Hi guys! This is my first blog post in quite a few years, To those of you, who don’t know me, my name is Ulla (which means powerful and prosperous in Danish btw) and I am slowly, but steadily about to reach the age that Taylor Swift has written a song about – 22. I currently live in a smallish town called Aarhus, where I've studied in an international school for most of my life so a huge amount of my friends don't speak Danish aka long story short, I'll be writing this and all my following blog posts in English.
So I read about some of the things that women cannot do in some of the countries in Middle East and here's a list I found online that I'd like to comment on from my personal perspective.
- Women can't drive. Saudi Arabia is the only country (at the moment) banning women from getting behind the wheel. I myself got my drivers licence when I was 17 and in Denmark, we are allowed to drive without any supervision as soon as we turn 18. I live a couple of kilometers from Aarhus and it would be pretty hard for me to get to school and back home afterwards if I couldn't drive a car. There aren't many buses and taking a taxi would be way too expensive. Also going to the store would be really complicated so I would probably starve to death or something.
- Women can't marry without consent. Most of the marriages in Saudi Arabia are arranged. My parents never really liked the guy I'm currently dating. His name is Asbjorn and although we aren't married, we have lived together for 4 years now and I couldn't imagine a life without him. If we were to live in the Middle East, my parents would never allow us to be together, because he is a Muslim and I'm a proud Christian. His family isn't wealthy or powerful either so our marriage would never be allowed to happen.
- Women aren't allowed to inherit as much a man. I was born as an only child so I'm not quite sure how that would work in a Middle East country, but if I were to have two children, a boy and a girl, I would definitely split my inheritance as equally as I possibly can between the two of them, because giving more to one child would mean, that I love one of my children more than the other and that, in my opinion, is completely wrong and unjustified,
- Women can't travel without consent. First of all, what kind of a rule is that? When you make your own money and you've always dreamed of going to Paris and seeing the Eiffel tower, nobody on Earth should stop you! I've been travelling to different places since I was a little child. I've been a part of different exchange programs and they have all taught me so much of the things I know today. "It leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller." - Ibn Battuta. I sincerely hope that the girls in Saudi Arabia do get the consent they need in order to travel.
- Women have to be covered from head to toe when they appear in public, I wonder how many beautiful women go unrecognized because of that. God created us as we are and there is no shame in showing it off. What is the point of clothing stores and jewelry and pretty shoes if you can only show them off to a person or two? On the other hand, dressing in a certain way without showing any skin would mean, that I would never have to shave and use make-up again which would save me a huge amount of time. But the Abaya robe itself looks so uncomfortable (seriously, google it) and airless that I prefer shaving and make-up anytime.
- Women can't work without consent. I actually like this one. Many people in Saudi Arabia are fairly rich and therefore if I would have been born in one of those rich families, I could just sit all day and do nothing and also concentrate on my studies. But you know, some people actually enjoy working so it's not as good for them. Staying at home does get boring after a while too.
- Women can't meet with men they're not related to in public. This might be good for reducing rape rates, but I imagine how boring it must be. Most of my friends are men and meeting with them is always really fun, because men are more risk-taking than women (most of the times) and they always come up with new ideas to spend their free time. I very much enjoy male company for nothing more than friendly reasons.
- Women can't divorce easily. Also when you have an affair, the penalty is death. So basically your husband can beat you and you might not be able to do anything about it. What a crazy way to live. In fact, for men, divorce is fairly easy. He must only say "I divorce you" three times and the whole thing is done. Women on the other hand have to go to court and and let their case be heard and even after that, the husband can maintain the custody of his son(s) as soon as they reach the age of ten. Absurd!
