Real Women Drive Cars

When I was about four years old, I used to live in Saudi Arabia. I remember that my childhood was great in Saudi Arabia and I met many great people that I am still in touch with today. I had a lot of great memories in Saudi Arabia simply because it is a very nice place with very nice people. However, with every positive there always comes a negative. I remember seeing my mother's rights taken away from her. I remember at every family outing or any outing for that matter, she had to be covered from head to toe. She had to wear a long black abaya (a long robe like dress) and a hijab (head scarf) not because she wanted to, but because she had to. I also  remember not being able to go out until my dad came home from work, because by law, women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia. 

Earlier this year, a Saudi Arabian woman's rights activist by the name of Manal al-Sharif started a women's right-to-drive campaign and defied this law and drove her car in the city of Khobar. She videotaped herself driving and put it on both youtube and facebook. On May 21, 2011 she was detained and was arrested the following day. She spent nine days in prison simply because she is a woman and she drove her car. Manal encouraged women accross Saudi Arabia to drive their cars on June 17, 2011 in the hopes of encouraging this movement and giving women their right to drive. This is not the first attempt for this campaign. In 1990, a group of women protested their right to drive arguing that women should have the freedom to go to the store or drive to work. This same group of women were also cheered on as 'whores' and most of them were banned from travelling for one year as a punishment for their behavior. 

I would expect this kind of law in the stone age when women didn't have rights. However to this day, women are still treated as property and as second class citizens in Saudi Arabia. These laws just don't make any sense to me, how can someone live in a country knowing that they are forced to dress and act a certain way? or that they are someone's property? or that their freedom and their rights are taken away simply because of what is between their legs? 

Women are beautiful people and need to be recognized for their beauty and treated with respect and dignity. Don't get me wrong, I love Saudi Arabia very much because most of my childhood was there and I grew up there, I just wish that their laws be revised and that women all around the world are given universal human rights. 

My message to Manal al-Sharif and all Saudi Women drivers: Fight for your rights and build a better tomorrow for future generations. Don't ask for permission to drive. JUST DRIVE! It is your human right and you are human. You are equal to man whether they like it or not! Driving is not a crime!

                         Women's rights are human rights!