When one follows the various press articles about Saudi women, certain names will tend to appear more frequently than others. This led me to wondering which women are the best role models and representatives of Saudi Arabia? What does one look for or expect in a role model for a country such as Saudi Arabia which usually is portrayed as a conservative closed Kingdom where the women remain behind veils and closed doors? Therefore for a Saudi women to be considered a successful role model, does that mean she must be conservative? Must she cover? If a Saudi woman chooses to be more outspoken, open and perhaps not cover her head, does that make her a bad role model for the Kingdom? What criteria should a role model of Saudi women have?
In my personal opinion I believe a role model of women in Saudi Arabia should be able to easily cross the divide between East and West towards fostering understanding and know how to present messages that are acceptable and understandable to both sides. This may come as a surprise, but I also believe that a woman who does choose to wear the hijjab (at least) presents a better image of Saudi Arabia than a woman who chooses to go completely uncovered. Why, you ask? Because in order to be a role model for Saudi Arabia one must have also obtained the respect, support and endorsement of those within the Kingdom first before seeking the same from outside. Since the majority of women in Saudi Arabia fully cover their faces, in my view a reasonable compromise would be a role model who wears a hijjab since we know facial expressions can also add much to communications.
A role model for Saudi women should also demonstrate her love, respect and loyalty to her family. She also is an independent woman in that she has demonstrated she can make her own decisions and choices. She is educated and knows the history of her religion, her country and its people. She feels comfortable in being able to address any query that may be posed to her about Saudi women and their traditions and cultures.
As I started this post, I remarked that when doing searches on prominent Saudi women (and not those within the Royal family) certain names appear more than others. I’m including them below with links which provide additional information about them and their backgrounds.
Wajeha al-Huwaider is a Saudi female activist from the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. She is not afraid to speak out on issues she believes deserve global attention and need change. She made international news last year during the anniversary of when the Saudi women took to the streets during the first Gulf War by making a video of herself driving in an isolated area as she speaks promoting womens rights and driving in Saudi Arabia.
Muna Abu Suliyman is the Executive Director of the Kingdom Foundation. In addition to this prestigious position she also is a media personality, UN Goodwill Ambassador and Young Global Leader. She has a full schedule as well as being an active single parent.
Madehja Alajroush is a multi-faceted and talented Saudi female. She is a proponent for womens rights, businesswoman, professional photographer and psychotherapist. She also gained notoriety as being one of the women who dared to drive on the streets of Riyadh in 1991.
Rajaa al-Sanie gained instant global recognition with the publication of her first novel “The Girls of Riyadh” where she breaks the taboo of silence and writes how girls and guys meet up in the conservative Kingdom. Although this book and its characters are a work of fiction it is in fact based on facts of how members of the opposite sex can meet up and engage in relationships. Rajaa is usually viewed either as a hero for speaking out and writing on the controversial subject of dating and relationships or she is veiwed with disdain as promoting anti-Islamic practices.
Heba Fatani is the Corporate Communications Director of Kingdom Holdings. This is a position of high responsibility and challenge which requires one to be articulate, poised and able to work under pressure.
I would like to see this post as a work in progress where the names I have cited only touch the tip of the iceberg of women who serve as role models for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I wish to see your own nominations and why. As well as discusses the pros, cons and merits of the women who I have cited in this post.
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Jowhara Al-Angari: she is the cofounder of the National Society for Human Rights in Jeddah (NSHR) I remember reading some months back an article in Arabnews about her (I guess it was written by Sara Abdullah) I’ll search for the article inshallah when I get back. Other names come to mind; I’ll jot them down later .. I gotta run, I have a class after a few mins.
Salam
Thanks Khalid and I will look forward to a link to an article about Jowhara if you can find it.
Hayat Sindi is my Saudi role model. She’s a well known Harvard scholar.
I can e-mail you a bried biography that i wrote on Sindi, if you are interested in knowing more about her.
Thanks for the great post!
