Feminism Twitter

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Feminism in Saudi Twitter

The use of twitter for communication has become rampant in many nations and for quite

some times now, women in Saudi Arabia have also embraced its use to communicate. These

women have been made to accept the state of thing in their county, where they are held

responsible for other people’s choices, as well as their own decisions. The case has, however,

been different since the rise of Saudi Arabia feminists who are vehemently opposed to the

patriarchal Arab system. These women have taken advantage of the uncensored twitter to push

for various social issues including the permission to obtain a driving license and to drive. Twitter

is what Maestri and Profanter refer to as a feminized public sphere where these women speak to

each other and express their views without worrying about their reputation (xi). According to

Maestri and Profanter, “to the Saudis, twitter is not only a social network but rather a gateway to

a democratic community” (xi). It provides that virtual platform where they discuss their issues.

This paper will, therefore, provide a comprehensive insight into Feminism of Saudi twitter.

First and foremost, various women and rights groups have used Twitter to campaign for

the right to drive in Saudi. Some women have even been arrested for defying this policy, which

compelled them not to stay behind the wheel. A very relevant case can be demonstrated by the

female activist who filmed her arrest for driving. Lujain Al-Hathlool captured herself in a video

driving in the United Arab Emirates with the aim of crossing back into her country (Almahmoud,

3). She did this as part of the protest to the ban on female drivers in Saudi, which began on 26th

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October 2014(Saudi Woman Driving Blog 'Arrest’, 1). On arriving at the border, Lujain was

stopped by the customs officer and was stripped off passports without any official

communication (Almahmoud, 3). After her arrest, an Arabic hashtag was run on Twitter to

provide support to the women’s right to drive. Before that incident, a group of 1500 women had

also submitted a petition in pursuit of the right to drive. In 1990, other women, including

professors also launched serious campaigns against the ban of women driving (Alhazza, 242).

These women decided to get into a convoy and drove through the Saudi’s capital. In the end,

their passports were confiscated, and some were demoted from their jobs as well (Alhazza, 242).

In this struggle, other activists such as Manal al-Sharif were also not left out; she was arrested

driving publicly and posting the same on Twitter on two different occasions. As a result of this

and other collaborative efforts, the government decided to make a positive move of lifting the

ban on women’s right to drive and obtain a license.

The twitter campaign hashtags such as #StopEnslavingSaudiWomen have also elicited

very hot discussions on the freedom of women in the country. For a long time women have been

subjected to live in a society that denies them basic needs, such as joining tertiary institutions,

traveling and getting medical care without the approval of a guardian, who should be a male

family member. Both men and women have given different arguments that resonate with this

matter. In a Twitter post For Saudi Women, it is evident that these women are determined to

deliver a message to the world. The post reads in part “I’m a woman, I refuse to be treated like a

minor, I’m a capable human being, and I deserve to have full control over my life, I demand to

remove the male guardianship law, I demand freedom” (Saudi Woman Driving Blog 'Arrest’, 1).

True to its intention, this hashtag against guardianship has also gained international recognition

with many western countries throwing their weight behind it. Such has been demonstrated by the

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attention given to this matter by the western media like BBC, CNN, and the Wall Street Journal.

Others have also gone to the extent of introducing English-twitter has tags campaigns like

#IAmMyOwnGurdian in support of the troubled women. Consequently, they have successfully

led to the abolition of laws, which required women to seek guardian’s permission to work

outside their homes. With further campaigns from Saudi Feminists, the government might decide

to relax some elements of the male guardianship system further.

While the campaign for Saudi feminism is supported in the west, those who are opposed

to it have used Twitter to propagate their views. These people have tied the campaign to the

international actors, who they claim are out to erode the culture. Also, others claim that the

guardianship is a woman’s right; that it relieves her from financial and family responsibilities.

What’s the next step for the women in Saudi Arabia? With intense campaigns against the

ban on women driving and male guardianship in this country, the government has responded to

the people and the international pressure by harmonizing some of its policies on such issues. The

government has lifted the ban on women driving and also abolished laws that forced women to

seek the guardians’ permission before going to work outside their homes. Through Twitter,

where they fearlessly express their views, the Saudi women are yet to achieve much more.

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Work Cited

"Saudi Woman Driving Blog 'Arrest'." BBC News. N.p., 2018. Web. 3 Jan. 2018.

Alhazza, Hamad. "Social Marginalization Of Women In The Saudi Novel After The Gulf

War In 1990." International Journal of Social Science and Humanity 5.3 (2015):

241-247. Web.

Almahmoud, Jehan. "Framing On Twitter: How Saudi Arabians Intertextually Frame The

Women2drive Campaign." Masters. Georgetown University, 2015. Print.

Maestri, Elena, and Annemarie Profanter. Arab Women And The Media In Changing

Landscapes. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2017. Print.

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