Though often caricatured as backwards and traditional, Saudi gender roles are undergoing a reconfiguration. Previously, the majority of Saudi women did not work outside of the home and relied on male relatives to manage many aspects of family life. Globalization and economic necessity, not necessarily liberal values, are propelling more Saudi women into work outside the home and catalyzing a shift in women’s roles in society as well as in conceptions of proper behavior. Efforts by King Abdullah, such as a massive government-sponsored study abroad program, are also helping to re-shape Saudi gender norms.
Gender roles as a symbol of adherence to Islam
Though there is ongoing debate about whether gender roles in Saudi Arabia come primarily from Islam, culture, or an amalgam of both, Saudi women are the most visible symbol of the Kingdom’s adherence to strict Islamic teachings. In A Most Masculine State, Saudi professor Madawi Al Rasheed discusses the role of religious nationalism in preserving the family and gender roles in Saudi Arabia. Al Rasheed writes that the focus on gender in Saudi society distinguishes the religiousness of the state from other countries. In essence, traditional gender roles are burdened with preserving national identity and culture. She relates this back to the nation’s founding when she discusses that Wahhabi Islam blurred the lines between the social and religious spheres in an effort to build a religious nationalist movement. As a result, women not only became important for the physical reproduction of the nation, but also symbols of its virtue and principles. Since the country’s inception and until this day, the burden to promote virtue and forbid vice lies in the hands of Saudi male citizens. Thus, discussing women’s rights continues to be fraught since change to gender norms implicitly incites a challenge to cultural norms and tradition. As a result, Saudi society has been slow to embrace reforms that challenge gender norms.
Nevertheless, change is underway. A 2011 study on shifting attitudes among Saudi youth revealed that “attitudes towards gender roles remain mixed, but a majority of youths believe that change in women’s rights is inevitable.” Many Saudi youth are rejecting the traditional mindset of previous generations that stipulated proscribed roles for women as well as men. In fact, a common sentiment among young Saudis is that the next generation will change things for the better by accepting and even welcoming changes to patriarchal practices and expanding responsibilities for women. However, it is not just the open-minded that are catalyzing changing views on women in Saudi Arabia. A changing economic and social landscape is rapidly decimating what were once impermeable barriers to women’s integration.
Economic pressures mounting
Economic pressures are the driving factor in upending traditional gender roles. Women’s ability to make a larger contribution to household income and the country’s economy has enhanced their status and reduced the political, social, and ideological barriers they face. The cost of living has risen and affordable housing is scarce, so more and more families must rely on two incomes. The government is trying to help provide affordable housing for more of its citizens, but new policies “are only slowing trickling into the system and housing shortages remain high.” According to arecent survey, a majority of young Saudi men prefer to marry a woman who can bring in an income. As young Saudi Ibrahim Al-Hamzi said, “Marrying an employed woman is the best way in meeting the high cost of living.” Similarly, Mahdi Asfour, a middle-aged Saudi, argues, “Life is not as simple as it used to be. Open minded, educated people see the benefit of women entering the workforce; it means better income and stability for the family, and puts less pressure on men.”
The Saudi labor market is undergoing changes to accommodate more women entering the workforce. Under King Abdullah, the feminization of the labor force has expanded significantly. The number of working women continues to rise, with approximately727,000 in 2013, up from 646,000 in 2012. The feminization of several industries including retail has increased women’s participation in the private sector. Since 2009, the private sector has been rapidly expanding as female employment opportunities increased from 40,000 to over 400,000 in 2014.This remarkable expansion is due in part to recruitment efforts targeted towards women, gradual public acceptance for integrating more women into the workplace, and increasing economic pressures that drive women to seek jobs. Though unemployment continues to remain high for women, King Abdullah has taken a number of important steps to integrate women more fully into the public realm of society.