There’s also Dr. Salwa Al Hazza and Lubna Al Olayan.
@ Carol- “since we know facial expressions can also add much to communications”
I wrote about this a while back when there was an article by a Saudi woman equating the niqab (face veil) to limitations communication was one of her claims. And I totally disagree.
I strongly object to the image that unveiling = success
In a society where the vast majority do veil and those who seek to limit the progress of women do so largely on the idea that women must unveil to suceed it is an extremely important factor that we choose to view veiling women as role models as well.
Pointing to successful women who do not veil as the success stories will only keep women from moving forward due to the fears of society. For me, point to women, every day women, who succeed in their choices (and it doesn’t have to be working women) and still veil, who really do look like the vast majority of saudi women.
Eventually veiling or not veiling won’t be an issue, but I hardly think Saudi is at that point yet.
I believe Muna is married now …
Kudos to Muna!
If I may suggest, I would replace Hatoon al-Fassi instead of Rajaa al-Sanie. Popular trash cannot be mistaken for quality or even cultured read. Trash is trash, whatever the setting may be, and chick-lit is, just that.
I second Nzingha’s opinion. I would be ashamed to identify my citizenship, femininity, freedom and fight for equal rights to the ability to date. Or write about such trivialities.
On the contrary, a sample of Hatoon al-Fassi’s writing here speaks for itself.
Here is the Arabnews link about Jowhara:
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=15§ion=0&article=94117&d=25&m=3&y=2007
Yay, I wanted to mention both since they popped up while reading the post. Hayat Sindi, if I still recall, is the only woman on the world majoring in biotechnology. She graduated from a high-school in KSA. She is indeed an inspiration for both men and women in KSA (in the world too). Maybe, Houstonian could tell us more.
Dr. Salwa Al Hazza is the head of the ophthalmology department at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh. (yeah, that’s true
Saudi doctors are working under the supervision of a woman.
Can someone remind me, I cannot remember from the top of my head at the moment , her name is … Al-Tuwairqi. She’s very popular.
Wearing the niqab or not does not measure success. I would like to include Buthayna Al Nassr who is the first female news anchor in Saudi. She now presents a talk show on Al Hurra channel which tackle female and social issues. I am a fan of her.
Everyone — thank you so much for the great comments and I’m happy to learn about so many inspirational Saudi women.
Shadow Whisper – stay tuned… Muna allowed me to interview her and more about her and her life will be coming up!
I was impressed by all the women daring to drive in 1991, I remeber sitting with my father on the couch and seeing the footage.
I am very impressed by Muna Abu Suliyman, I saw her in a Dutch documantary on the television prgram she co-hosts, and i recently read an interview. I think she is a role model for all women on the planet, coping with many difficulties, achieving excellence and success in so many different fields, and bringing up her children singlehandidly.
I agree that a Saudi lady role model should defenitely wear hijab. You cannot be a rolemodel if you antagonise so many people. notorious yes, helpful, no.
Besides, why should taking off the hijab equal ”succes” or ”freedom”? It had nothing to do with it.
I am always irritated with people who think they are useful and making a valuable contribution by being ”anarchistic” or ”confrontational” You achieve nothing that way.
wonderful article – am happy to know that there are women activists too
though, i dont know much about them, my vote is for
i) Muna Abu Suliyman – she is young, has leadership quality, single parent (this means, she knows what is life – she might have suffered a lot at this young age)
ii) wajeha – as per the video and your narration, she is quite outspoken – can subdue those who create atrocities
your wishes would surely become true
afterall, change is the rule of the world
There truly are so many women who are shall we say “silent rolemodels” who may not be outspoken in their activities but at the same time represent Saudi Arabia and its women so well. Working in a Saudi institution I see so many of these women whose names would not be recognized like the ones in my post yet one can learn so much from them about Saudi Arabia and being a Saudi woman.
I have to wonder about how representitive these people are of wider Saudi society?
