A Saudi princess speaks up
Princess Ameera al Taweel's brother-in-law reprimanded her for criticising Saudi's rigid laws for women in the US.
Saudi women have taken the wheels in recent months literally by defying the country’s notorious driving ban, and figuratively in attempting to advance their rights in the wake of the Arab Spring.
In addition to the battles that they have been waging on the ground and behind the scenes for their rights, or lack thereof, they have had a champion in Princess Ameera al Taweel, the wife of Prince Al Waleed bin Talal, one of the more progressive of the thousands of princes of the Saudi royal family, and one of the richest men in the world.
Much like his peers in the Middle East, the prince has been applying his wife as a public relations tool to project a more modern image of his country to the West. And it’s been working. Ameera recently completed a slew of press in the US, criticising the Kingdom’s rigid laws for women, supporting the removal of the driving ban.
It has been refreshing to say the least to watch an articulate and intelligent Saudi woman from the ruling family campaign for women’s rights in a country that normally prefers the voice of women to be well, non-existent.
And that’s precisely what has landed Princess Ameera in hot water with her brother-in-law, Prince Khalid bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz. Prince Khalid, last week, publicly reprimanded the princess for her increasingly high-profile image, threatening his brother to reign in the “repeated appearance of his wife in the media”, warning him of “severe” repercussions if the younger prince does not stop “practices which violate our family, religion and Saudi values”.
Well there’s a slap on the wrist for you. While it may appear to some that the older prince is protecting Saudi culture — as sexism is often mistaken for — Prince Khalid’s statements actually reflect the real and deep-rooted problems with the overall mentality in the Kingdom, one that believes women are the property of men.
It is precisely this kind of thinking that not only keeps women off the streets in Saudi Arabia, but out of the offices and seats of government, keeping them out of the public sphere and trapping them in the domestic realm, relegating them indefinitely to the backseat.
What is also disturbing about the prince’s statements is the correlation he makes with his sister-in-law’s media presence and family honour. Around the world, and specifically in the Middle East, the idea of women symbolising honour may sound romantic, but it is the direct source of horrendous acts of violence against women, such as ‘honour killings’, which justify murdering women who have supposedly damaged their family prestige, as the prince stipulates: “Our family honour is a red line and if you don’t respect this honour, then we do. I now tell you that if you do not come back to your senses and stop your deviation, then our response will be very severe and harsh next time.”
Using a man’s wife to publicly threaten and blackmail him? Sounds like a plot from a classic (sexist) movie. I mean, are men in 2012 seriously still this insecure that they have to pin their prestige on women and use them as pawns in what is obviously a much larger issue of power?
Saudi women may be pushing ahead with their fight to expand the rights in a Kingdom that is determined to continue curbing their rights, and if they have their way, one more Saudi woman may disappear from the global stage.
Hopefully Princess Ameera will demonstrate to the women of her country and the world that she is no bargaining chip. And usher Saudi Arabia into 2012.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2012.
In addition to the battles that they have been waging on the ground and behind the scenes for their rights, or lack thereof, they have had a champion in Princess Ameera al Taweel, the wife of Prince Al Waleed bin Talal, one of the more progressive of the thousands of princes of the Saudi royal family, and one of the richest men in the world.
Much like his peers in the Middle East, the prince has been applying his wife as a public relations tool to project a more modern image of his country to the West. And it’s been working. Ameera recently completed a slew of press in the US, criticising the Kingdom’s rigid laws for women, supporting the removal of the driving ban.
It has been refreshing to say the least to watch an articulate and intelligent Saudi woman from the ruling family campaign for women’s rights in a country that normally prefers the voice of women to be well, non-existent.
And that’s precisely what has landed Princess Ameera in hot water with her brother-in-law, Prince Khalid bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz. Prince Khalid, last week, publicly reprimanded the princess for her increasingly high-profile image, threatening his brother to reign in the “repeated appearance of his wife in the media”, warning him of “severe” repercussions if the younger prince does not stop “practices which violate our family, religion and Saudi values”.
Well there’s a slap on the wrist for you. While it may appear to some that the older prince is protecting Saudi culture — as sexism is often mistaken for — Prince Khalid’s statements actually reflect the real and deep-rooted problems with the overall mentality in the Kingdom, one that believes women are the property of men.
It is precisely this kind of thinking that not only keeps women off the streets in Saudi Arabia, but out of the offices and seats of government, keeping them out of the public sphere and trapping them in the domestic realm, relegating them indefinitely to the backseat.
What is also disturbing about the prince’s statements is the correlation he makes with his sister-in-law’s media presence and family honour. Around the world, and specifically in the Middle East, the idea of women symbolising honour may sound romantic, but it is the direct source of horrendous acts of violence against women, such as ‘honour killings’, which justify murdering women who have supposedly damaged their family prestige, as the prince stipulates: “Our family honour is a red line and if you don’t respect this honour, then we do. I now tell you that if you do not come back to your senses and stop your deviation, then our response will be very severe and harsh next time.”
Using a man’s wife to publicly threaten and blackmail him? Sounds like a plot from a classic (sexist) movie. I mean, are men in 2012 seriously still this insecure that they have to pin their prestige on women and use them as pawns in what is obviously a much larger issue of power?
Saudi women may be pushing ahead with their fight to expand the rights in a Kingdom that is determined to continue curbing their rights, and if they have their way, one more Saudi woman may disappear from the global stage.
Hopefully Princess Ameera will demonstrate to the women of her country and the world that she is no bargaining chip. And usher Saudi Arabia into 2012.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2012.