Some news today sure to bring a smile to your face: in Saudi Arabia, a virtue cop tried to harass an unmarried couple for being out in public together. The man collapsed, and the woman proceeded to kick the cop’s butt:
It was a scene Saudi women’s rights activists have dreamt of for years.
When a Saudi religious policeman sauntered about an amusement park in the eastern Saudi Arabian city of Al-Mubarraz looking for unmarried couples illegally socializing, he probably wasn’t expecting much opposition.
But when he approached a young, 20-something couple meandering through the park together, he received an unprecedented whooping.
A member of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the Saudi religious police known locally as the Hai’a, asked the couple to confirm their identities and relationship to one another, as it is a crime in Saudi Arabia for unmarried men and women to mix.
For unknown reasons, the young man collapsed upon being questioned by the cop.
According to the Saudi daily Okaz, the woman then allegedly laid into the religious policeman, punching him repeatedly, and leaving him to be taken to the hospital with bruises across his body and face.
To say that this is inspiring to oppressed women in the Middle East is a massive understatement.
“To see resistance from a woman means a lot,” Wajiha Al-Huwaidar, a Saudi women’s rights activist, told The Media Line news agency. “People are fed up with these religious police, and now they have to pay the price for the humiliation they put people through for years and years. This is just the beginning and there will be more resistance.”
Hopefully, Al-Huwaidar is right. Unfortunately, the repercussions for this woman’s actions could be severe, should the police choose to press charges.
Neither the religious police nor the Eastern Province police has made a statement on the incident, and both the names of the couple and the date of the incident have not been made public, but on Monday the incident was all over the Saudi media.
Should the woman be charged, she could face a lengthy prison term and lashings for assaulting a representative of a government institution.
Saudi law does not permit women to be in public spaces without a male guardian. Women are not allowed to drive, inherit, divorce or gain custody of children, and cannot socialize with unrelated men.
Not only did this woman break Saudi law by socializing with an unrelated man, she also assaulted a male police officer. I find it hard to believe that Saudi authorities will let this one go. Supposedly, more women in the Middle East are standing up against the oppression and abuse forced upon them. That’s a wonderful thing, and this woman’s bravery and spirit should be applauded and shouted about around the world. Muslim women need to see that they do not have to tolerate these abuses. I really hope that she doesn’t end up in prison and getting lashings. I highly doubt that the cop just strolled up to her, her male friend spontaneously collapsed, and she then beat the crap out of him. Something had to have happened. And if nothing else, this story just goes to further illuminate the way that women live in Saudi Arabia. It’s awful.
Meanwhile, the feminists are silent about this. For all of their supposed championing of “womens rights”, they seem to have more pressing issues to worry about than real oppression of women in Saudi Arabia. They certainly don’t seem to mind the misogyny and oppression Islam currently perpetuates. Feministing is currently running posts moaning about the lack of women in late night comedy. Feministe’s most recent posts are talking about Miley Cyrus and Woody Allen. Pandagon is discussing immigration and “anti-feminism”. Shakesville reposts a text message conversation about Dana Carvey and complains about so-called racism in the United States.
Ah, our modern-day feminist crusaders. They’re really working hard to liberate oppressed women, aren’t they? Maybe they should take a cue from real feminists like this unnamed women and stop worrying about ridiculous issues like women on late night comedy shows.
Cross-posted at The Green Room.
I R A Darth Aggie says: They’re really working hard to liberate oppressed women, aren’t they?
Yes, so long as they’re oppressed white, upper-middle class women.
Mat says: Most likely the woman got the jump on the cop (and the cop probably did hit the man). The cop clearly wasn’t expecting that. Surprise can be a big factor in a fight. I have a feeling that Saudi cops will be on their guard the next time (assuming there is a next time and yes, I do think there will be some serious repercussions behind the scenes). I don’t think this will change things all that much.
Steve L. says: When we were in Saudi Arabia back during Desert Shield, a mutawa (one of the religious police) was put to death. He saw a woman who he felt had on a skirt that was too short. He smacked her in the back of the legs with his cane. There were a couple of problems. She wasn’t a Saudi; she was the wife of the Turkish ambassador. She was also pregnant. The blow to her legs caused her to trip. When she fell, she miscarried. The determination was that, since he took the life of the baby, he must give up his own life. He was beheaded in a very public spectacle.
Karin says: @Steve L
he should have been beheaded with a blunt axe >_> slow, painful, and could take a few days to cut off his head, most of which he’d be alive.
As for the Saudi Woman, HOW DARE SHE STRIKE A RELIGIOUS COP! D= what kind of upbringing did she have!? Clearly she should learn her place as a woman, it’s not like we should have any rights /sarcasm.
