There is a wonderful movie called “Wadjda” that traces the plight of a young girl determined to get her hands on a bicycle.
Growing up in a patriarchal Saudi Arabia, Wadjda is confronted by oppressive gender roles and laws that prevent her from purchasing and riding a bike with her male friends.
Members of the community and her family censure Wadjda for her ambitions.
In Saudi Arabia, Wadjda’s struggle is reality for every woman.
Though there is no law prohibiting women from driving, women aren’t allowed to apply for driver’s licenses in Saudi Arabia.
Given the country’s nature of absolute monarchy, protests by men or women are often highly improbable, so the laws seem irreversible. Unbeknownst to many, however, a progressive revolution is unfolding in the birthplace of Islam.
Al-Jazeera reported that more than 60 women have admirably assumed the most rebellious political position a woman can assume in Saudi Arabia: the driver’s seat.
The women then posted numerous videos of their vehicular defiance on YouTube. Though this may seem like a small step, these courageous women may be igniting a progressive revolution in Saudi Arabia.
Judy Bachrach, in an article for World Affairs Journal, argues the effects will be massive. She believes if women are granted the right to drive, they may commit adultery, attempt to get a divorce or even — gasp — find a job.
Reading this, you may be baffled. However, for an enslaved people, a willingness to disobey everyday norms counts as progress. I employ the word “enslaved” because that’s what half of the population is in Saudi Arabia: property. Without a male guardian, women are also forbidden from working, opening a bank account or traveling.
The gender-based restrictions are clearly intended to keep power in the hands of the hereditary male leadership.
Yet the Saudi Royal family is not invincible, and a number of countries and organizations have scrutinized the regime. For instance, the U.N. Human Rights Council, Canada, the U.K. and the Czech Republic all expressed concern about the human rights situation.
Ironically, Saudi Arabia is expected to win a seat on the Human Rights Council next month.
One can only hope that before this happens, the women of Saudi Arabia — and the gay men and women who face beheading as punishment — gain international attention for their courage. If not, then the burden rests on us.
The United States is a staunch ally of the oil kingdom and therefore faces a moral obligation to foster the growth and well-being of that country in any way it can.
Doing so will set a precedent and warn other ultraconservative hereditary regimes — a North Korean family comes to mind — that there are consequences for their actions.
Furthermore, support from the Unites States and her allies will give the women of Saudi Arabia a sense of support that their “guardians” have so willingly relinquished.
Perhaps with such support, women can one day transcend Wadjda’s dreams of the driver’s seat and assume a long-deprived Senate seat.
Richard Vieira is a UF political science senior. His column runs on Fridays. A version of this column ran on page 6 on 11/1/2013 under the headline "Saudi women rebel — from the driver’s seat"
