Manal
al-Sharif is a woman from Saudi Arabia who decided to fight for her freedom to
drive a car. In her country, women are not supposed to drive but there’s no law
(dictated by the government) that bans this situation. It’s a tradition. And
traditions are very respected in a conservative country like Saudi Arabia. Even
more, people are demanded to respect these traditions. She explains all the
difficulties she had to face when she decided to take the wheel and drive: she
was arrested and put in jail with no charges, her brother was put in jail too
just for bring her the keys of the car, her son was hit in the school, she was
discredited and condemned by local media, etc. But outside her country she was
seen like a hero, an example for many women to encourage to change this social
commands that have been imposed with no logic or religion justification. So she
asks herself what is harder to fight: against an oppressive government or
against an oppressive society.
To answer
her questions it’s more difficult that it already seems. How do oppressive
societies work? Why drive a car should be banned for women?
Logically, there’s no proof that support such thing: women are equally capable
as men to drive a car. There’s no religion statement either. It’s all a
cultural imposition. What are the finality of this social rules then? Obviously
(from our occidental point of view) the ban is not pointed just to not allow
women drive a car. It’s a way how a patriarchal system keeps women under
control, repressed. And such kind of repression creates its own internal
defense, trough the people -even women- who defend the injustices as if it were
normal. But there will be always people who fight against it too.