Muna Abu Suliyman, having worked very closely with Walid bin Talal, is a good example of where ties, wealth and position will get you. She was a leading executive of part of his billion dollar entities.
Which of the women you mention came to their position, or stature, and do not also come from money, wealth, connections and tribal position?
Are any of them from the lower class and not connected with no money?
This kind of reminds me about the whole council issue that supporters of the Saudi establishment point to when they talk about progress on the political front. They fail to point out that all of these councils and groups are populated with members of the royal family, their supporters and those who rely on them for their livelyhood. That is not progress.
To me a sign of real progress will be when you can point to a group of women with stature, who have made it, and we can honestly say that they did it on their own without wasta, reshwa and tribal connections. Saudi is still a country where those from the bottom rungs of society have little or no chance.
Khalid,
You write Hayat Sindi “is the only woman on the world majoring in biotechnology.”
Not to diminish her accomplishments, but I work in an organisation with dozens and dozens of women with PhDs in Biotechnology. She is not the only woman in the world majoring in this subject, but the fact that she is doing it at all makes her a good role model from Saudis.
this interview has english subtexts too
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=6CI_X5iyFD0
Saudi Women’s Rights Activist Wajiha Al-Huweidar
this video has english text too
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=6CI_X5iyFD0
Abu Sinan–you make some excellent points. My own appreciation of these women who achieve at least in part through connections, is that they still prove (unless they are truly just figureheads) that gender is not the issue, rather training and opportunity. Similar lists exist elsewhere, eg. Morocco where initially all the “top Moroccan women in business” inherited their positions, but nonetheless were succeeding internationally. They pave the way for other women to perceive themselves as gender competent, and eventually society evolves to include the unconnected by birth.
Also, as has been pointed out, many women professionals, activitists and others are role models without receiving media attention. The media may well be more biased than society in general toward the well connected, and the media types themselves.
Still at some point they say something about gender competence and accomplishment.
Thanks for bringing this aspect to the fore.
Abu Sinan – I think you are being a little quick and perhaps judging too harshly here. I personally know several of the women cited and can say with no hesitation that they have made themselves and therefore it is not surprising to see that they are in the positions which they now hold today. These women are not mere figureheads and would not be where they are if they have not proven their competence and intelligence.
How about doing a annual list ala Oscars where women who have made strides in various fields get featured on your blog?
Not only you highlight to the whole world that Saudi women aren’t oppressed as what many would think but also provide a source of inspiration to many other women that they too, can achieve success in a men-dominated world.
Firdaus, that’s a great idea!
As for Ms. AbuSulayman … step back, let a woman do some good. Obviously the plight of women on a non-celebrity role are doing enough to be noticed. Sometimes it’s the work, not the recognition.
Allah knows how much work and effort both women and men have put in behind the scenes.
It’s moving ahead … keep it going … shway shway, but not too much shway shway … and sometimes not alway “bukra insha’allah” …
It’ll happen, it’ll get there, keep workin it.
Firdaus – thank you! I do like that idea very much.
Susan – with all due respect you may change your perspective of Ms. AbuSulyman after you read an upcoming interview. I greatly admire and respect all that she has accomplished and believe she is indeed a stellar role model for KSA.
ps. I’d be happy to put that list on my site too, as I’m sure many others here would be pleased to do.
http://www.annakhal.org
Susan@annakhal.org
Carol, I think you may mistake my statement. I’ve no issue with what she’s doing.
Then I stand corrected, Susan.
I didnt make judgements, I asked a question. I dont know almost anyone on your list other than Muna Abu Sulayman.
I think Chiara has a point in that, initially, it will have to be the women who have connections and wealth to make the roads for others to follow.
However, the real test will be the ability of ANY Saudi woman to be successful no matter her background and resources.
Considering that the issue is still a really valid one for Saudi men, there is still a long way to go for the women.
Abu Sinan, I for one understand. It’s difficult being deep in the mud knocking it out day by day, being a single parent, with no other source of income other than what you personally bring in to the house.
