covering her face,

only revealing her eyes. She is making the decision to hide herself, yet tease the camera

with her eyes, causing an air of secrecy and obscurity surrounding her that is sexualized,

but under her own terms (not men or the government). (Wagner) In this scene, this

woman has power over her own body and her own sexuality. She is covered up, but under

her own conditions. She defines herself as she takes the wheel of a car, despite the sexist

laws of the land. (Wagner) Later in the video, not only are women driving, they also

taking part in a motorsport known as drifting. (Arukpragasm) Drifting is a driving

technique where the driver intentionally over steers, causing loss of traction in the rear

wheels, while maintaining control from entry to exit. Drifting is extremely dangerous,

and in general, is considered illegal if not being done by a professional. Taking this into

consideration regarding Saudi Arabia, and the fact that women are not even allowed to

drive in the first place, this is extremely insulting to the government. However, it is not

an insult meant to cause harm. Instead, it is meant to cause change for the better; a not so

sexist society. While some may consider this disrespectful and uncalled for, it is

necessary for progression regarding equality between people.

After researching and analyzing as to why M.I.A. felt the need to stick her middle

finger in the Saudi Arabian government’s sexist face (just as she did in the super bowl

2012), I have come to the conclusion that it was completely necessary. Being respectful,

quiet, and submissive about protest isn’t going to bring about change, and as M.I.A.

might say: We can’t simply have women driving cars, they need to be drifting! This was

intended to bring about change regarding the subject of Saudi Arabia, but hopefully it

will help American and Arabic alike women to rethink their own rights in our culture,

and be inspired to bring about their own change.