Saudi Arabia to Allow Women Athletes to Compete in 2012 Summer Olympics
The Jeddah Kings United all Female Football (Soccer) Team
When I heard those headlines it not only shocked me, but made my day. I consider Saudi my second home since I actually know it better than I know my country of birth. So I know that the government to agree to do this was no easy decision to come by.
When I think of Saudi the song, “It’s a Man’s World” by James Brown comes to mind. The Kingdom as I like to affectionately call it caters to men: Men drive, most of the job holders are male (imagine having to buy your lingerie exclusively from men!), the government is male dominated, etc, etc. Saudi women are usually covered from head to toe, are not allowed to go anywhere without escorts, and are treated more as property than human.
Don’t get me wrong, Saudi does have it kicks especially if you are there with your family and not to mention how cheap electronics are there. But I mentioned all those negatives to show what a huge monumental step this is for them to allow women to compete this summer. Ok, yes they were receiving a lot of pressure from the Olympic Committee and Human rights organizations saying they were going against the spirit of the Olympic Charter which stood for equality and not to mention the bad public image the government was getting. What with the recent Arab Springs, and the sporadic protests that have been happening around the Kingdom, though the Saudi’s have done their best to keep it out of the international eye, this move in allowing women to participate is a well calculated move.
Though I applaud them on this step and hope this will be just the beginning of better days to come for Wwmen’s rights, if not just basic Human rights!
Gloria Mangi's Blog 
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