There are other success stories … to an infinite degree, but sometimes it does take the recognition of those who can do something about it – cast a wider voice, as it were – to jump into the fray with a greater splash … .
However circumstances have brought the women whom many of us recognize as being standard-bearers of this hope of women (and many men I might add) is at times secondary to the work at hand.
If that list gets together as Firdaus suggested … I would be more than happy, as I’m sure others here would be to put it up on my website.
In fact it would be my honor to do something like this not only for Saudi women, but for Muslim women in general, who I know to be *quite* strong.
website is : annakhal dot org
email is: susan at annakhal dot org
Susan,
I am not sure what you are talking about? I dont think any of the women presented have ever been a single parent trying to make it with out sources of income. Muna Abu Sulayman might have been a single parent, but she certainly was never without connections or help.
My wife, a Saudi, would be a better example. She was a single mother for 12 years with no help from the father’s family and had nothing but what she made for herself. Being in the USA and having little connection with her Saudi family she was still able to support her children and get her degree.
That is my point. Where is the Saudi “Oprah”? Where is the Saudi woman from the slums, dirt poor, who made it to the top by herself? For that matter, I’d like to see the Saudi man who has done the same.
The “boot straps” story I am most regularly pointed to is Walid bin Talal, but that falls flat when you recognise the man is a member of the royal family, got loans from his father, and has certainly used his position within the royal family to his advantage.
Sorry, but I always support the little guy (or gal in this case) and Saudi still isnt a place where one can have a hope of making it if they dont have connections, wealth and family. There might be the odd exception, but it is the very expceptions that prove the point.
“I don’t know almost anyone on your list other than Muna Abu Sulayman”
I do hope that people don’t rush and give judgment or opinion for anything when they just know little. One drop from the Pacific ocean represent nothing but a drop; an ocean is never a drop. I do call such type of judgment (pre-packaged); bunch of words that are available even before a topic is raised.
@AbuSinan, I thought I was mistaken, so I had to google a bit to correct the wrong info I gave here. However, I found out that indeed Hayat Sindi is a pioneer, and she is the only woman in HER field.
Please check:
http://anaanaas.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!90E3A8CC288D153A!876.entry
This is a must read for everyone. By the way, she wasn’t rich and her father couldn’t even pay for her to study abroad.
Now, I wish I can be smart like Hayat , and that I can achieve at least a few of her accomplishments (of course in my field
I don’t want to study physics 
).
Quite true, I’d not use Walid bin Talal as an example. His father helpped him, and not everyone will have this pleverege. Oh, sorry AmericanBedu I’m going off topic here. The topic is about Saudi women , so I appologize for changing the topic. I’m back to track now
Such an inspiring topic. Some further thoughts:
The magazine “Citadine” in combination with the “Khmissa” event on the annual “International Women’s Day” names by committee 5 “Moroccan Women of the Year”, one each in the categories of Human Rights, Social Action and Development, Enterprise/ Business, Media and Communication, and Art and Culture.
The biographies of these women make it clear that while some had connections, all were educated, worked hard, and became successful in their own right in their respective fields–one woman becoming a Human Rights lawyer when she could have simply stepped into the renowned family business.
I also know another one personally, and she made her connections and her success primarily through hard work and strategic career choices.
These categories could perhaps serve as a model for a similar Saudi event here on American Bedu’s blog, or in the broader society.
A number of women’s magazines also herald the achievements of Arab/Muslim women and offer them as role models to others. “Femmes du Maroc” is one.
(Sorry, these examples are all Moroccan but they are a starting point.) It is good for girls and young women to see the possibities for themselves, not only among their social circle, but beyond, and this type of role model and recognition is a great starting point for anyone who is being told they cannot be a whatever because of gender.
Fatema Mernissi, an internationally recognized Moroccan feminist sociologist, has written about her rise based on motivation from her harem-bound grandmother, public education, and government scholarships.