In all seriousness, Kudos to her. The Religious Cop got exactly what he deserved. Granted, They were breaking the law, but is it to much to expect a government official to be polite and formal? no doubt the cop attacked the guy, and was an ass to begin with. Otherwise i doubt the woman would have lashed out.
But that really puts a blow to the ego of the men over there ‘eh? ;P A man got beat down by a little girl -giggles- ^^ even if she had the element of surprise, that’s gotta be pretty degrading when your society oppresses women to an extreme.
as for Feminism, clearly female late night comedy hosts are more important than the rights of women in the middle east being treated as worthless. =/ Feminist practicality has long since died in America, they aren’t needed so they grasp at straws, but now that they could actually be USEFUL, like helping the women in the middle-east, they seem to be stuck on those straws.
I doubt the lack of female late night personalities is from sexism =/ it’s probably lack of enthusiasm from women in general, i liked watching Late Night with Conan O’Brian. And know a lot of girls who like late night comedy, not one would bother going for it though, including 1 girl i know who IS a comedian >.>
so-called racism? says: if you don’t deny that gender oppression exists, why do you doubt racial oppression?
Sarah says: Well everybody apologises for not reading that particular article in that particular paper that day. It’s hardly been big news, even if it should have been, and feminists whom cannot remain hyper aware of everything. This is rich coming from you especially as you basically once called feminists sluts.
Sarah says: also your picture looks totally lame.
Mat says: Sarah,
Feminists rarely comment on events outside the US/West (because we all know that Western men are by far the greatest oppressors of women…like that patriarchy…or something like that). That was the point that Cassy was making. Glad to see you totally missed the target. And BTW, what does Cassy calling feminists “sluts” have anything to do with the topic at hand? Jeez, if you’re going to argue, at least keep it tight. You’re all over the place. Also the picture comment was equally pathetic. Go back to your silly Feministing friends, k?
ConanKong says: Something like this is way overdue. After they locked the little girls in a burning building because their faces weren’t covered, the mangled cacasses of Religous Police should have been found on every street corner.
Viva la feminism says: Actually I did read about this from some feminist sources. I remember it was being tweeted around under the hashtag #feminism or #feminist, which are two that I usually search under when browsing twitter. Unfortunately, this story hasn’t been mentioned around as widely as it should have been, because it is amazing to hear about a woman standing up for herself in such an oppressive environment. However, I think its unfair to call out an entire ideology, the whole purpose of which is fighting for women’s rights across the globe, because a few American/Western-feminist blogs missed one story which was published in a foreign newspaper. The various authors of the blogs aren’t omniscient, they can only comment and further publicize stories they’ve been made aware of, and sometimes it takes awhile before wind of those stories gets back to them. In fairness, I’m sure any number of your critics could call you out on failing to comment on events you’d never heard of too. Furthermore, even though there are terrible things happening all over the world, it doesn’t mean that we should stop fighting the inequalities here in our own back yard. A comprehensive effort is needed.
Maggie Fox says: The right-wing talking point (alluded to in Mat’s comment) that “feminists” never talk about the oppression of women in the Middle East is a flat-out lie. (This talking point, of course, presumes falsely that there is no such thing as a Pakistani or Iranian or Afghan feminist.)
In fact, the Feminist Majority Foundation was for years virtually the only group in America to raise a hue and cry about the Taliban. Before 9/11, the only time you ever heard about the Taliban was when the Feminist Majority Foundation was talking about them. Moreover, the blogs cited in Cassy’s post regularly cover international issues — especially Feministing.
It is also incredibly misguided to suggest that women should never talk about sexism in the U.S. because there is worse elsewhere. I fail to see how domestic sexism is justified by the existence of even worse treatment of women in other countries.
đào trắng says: @mat
-“Feminists rarely comment on events outside the US/West”
+Arguable. I’ve seen at least as much about outside U.S. events in feminist papers as I have seen in conservative papers, and that’s not counting the feminists who actually FOCUS on events outside the U.S., or aren’t located in America.
-“like that patriarchy…or something like that”
+Yes, that’s it! You were right, and you even spelled it correctly! Congratulations!
-“what does Cassy calling feminists “sluts” have anything to do with the topic at hand?”
+Gosh, I really thought this would be rather obvious. She’s claiming to be either a feminist or way better than feminists but… she slut shames? I’m pretty sure Cassy is a shitty feminist, who doesn’t cover feminist issues, including those taking place outside the U.S. (excluding this one time where she politicised it, anyway, in order to take a stab at feminism), so what makes her think she can call out others for simply missing an article in the news?
