Shameless

            Saudi Women have bravely faced hardship in the sports life. In a country characterized by gender segregation, women have to confront in a daily basis, the cruel reality of patriarchal society dominance. Though there is pressure on authorities to give women the right to play sports by international organizations such Human Rights Watch and groups of liberal women in the territory, changes are not near to occur due to the great influence exerted by religious groups.

            The remarkable religious influence and extremist or extra conservative ideology, have contributed to deny Saudi women the right to play sports. Officials from religious Islamic groups have condemned women participation in sports, arguing that the excessive movement and jumping involved in football and basketball might cause girls to tear their hymens and lose their virginity.  It is sad to see that such authority figures are reluctant to contemplate a scientific or medical opinion to their argument. Furthermore, the same officials renewed in 2010 a religious edict banning women participation in sports, arguing that such activities will lead to following in the footsteps of evil.  The extremist beliefs of the religious groups have deprived women from their innate rights to participate in sports.  In Saudi Arabia, state schools are barred from teaching physical education.  Female athletes have never attended The Olympics or any international match.  Women are prohibited to attend sport events in stadiums since they are supposed to be reserved for men.   When the Jeddah United, a private women basketball team returned after playing the Jordanian national team in 2009, the newspaper published a picture of them with the headline “Shameless girls.” This type of retaliation is aimed to cause embarrassment for the participants and their families.

            As we learned in class, the patriarchal dominant group has controlled the participation of women in sports, in some countries in a more strict and manipulative way than others but at the end with the same purpose.  Years from now when changes have occurred in Saudi Arabia, authorities will realized that they were the ones who didn’t have shame on their games.

Axel D. Kin338