(Sorry, these examples are all Moroccan but they are a starting point.)
Oprah is truly exceptional in a variety of ways, and is not typical of the American success story, which despite a cultural fondness for “Horatio Alger stories” usually is a more modest story of publicly funded education, hard work, family support, and upward mobility within a social class, or up one social category.
The majority unheralded women are still role models to their family members,and professional, and social circles.
Oh, my God!I really shouldn’t comment when I’m working on other things. Here is the comment again:
Quite true, I’d not use Walid bin Talal as an example. His father helped him, and not everyone will have this privilege. Oh, sorry AmericanBedu I’m going off topic here. The topic is about Saudi women , so I apologize for changing the topic. I’m back to track now
Now, off to work
Khalid,
If she is in Biotechnology, as you state, then she is not the only woman in her field. Why do you continue to state that?
As a matter of fact, please see the link below. It is an organisation for women in the biotech industry.
http://www.womeninbiotech.org/
Over bloated claims do nothing to help anyone.
A quick search of US Patent records shows that she does not hold a patent for anything, rather she is in the process of trying to get one invention patented.
It might interest you to know that the area that will decide whether or not her invention is patented contains many females.
She is one of many females in the field. She could be the first SAUDI woman in the field, but far from the only woman in the field.
A great article on Hayat Sindi , including the sexist obstacles she overcame in Saudi, at Cambridge, and in the US, and her especially admirable establishment of a not- for- profit company DFA (licences go through Harvard University–? reason for absent patents) that creates and distributes diagnostic medical kits to third world countries.
http://www.america.gov/st/health-english/2008/December/20081222160257adkcilerog7.287234e-02.html
and the linked
http://www.america.gov/st/health-english/2008/December/20081212104708adkcilerog0.2239496.html
about DFA
Also good news from the government and KACST Riyadh for Saudi women wanting to follow in her footsteps:
Saudi Arabia to Build Separate Women’s Science Center [" for nanotechnology, biotechnology and information technology research ' as part of the government’s drive to empower women' "]
http://www.photonics.com/Content/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=27639
Proof positive there is “a brain under the scarf” as Muslim women in the West like to point out!
Sorry, the first link about Hayat Sindi above should be:
Saudi Arabian Scientist Works to Empower Women
Founds nonprofit company to develop medical tests for developing world
http://www.america.gov/st/health-english/2008/December/20081224125138adkcilerog0.590542.html
Both the other links above are interesting, and focussed on the company DFA.
I’m with the commenters who note that–as a woman, it is critical to start in a decent position. The farther you are from wealth and position to begin with, the harder you have to work to achieve anything. This is far worse for women than for men, who start with an extra strike against them. Sadly this is still true in western worlds too, so it’s that much the more so in Saudi circles, I can only imagine. Women have to work twice as hard and prove themselves twice as much to get anywhere in what is still a male-driven world, be it politics, science or business.
Abu Sinan, I support humanity, which at times includes those with whom some may have contention. I don’t look at one at the expense of the other.
As an example and brief description of my situation:
I myself am poor … I live very simply … I live paycheck to paycheck … I’m building, it’s not easy, because I don’t make much … working on it and am grateful for the little I do have. I’m a little bit stuck, but I’m working. Alhamdulilah.
I identify with your wife’s story, as many others do. I too am a single parent. My ex left when my daughter was 7 months old, just walked out – succumbing to his mother’s pressure for not marrying an Armenian.
Through my previous savings and bonds and moving to my mother’s, I was able to stay home with my daughter until she was 3 years old. During that time, I went back to school to better prepare myself for being able to be our sole source of support.
I could sit in the kitchen and commiserate with friends over that trifflin guy… but that would accomplish nothing except misery. (there would be misery over some idiot later, but that’s another story). I knew what was coming, I knew his mother’s influence on him and had “prepared myself”. I was a young mother with a beautiful daughter to raise. It was my reality.