Viva,
Compared to areas around the world, I think female issues here are pretty silly. It’s hard living in the first world…feminists tend to be drama queens about what happens here and I think Cassy calls it out nicely.
Maggie,
Re-read what I wrote. I never said “never”; I said “rarely.” That’s a big difference, and you seem to be unable to understand the nuances between the two. As for US vs. world, I think there are far worse issues that feminists can turn to regarding the outside world. But I do (sarcastically) realize how awful us patriarchal white males can be at times (rolling eyes).
dao,
“-”Feminists rarely comment on events outside the US/West”
+Arguable. I’ve seen at least as much about outside U.S. events in feminist papers as I have seen in conservative papers, and that’s not counting the feminists who actually FOCUS on events outside the U.S., or aren’t located in America”
Of course it’s arguable. Everything is pretty much arguable. The question is one of substance. Are you arguing because you have a point to make, or are you arguing for the sake of arguing? The American feminist blogs and other media I’ve seen tend to focus on silly issues in this country, rather than more important ones outside. I’ll remember this (and chuckle) next time I peruse Feministing.
“-”like that patriarchy…or something like that”
+Yes, that’s it! You were right, and you even spelled it correctly! Congratulations!”
Aw, isn’t that adorable. You can be sarcastic too. Actually, I was referring to the lack thereof. Is this opposed to some sort of matriarchy which will somehow magically whisk away all of our problems? I’m very doubtful of this. But keep on playing in your fantasyworld.
“-”what does Cassy calling feminists “sluts” have anything to do with the topic at hand?”
+Gosh, I really thought this would be rather obvious.”
I see.
“She’s claiming to be either a feminist or way better than feminists but… she slut shames?”
I don’t think Cassy ever said she was a feminist, but certainly she’s interested in women’s issues (as are most of us). There’s a vast gulf of difference. Again, I don’t see anything regarding to sluttiness in this post.
“I’m pretty sure Cassy is a shitty feminist, who doesn’t cover feminist issues,”
Again, I don’t think Cassy thinks herself as a “feminist,” but I’ll leave her to respond to that.
“including those taking place outside the U.S. (excluding this one time where she politicised it, anyway, in order to take a stab at feminism), so what makes her think she can call out others for simply missing an article in the news?”
Actually, Cassy’s posted a number of times on here regarding outside events. If you’ve bothered to read her blog, you’d know that. However, I do strongly suspect that you (as well as Viva and Maggie) are Feministing trolls who just got all hot and bothered because Jessica told you to be and just had to see what it was all about.
BTW, I think Cassy made her point. Conservatives did see this article. Feminists did not. And they do have a track record of ignoring anything that doesn’t fit into their silly and rather narrow worldview.
BTW, I’m not a feminist and proud of it.
Informed Feminist says: I read about this Saudi woman all day yesterday over at Daily Kos. You must not check there, because this diary ( http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/5/18/71248/4097 ) was up pretty much all day. You can see it generated lots of comments and discussion, and was uprated by the community as a news story of importance. We care about all people, all over the world. Women included. Maybe check there next time.
Informed Feminist says: And BTW, your ‘compassion’ would be a bit more believable if you weren’t so busy throwing a righteous hissy fit about what other people weren’t doing. 1.There’s plenty of sh#t to go around, so the idea is to start shoveling what’s in front of you, and what concerns you and we’ll all meet up eventually. For instance, I have to deal with my father calling me a Feminazi, among other things. Gee, where did he get that from? 2. The blogs you dis are IMHO both excellent, must-read material that offer thoughtful analysis of many issues with no pretensions to complete coverage of all issues you deem relevant for the day. And your critique is completely off the mark, as they routinely cover issues from around the world, plus some great fun stuff too. Sorry, but in this case, Blog Fail.
Mat says: Informed,
“For instance, I have to deal with my father calling me a Feminazi, among other things. Gee, where did he get that from?”
Hmmm…perhaps it could be from your attitude? Let me guess…you mentioned “patriarchy” to him a myriad of times? Yeah, I’d call someone that too if that was the case. I’m sure your dad didn’t suddenly wake up one day and start calling your that. There was a reason; though one you’d not want to admit to.
Smithwick says: So is it now unacceptable to call someone a nazi for having different beliefs? Because I recall 8 years when that was exceedingly popular.
I think maybe you got labeled that for a very good reason. Can’t say for certain, I’m not privy to any of the details. But most of the women labeled that seem to deserve it. You know, screaming and ranting about the patriarchy and “rape culture”. Directing far more bigotry at men than a man ever directed at them, and so on.
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