No Car For You!

MSNBC:

For the first time ever, a group of women in the only country that bans female drivers have formed a committee to lobby for the right to get behind the wheel, and they plan to petition King Abdullah in the next few days for the privilege.

Good luck.

The government is unlikely to respond because the issue remains so highly sensitive and divisive.

Yes, allowing women to drive is a "divisive" issue.

Conservatives, who believe women should be shielded from male strangers, say women in the driver’s seat will be free to leave home alone and go when and where they please. They also will unduly expose their eyes while driving and interact with male strangers, such as traffic police and mechanics.

Why those wannabe whores!

Recently, a sitcom tried to put some light on the issue:

In the serial, “Amsha bint Ammash,” the main character, Amsha, loses her father and is forced to relocate from her village to Jiddah. After an unsuccessful round of job searching, she decides to become a taxi driver — a job open only to men.

Oops.

When the program was first advertised, some reacted with shock that a Saudi woman was not only portraying a man, but also one who drives. Conservatives say women should not emulate men in behavior or dress.

The controversy has forced the serial’s writer, Abdullah Abdul-Amer, to issue a statement stressing the goal of the program, aired on the Lebanese satellite channel LBC, “is not to incite women to drive.”

Thank goodness. We don't want any incitement in the Islamic world, now do we?

Comments

[Josh Scholar]

Conservatives, who believe women should be shielded from male strangers, say women in the driver’s seat will be free to leave home alone and go when and where they please. They also will unduly expose their eyes while driving and interact with male strangers, such as traffic police and mechanics.

The problem can be easily and fairly fixed, in accordance with Islam.

As long as men are never allowed outside of the house alone, and even then only blindfolded, then women can be free to go anywhere without the gaze of men.

What do you think?

[Isaac Schrödinger]

I don't see it taking off.