I did what I could with what I had, still do, we all do. I place more value in sincere friendship than I do money. Comes and goes …
How we help each other through is more important to me than all the protocol driven events and ceremonies the world could amass. But, they do serve a purpose and can and do indeed help draw attention to societal imbalances.
The wealthy owe me nothing. I can’t sit, do nothing and say give to me because you are rich. I can’t … it makes me feel miserable, unhappy … not good for me.
It takes a lot of courage to live life to its fullest, there’s a certain amount of risk taking, challenging … I also recognize that even the great and wealthy came from very obscure beginnings, they developed “connections” — built relationships, bartered, traded, built it up … why can’t I? Why can’t we?
Why is there a need for a Saudi Oprah? The woman in the slums, dirt poor exists, only to be sought out, why let her sit there destitute whilst becoming overly preoccupied with the argument of the Saudi royal family and their “antics” versus the poor who need care. Act … help each other … why wait for permission? I always waited for permission … for everything … times are changing.
We’ve all connections in one way or the other, and if we don’t, we build them and relationships (some are more gifted in tearing them down. lol), We do the best we can with what we have and don’t worry that someone will talk you. They’ll talk about you anyway, so what.
Case in point is this exchange!
People will want to label you, put you in a box, tuck you away … nice, neat, orderly … take you out from time to time, play with you, shove you back in, and you peep through the lid … “Wait a minute! is it my turn?”
“No, get back in there! ”
Eventually, you push, struggle, kick, punch … just do it in the best way. I’m not waiting for someone to give me permission. Sit in my path and I’m going to find a way to go over you, around you, thru you if I have to … God knows I’m not exactly the poster child of perfection … I just keep getting back up any time I get kicked in the face … and learn not to let them do it again. Will see how that goes!
I may not be greatly familiar with the way it works in country x or in country y … but I do know a little bit of how it works in history, not much, just a little. I’ve also seen example after example of the human spirit’s will to succeed.
There is example after example of how one man or one woman walked forth, found those like-minded and effected a positive change in the world.
Life’s not easy. Sometimes by the cut of the cards, some have more and some less.
It’s said the pens are lifted and the pages are dry … but there is prayer and good effective work.
I’ve learned that for some it comes easily, for others not. Some will ascend with grace, some will ascend with an ugliness in their hearts.
I can’t be about that. Worrying why the purse strings don’t open and the poverty of the world erased, so easily.
My thought is, recession? Print more money! Put it out there. It’ll wreck the economy? The economy is a wreck anyway, make people happy … let them have what they need. No one should be in poverty …
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be the way it works … we just get through it the best we can, working toward.
If someone has something I don’t … it’s all good. I’ll get there … and if you smoke my dollar bill … never you mind, skippy, I’ll get it back.
Regardless of what some may perceive as “questionable connections” if someone – in this case, Abu Sulayman, steps forward and can become or draw attention to a resolution of societal injustices, imbalances, in a positive way through being an example …. so what?
Afterwhich, we may well find that woman in the slums, dirt poor, and raise her up. Our collective consciousness may be heightened as a result of maybe someone in “power” is finally listening and we may act more effectively to help our fellow human. Our compassion for social justice may work more efficiently.
This woman, I don’t care if she’s an associate of a Saudi prince … I have no issue with that. Are we going to sit and say “she’s not the right one. I don’t like her connections.” and then complain after her dismissal about “how come nobody comes to help?”
What? His money’s not clean? What money is? Minimum wage?
That’s my bootstraps soapbox rant – I’ve really rattled on enough!
You see now how brevity an issue for me too.
Is KACST affiliated with KAUST?
From
http://www.kacst.edu.sa/default.aspx
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) is an independent scientific organization administratively reporting to the Prime Minister. KACST is both the Saudi Arabian national science agency and its national laboratories. The science agency function involves science and technology policy making, data collection, funding of external research, and services such as the patent office.
