Cal Berkeley Democrats

An Ode to Saudi Arabia: Breaking sterotypes and barriers

Myself, Christy, standing in front of the Persian Gulf off the King Fahd Bridge.

Saudi Arabia is easily one of the most misunderstood and least known about countries in the United States. The images of desert, camels, and most of all, women covered entirely in black dominate the image Americans conjure of the gulf nation. As someone who has been studying the Middle East and Arabic for the last 3 years, I felt that I had a more in depth and critical understanding of the country I visited earlier this month. Yet, I found myself immensely surprised by what I experienced and saw.

For the back story, I was invited to go on a two week cultural exchange with the National Council on US-Arab Relations, a Washington, D.C. based NGO. We were guests of the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education while in the country. Our group was comprised of 10 female university students from all over the US and 3 adult chaperones from the National Council. During our trip, we had ten hour long days of meetings with business leaders, the royal family, prominent women, and university visits. The trip took us from the capital city of Riyadh, to the oil rich Eastern Province, to the western sea port of Jiddah. It was truly the trip of a lifetime.

As a young female American student my family and many of my peers had questions about my going to Saudi Arabia. Didn’t I have to wear some burqa thing? Didn’t that make me uncomfortable as a strong western woman? What about all of those terrorists? Wasn’t I afraid?

And the answer to those questions was a resounding no – First, women do not have to wear a burqa. We do, in public, need to wear an abaya, a long robe like dress, and hijab, a head covering. Women do not have to cover their faces. And no, it did not make me uncomfortable wearing either. Many see this clothing as a sign of oppression. But I counter that with there are so many more important things about women than what they wear. While on my trip, I met with some of the most articulate and educated women – and they are Saudis. They are university professors and business leaders. They are girls my age also going to college and getting their educations. And they are proud to be from Saudi Arabia.

In a country that supposedly treats their women so badly, 54% of college graduates are women. Women are being invested in heavily in Saudi right now. No, there is not total equality between the sexes and I cannot lie and say there is. But the women of Saudi are making incredible strides to better their lives and their rights. They are fighting for equality just as I am doing here in the US. Lest we forget, sexism still plays an incredible role in the lives of American women.

Moreover, Saudi men (and really any and all Arab men) are portrayed as evil, sexist, extremist, terrorists in American media. Again this image is so far removed from truth that it is almost funny. During our trip we had a Ministry official with us the whole time. His name is Nasser and he was truly amazing. He played pranks on us, joked with us, and taught us about Saudi life and Arabic phrases. He is a dad of five and a husband. He reminded me of many of my friend’s parents. Nasser is a typical example of a Saudi man. Extremely kind, willing to speak with you, laugh with you, and always hospitable.

The point of this blog is to break some of the stereotypes surrounding a country and a people that I really fell in love with. Our similarities are so much greater than our differences. Life in Saudi Arabia is not that much different than life in the US (except they do have better hummus!) I would even say they do some things better than us. Hospitality is a trait that Saudis take very seriously. Guests are treated like the closest of family – even if you have never met before. They are gracious hosts and sincere in their actions. This is something I think that fast paced Americans could really learn from.

My advice, if you ever have the opportunity to visit Saudi Arabia or anywhere in the Middle East, grab it. You will be so pleasantly surprised by your time there. The media’s portrayal of the region has nothing to do with the actualities of daily life. So with that I say masaalama, or goodbye!