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After finally managing to gain permission, nearly 26 Saudi women attended a 10-day course on how to fit, stock and sell lingerie. The organizers believe this will help the campaign to permit women to take their place as saleswomen in the lingerie shops.
Holding a small celebration in the western seaport of Jiddah, the graduates commemorated completing 40 hours of instruction. The major hurdle for the organizers had been to overcome the women’s embarrassment at fitting bras on others and learning how to handle customer complaints, besides learning how to attractively display the stock.
The 32 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".
Numbers of Saudi women complained they are fed with being made to discuss private details with male shop attendants and putting up with their scoffing scrutiny when they asked for a particular cup size.
There was a law passed in 2006 that permitted only female staff to be employed in women’s clothing stores. However, the law was never put into action, because hard-liners in the powerful religious sectors of the nation strongly opposed the employment of women in mixed environments, such as shopping malls. Nearly all shops in Saudi Arabia are staffed by men, apart from one or two women-only boutiques.
Saudi Arabian women are compelled to be completely covered when in public. They are not allowed to drive cars, or have a vote and must obtain permission if they wish to travel overseas. However the women are gradually beginning to find ways and means of gaining a small amount of freedom, from illegal blogging on the Internet, to a campaign boycotting man-staffed lingerie stores.
In 1960, King Fahd, the former ruler, opened a state school for girls. However the curriculum was strictly regulated. This led to the rise of a generation of elite educated Saudi women, even though just under a third of the nation’s women are still illiterate. A number of the educated women are calling for political rights and job opportunities.
This oil rich country still has strict segregation of the sexes. Close relatives alone can stand in the same line at fast-food outlets, or travel in the same vehicle together.
Fundamentalist clerics exert a very strong influence on both government and society. They insist on banning anything they think might lead to the emancipation of women.
The nation of Saudi Arabia is listed in the 54% of the world’s countries that are not rated as free, according to the annual report released by Freedom House. Nations where basic human rights and political freedom are either severely repressed, or totally unknown.
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