A group of nearly 26 Saudi women finally gained permission to attend a 10-day course on how to fit, stock and sell underwear. The organizers hope this will help the campaign to allow women to take their place as saleswomen in the lingerie shops.
Graduates held a small celebration in the western seaport of Jiddah, commemorating 40 hours of instruction. The major hurdle for the organizers, was to overcome the women’s embarrassment at fitting bras and learning how to deal with customer complaints, besides learning how to display the stock in an attractive manner.
Thirty-two year old coordinator of the course said, “It was a beautiful experience, but the most shocking thing for me was the bra sizes. We didn’t know how to get proper measurements before.”
Many Saudi women said they are sick and tired of being forced to discuss intimate details with male staff and having to put up with their scrutiny when they asked for a particular cup size.
A law in 2006 was passed permitting only female staff to be employed in women’s clothing stores. However, the law was never put into effect, because hard-liners in the powerful religious establishment opposed employing women in mixed environments, such as shopping malls. Almost all shops in Saudi Arabia are staffed by men, apart from one or two women-only boutiques.
In Saudi Arabia women are forced to completely cover themselves in public, not permitted to drive cars, or have a vote and must obtain permission to travel overseas. However the women are slowly finding ways to gain a small measure of freedom, from blogging on the Internet, to a campaign boycotting man-staffed lingerie stores.
The former ruler King Fahd opened a state school for girls in 1960, even though what the girls could learn was strictly regulated. However, this has led to a generation of elite educated Saudi women, while just under a third of the nation’s women still remain illiterate. Many of the educated women are now pushing for political rights and job opportunities.
The sexes are still strictly segregated in this oil rich country. Only close relatives can stand in the same line at fast-food outlets, or travel in the same car together. Traditionalist clerics exert a very strong influence on both government and society, banning anything they think might lead to the emancipation of women.
The Saudi women live in one of the nations listed in the 54% of the world’s countries that are not rated as free, according to the annual report released by Freedom House. Countries where basic human rights and political freedom are either severely repressed, or totally unknown.
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Tags: bra fittings for Saudi women, oppressed women, Saudi Arabia, Saudi women attend lingerie classes, womein in society
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June 29th, 2009 at 12:33 am
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June 29th, 2009 at 12:43 am
Saudi Women Finally Find Right Bra Size…
In the oil rich country of Saudi Arabia, women find it difficult to get the correct bra size….