The Challenge of Political Polarization in the Arab World and Women’s Rights

Women in the Arab world are afforded some freedoms, such as, there is a set goal for 30% of the female workers to be part of the labor force by 2030 in Saudi Arabia. In the Gulf, women outnumber men with higher education. In Kuwait four women were appointed positions in the ministry since 2003. Also, in Kuwait eleven women hold cabinet positions in the ministry of health, transportation, and finance. In Saudi Arabia women are also allowed to travel abroad and register for marriages and births on their own as of 2019. Most recently, as of 2018 women have been allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia. Many women have expressed, that they are now able to maintain a degree of individuality and have developed of freedom of choice.

Although, with these freedoms does come some disparities as many women in the Arab world encounter what Beth Baron mentioned in Egypt as a Woman: Nationalism, Gender, and Politics the beliefs of mothering the nation or political mothering where the woman symbolizes the status of the state. In the case of Egypt, the mother represents the woman, and her modernity correlates with the nation’s modernity. In Alainna Liloia’s piece “Women in the Arab Countries Find Themselves Torn between Opportunity and Tradition,” speaks of the same notion of many Gulf countries, which advance women’s rights towards modernity is to present a positive image and keep human rights organizations at bay. “The discovery of oil in the Arab Gulf in the 1930s turned these Islamic monarchies into global players. One result of this globalization was that Western leaders put pressure on the region to ‘modernize’ their laws and customs.” (Alainna Liloia) Modernization enables the Arab region to sustain good alliances with Europe and the United States through political, military and trade relations. In bettering the nation through women’s emancipation does however leave conservatives and Islamists of the Arab World at odds.

Many religious scholars contest that modernization threatens women’s modesty and leaves them with a lack of security in their strive for agency. This age old political polarization of Islamists versus modernists, which is present in much of the East, trickles down to women’s issues and as a result many women experience backlash, which effects the very little freedoms they have secured. This is evident as some Gulf countries revert back to women’s roles of domesticity. The practice of domesticity follows proscribed Islamic roles for women to raise the children and take care of the family instead of being preoccupied with working outside the home. Consequently, patriarchal gender norms are further solidified through a more traditional interpretation of Islamic law, which further subordinates women. Concluding, that women’s agency becomes the casualty in the political polarization felt across Arab nations as women become symbols of modernity, while they are still responsible to uphold their proscribed Islamic roles. A dichotomy is present where religion becomes a tool to restrict women’s freedoms. I believe Alainna Liloia states it best in her piece. “As political and religious leaders in the Gulf push their national agendas, women must find their own ways to balance newfound freedoms with existing social and religious pressures.” Women must become masters at walking a fine line between the state, religious scholars, and their newfound freedoms.

References:

Alainna Liloia, “Women in the Arab Countries Find Themselves Torn between Opportunity and Tradition,”https://theconversation.com/women-in-arab-countries-find-themselves-torn-between-opportunity-and-tradition-130460

Lulwa Shalhoub, “Saudi Arabia: My experience as a female driver, one year on” is a Jeddah-based freelance journalist who previously worked for the BBC's Arabic Service in London.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48661233

Baron, Beth. Egypt as a Woman: Nationalism, Gender, and Politics. Berkeley University of California Press, 2005.