King Abdullah as reformer
King Abdullah is widely perceived as a reform-minded leader by many Saudis. Samar Fatany’s recent book Modernizing Saudi Arabia notes that many of his reforms benefit women in particular: the issuance of national identification cards for women in 2006, an end to the ban on single women renting hotel rooms in 2008, a decree that allowed women to work in lingerie stores in 2011, the king’s announcement in 2011 that women would be allowed to vote and run in municipal elections in 2015, and his decision to let women become members of the Shura Council. King Abdullah also established the first co-ed university in Saudi Arabia, The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), in 2009, and in 2008 opened the Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University, the largest female-only university in the world. Though these reforms might seem inadequate or frustratingly slow, to Saudis they are significant and emblematic of King Abdullah’s commitment to ushering in change responsibly.
Education at home and abroad impacting gender norms
Public education for women was not introduced until the 1960s, roughly 30 years after the establishment of the state. In an effort to appease religious authorities, King Faisal placed women’s education under the Department of Religious Guidance. Women’s schooling remained under the Department of Religious Guidance until 2002, whereas the Ministry of Education handled men’s education. Keeping the curriculum separate only strengthened gender roles in Saudi society. Women’s education aimed at producing wives and mothers and encouraged work only in jobs such as teaching and nursing, while men’s education focused on producing engineers and doctors.
In 2002 after the religious establishment came under local and international pressure, the government unified the curriculum and moved women’s schooling to the Ministry of Education. Building on this reform, King Abdullah went on to launch a massive scholarship program that has sent more than 150,000 Saudis to study abroad. This program, along with other higher education initiatives, is part of the reason why Saudi women are attaining more advanced degrees than ever before. Saudi women represent almost 60% of university graduates and comprise about 30% of the approximately 100,000 Saudis studying in the United States. In fact, more Saudi womenare receivingpostsecondary degrees than men. In addition, more and more Saudi women are choosing to get married at a later age. In 2010, the average age for marriage was 25, compared to 22 in 2002, similar to the age of marriage for women in the United States. This trend is rising as women prioritize their education and careers ahead of marriage and starting a family.
While studying abroad, many women develop impressive management and leadership skills; this development is gradually impacting how families and the society view women. As scholarship student Reham, whose last name is withheld to preserve her anonymity, explained, “Scholarship programs have changed how families act with their sisters and daughters, especially that they accept the fact that women can live alone outside Saudi Arabia (in the USA or the UK). At the beginning of the program this was not the case at all.” Over time, these types of attitudinal shifts among individual families impact the broader gender norms in society by granting women greater space to pursue professional goals and manage their affairs independently of a male relative.
The way forward
As Saudi men see their female relatives take on greater responsibilities, the reaction is mixed. Although there is resistance from conservatives, if the royal family continues to adopt policies that are conducive to changes that promote expanded roles and rights for women, gradual positive developments will continue for Saudi society. This process is already well underway as King Abdullah has been slowly chipping away at restrictions on women’s full participation in society throughout his reign and as more and more families allow their daughters to take advantage of new educational and work opportunities. Social media has also helped connect Saudi society as never before, which can help spark conversations about gender.
Still, reforms will have to be introduced piecemeal, with flexibility that allow the extremely conservative to opt-out temporarily. When King Faisal introduced public education for girls in the 1960s, it was mostly the children of more progressive families who received schooling. Only about half of all Saudi girls attended school in the 1970s before the Basic Law of Governance and Education made education compulsory for children between the ages of six and fifteen. Over time, more and more families chose to send their daughters to school. Now, more than fifty years later, over 96 percent of Saudi girls attend primary school and women make up over half of the 6 million students currently enrolled in Saudi schools and universities. By following this model and introducing reforms gradually, uproar about damage to public morality can be minimized while families who wish to embrace progressive steps can do so.
Stefanie A. Hausheer is a Middle East specialist with expertise on Saudi higher education and US-Saudi relations. Nouf Al Sadiq is pursuing a master’s degree in Middle East Studies at The George Washington University.