With all due respect Carol, Abu Sinan was NOT too quick to judge. These women most certainly DO come from well known families in the kingdom and families with many many connections. If there is one woman who happens to be successful in Saudi, in the meaning of successful like “media” success, then that woman is probably one in a million.
So, I don’t know who are you really trying to convince otherwise but it would seem rather difficult to convince a Saudi who knows the families you have mentioned, even if NOT directly.
The reality of the matter Carol, if I may be so blunt, is that if you do come from a rich background where either mommy or daddy or both have money and connections, chances are you are going to be successful in Saudi Arabia. Not necessarily as popular as these women where media is involved but popular enough where you are able to voice your needs, get them met and get them heard.
Let’s look at the woman who dared to drive. I am sorry but had it been a woman from an unknown not so “connected” family, she would probably still be rotting in jail. The woman who you praise as being an “active” single parent. Lucky for her, I am sure with the two or three maids/nannies and all the money she’s got, she is able to be such an “active” parent.
I am not trying to be rude here or even get into this debate or start an argument but I have always wondered when is Saudi going to regard the not so fortunate and give them what they deserve based on their earned merits and not based on their birth??? And when are you going to post more about such people??? Maybe you should give them a voice?
Actually, thank you for this post because it struck something in me to write a post on my blog about connections and the like, in Saudi. You are more than welcome to go and read it…………take care!
http://www.majlismanal.blogspot.com
Chiara,
I have been in the IP business for over seven years. Patents and patent applications are searchable by inventor name. You are talking about assignee information which is different. Her one pending patent application, for instance, has an assignee, yet one is able to find and view the entire application online because she is listed as the inventor.
All this means is that the patent doesnt belong to her. It is a very common occurance. Most engineers and scientists sign agreements that any invention found whilst working for them becomes the property of the company or institution. It means they dont usually get the money involved if the invention is patented, but it also means they dont have to pay for the expensive prosecution of the application.
Anyway, Sindi is the exception that proves the rule. She is doing good stuff, but women like her, seemingly without connections, are really rare in Saudi.
I read some of the articles about her and some have glaring inaccuracies, like one that claimed the Saudi women could not get scholarships to study abroad. My oldest SIL got her Bachelors and Masters on the scholarship studying abroad, my wife got her Bachelors on it and another SIL got her Bachelors on it and is doing her Masters on it.
What needs to happen in Saudi is for society to evolve to where it is common for a person to go from “rags to riches” as it were and become successful. What this women is doing is great, but it should be common places that a person, a woman, be able to do whatever they want. It shouldnt be a news worthy event.
In Saudi, it is sad to say, that connections and wealth still trump plain old hard work and ambitition.
AbuSinan and Manal, I find what you have written (and I’ve heard it from others too) very depressing.
I still think that women achieving different goals, however privileged they are, will still install inspiration into others. Which is what role models do.
And as far as the shocking attempt at driving goes, Perhaps it’s better to be attempted by those who are well-connected, as they can’t so easily be made to dissappear in some jail. Perhaps we should also consider the fact that those ladies at least dared to stand up and risk something. I understand there were quite serious repercussions for the ladies and their husbands as well.
Abu Sinan–thank you for the information about patents, a domain about which I claim near total ignorance (only that the grant applications I am involved with make it clear that any research results/patents are the intellectual property of the university) –hence the query (?) in my comment.
I don’t believe that was the main point though, only that, like the others American Bedu mentioned in her post, Dr Sindi is a leader in her field and a role model for Saudi women (in her case she deliberately seeks to empower younger women); and, a theme you added as a secondary one to that of the post, that she comes from a modest family, proving that success can be achieved with self-belief, determination, family support, and government grants (her list of what helped her to succeed, and that she lectures on to the benefit of other women).
As you know from your reading she is credited with a number of firsts including, from:
http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:vIEuMNitA54J:www.wrmea.com/backissues/0699/9906038.html+%22hayat+sindi%22+scholarship&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=ca
“Sindi, the first Arab woman to win a scholarship from Cambridge University in England to pursue a doctoral program in biotechnology…”
Her exceptional success, rather than her modest background is what seems to make her conference worthy, and news worthy.
