Judgement of the East by the West

Crowned Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia is being criticised for the sweeping statement he made on his recent visit to the United States. He was asked whether women and men are equal, to which he replied “Absolutely. We are all human beings and there is no difference.” The response of the press to this statement has been largely negative, calling the Prince’s new policies a “Remote Controlled Reform”. Despite his efforts, Salman is unable to convince the progressive West of his good intentions to expand the rights of women in the Middle East. While I myself believe that genders should be equally free, and that the oppression of women in the Middle East is somewhat medieval, I cannot help but think that the response to the new policies of Saudi Arabia is too brash. We cannot expect Saudi Arabia to become liberalised over night.

To us in the West, this may all seem ridiculous. The idea that a woman needs to be granted a “right” to dress how she pleases is unnecessary. In a country which is so progressed that the “Free the Nipple” movement has run rampid, we simply cannot understand the conservative ideals of past leaders of the Middle East. Because of this, we are also unable to appreciate the change that Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s policies demonstrate.

The Global Gender Gap Report of 2017 stated that “the region continues to rank last globally on the overall Index, behind South Asia”. This gap is measured in economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment, and Middle Eastern gender equality falls short in all of these areas. But let’s not forget that even showing the top of your head was grounds for an arrest just over a year ago in Saudi, and is no longer a punishable crime due to changes in the law. Mohammed successfully stripped the “religious police” of their powers so that they can no longer make arrests of women based on their attire.

After an interview of the Prince, Graham Messick (the producer of 60 Minutes Overtime) spoke about Bin Salman’s pleasant surprises: “He said a lot of things that surprised us. What I think was most amazing was to hear a Saudi leader talk so specifically about what women can wear, and what Islamic law actually says.” Mohammed bases his beliefs on religious grounds, showing that he is not abandoning his faith, but using it to change laws with traditional legitimacy. In his interview, the Prince explained his views in terms of Sharia law: "The laws are very clear and stipulated in the laws of Sharia: that women wear decent, respectful clothing, like men," Crown Prince Mohammed said. "This, however, does not particularly specify a black abaya or black head cover. The decision is entirely left for women to decide what type of decent and respectful attire she chooses to wear."

Want to add a caption to this image? Click the Settings icon. I think Messick’s positivity is the right approach. Sure, the Middle East doesn’t have a female leader. It hasn’t had women’s marches like we’ve seen here in America. Girls aren’t walking around in Calvin Klein cut-offs and bedazzled bralettes - thank God, quite frankly, because it’s so overdone. We want everyone to be like us. The world is a big place and to criticise progression for its lack of speed is disrespectful and downright ignorant. However, with the introduction of laws to protect women’s rights, slowly we will watch attitudes shift to accommodate the freedom of women.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/18/world/middleeast/mohammed-bin-salman-saudi-arabia-60-minutes.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FWomen%27s%20Rights&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=collection