You and I seem to be in agreement on the need for expanded opportunities across the social classes, and
that for now it seems the better connected need to lead the way to increase opportunities for others.
I do know alot of highly connected people in a variety of countries, and at some point they all have to “earn their keep” by their own talents and work if they are to continue on to places like Harvard, and to achieve real success in their fields.
Even a foreign medical grad who got his degree because of his powerful family, who ensured that he finally passed, after repeated tries not accorded to others–at least he passed eventually and wasn’t just gifted with the degree– will not receive the same favours during his specialty training here, and so will be safe to release onto the unsuspecting public in whichever country he chooses to practice.
Or a Canadian student, who only got a Masters degree because her academically powerful father bullied a collection of academics into giving her extra help and opportunities, was redirected out of further graduate studies as being beyond her capabilities.
Returning to Saudi and the post, you might be interested in the article ISLAM, ISLAMIC WORLD AND GENDER JUSTICE November, 2004
by Asghar Ali (Engineer)
.php%3Farticle%3D2004/november.htm+%22hayat+sindi%22+scholarship&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=ca
on the history of female scholarship in Islam and the contemporary picture which needs to be more Islamic in education ie more gender equal, including references to Hayat Sindi and Dr Fawziah Bakr Al-Bakr ( another potential candidate for American Bedu’s list?).
Or in the slide presentation on Gulf Arab women and Science and Technology, about the current situation and future directions which also lists Hayat Sindi (among other women) as one of the successful Gulf scientists (more candidates for American Bedu’s list?)
http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:4ndbnEzruCUJ:www.myplick.com/view/7dVe71fvJNC/0201kuwait-presentation-si+%22hayat+sindi%22+scholarship&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=15&gl=ca
Sorry for the “Islam, Islamic world and gender justice” article try :
http://www.csss-isla.com/IIS/archive/archive.php?article=2004/november.htm
There’s this also re: breaking through the glass ceiling
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/544435-ladies-who-launch
I think instead of pointing fingers and saying “this woman achieved success or recognition BECAUSE of her family and connections” is to instead focus on the women and their accomplishments and the issue…are they presenting favorable faces and examples as role models of Saudi Arabia to the world? The “average Saudi woman” is less likely to speak English and may not want the global recognition. However I get tired of hearing how Saudi is always so portrayed in the global media as a repressed backwards country and particularly where its women are concerned. There are women who stand out and shine.
I agree with whoever commented that those who are trailblazers and those who ‘dared to drive’ did need those connections but at least they are paving the way for others who may not have the same level of connections to follow in their footsteps.
I’d love to interview an average woman but these are the ones less likely to be willing to talk at this time.
American Bedu–absolutely in agreement with your comment. Trailblazers are just that, not “average”, whatever their background; and this topic is an important counterbalance to the standard presentation of Saudi/Arab women, and part of the excellent balance on your blog. I for one learned about alot of interesting women (in the various categories of Saudi, Arab, Muslim, female) their activities, and the Saudi/Gulf government and academic efforts to foster higher education and higher social achievement for Saudi/ Gulf women thanks to this post. Not what one normally reads about Saudi.
Salam AlyKom
Excuse me if I was a negative person, but why there were no veiled women who made a remarkable change or help to change some Ideas or stereotype comments
let get realistic if they were veiled they weren’t appear at least on this article LOL
peace up
Salam Alaikum Abu Abdullah,
I have no qualms in recognizing any Saudi woman who is viewed as role model veiled or unveiled. I identified the women whom I was aware and who kept coming up when one does internet searches. As I stated in the article, I want even more women to be recognized. Please, add your contributions to the list.
And I guess the question is, does it truly matter if they are veiled or not? I do not judge ones actions by whether or not they wear a veil.
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