Because women’s rights are human rights too.
US President Barack Obama and his wife/First Lady Michelle, visited Saudi Arabia after the death of its King Abdullah this week.
And while the visit was meant to be centred around the Obamas expressing their condolences and meeting Abdullah’s successor King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, it was Michelle Obama herself who became the focus of the Tuesday trip.
Because although the 51-year-old lawyer and First Lady dressed conservatively, in loose clothing that covered her arms and legs, she did not cover her hair during the official visit. In a country where most women are mostly swathed in long, black cloaks called abayas, usually paired with the hijab, niqab, or burqa, Michelle’s move was rather scandalous.
It even sparked a social media uproar, with hundreds of Saudis taking to Twitter to condemn the move using the hashtag “#Michelle_Obama_Immodest” and “#Michelle_Obama_NotVeiled”.
Some critics argued the move was deliberately defiant, pointing out that Queen Elizabeth wore a headscarf on her visit to the Gulf in 1979 and that Michelle herself was veiled during a visit to Indonesia in 2010.
But today, I’m opposing the vocal social media army, who shared their outrage more than 1,500 times using the #Michelle_Obama_Immodest hashtag following the visit. Because on this one? They got it wrong.
First, Westerners are not technically required to cover their heads when visiting Saudia Arabia.
Second, the First Lady did not visit religious buildings, like when she attended a mosque in Indonesia.
And finally but most importantly, I simply believe it’s entirely reasonable for Michelle Obama to go headscarf-free in Saudia Arabia. To quote Amy Davidson from the New Yorker, Michelle simply didn’t owe anyone a headscarf. In fact, if she chose not to wear one to make a political point — as I suspect she did — then the lady should be applauded.
To those who say it was culturally insensitive of her to shun the local dress, I say: screw that.
Because sure, being culturally sensitive is generally advisable, and certainly necessary in many diplomatic situations; and sure, if Michelle chose to purposefully offend another culture just for the hell of it — touching people’s heads in Thailand, wearing shoes in a temple, scoffing food in public during Ramandan in some countries — then yes, bring on the outraged cries of cultural imperialism.
But cultural sensitivity needs to stop where universal human rights standards begin. And Saudia Arabia’s treatment of women, which falls foul of a huge range of international human rights laws, is abhorrent by the standards of most other countries in the world.
It remains the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive; consider the case of Loujain Hathloul, who was arrested and had her passport confiscated for trying to drive late last year.
Women also make up less than 20 percent of the workforce in Saudia Arabia, and guardianship laws require women to get permission from a male relative to travel, get married, enrol in tertiary education or undergo some surgical procedures, news.com.au reports.
Genders are strictly segregated in the country, with ; In Saudi culture, the Sharia is interpreted according to a strict Sunni form known as the way of the Salaf or Wahhabism.
Although the late King Abdullah — whose passing was the reason for the Obamas’ visit — oversaw some slight improvements on the women’s rights front, consider this: Last year Abdullah’s daughters, Princesses Sahar and Jawaher, told Channel 4 News they effectively live under house arrest.
The Princesses said they’d been held in the royal compound in Jeddah for 13 years; They claimed they are not allowed to travel and “no-one is allowed in or out” and that “our father, the king, is responsible.”
Despite these claims, King Abdullah remained King in Saudia Arabia. That’s the kind of country we’re talking about.
So while some women around the world choose to wear a niqab or burqa — and that is their choice — the women in Saudi Arabia do not have a choice about what they wear. Nor do they have a choice about where they go, or what they study, or how they control their fertility.
Michelle Obama did have that choice, and she chose to exercise it (intentionally, I suspect) to draw attention to an issue the world could be doing a heck of a lot more about.
I for one hope that she will continue to do more because, as Hadiya Abdelrahman writes for Fortune, it’s problematic that the United States remains a strong ally of Saudi Arabia, despite being fully aware of these atrocities.
As Richard Dawkins eloquently tweeted: “Michelle Obama goes some way to redeem the ignominy of her husband’s crawling to the odious Saudi regime.”
Cultural sensitivity is all well and good — until culture becomes an excuse for the oppression of women.
Top Comments
Well done for bringing this up. As a feminist website, I feel that Mamamia often ignore the inherent chauvinism and female oppression in some cultures and religions for fear of offending.
Any religion or culture, wear women are expected to behave significantly differently, and be subservient to men, is in my opinion, doing far more harm, than many other of the so called 'sexist' issues that Mamamia bring up.
I'll be concerned about twirling and mani cams, when women in certain countries and cultures are not forced to cover their faces, and not go out with out male chaperonage.
You can be concerned about both, at the same time. Ignoring and minimising one set of inequalities because they are not as bad as another set is no kind of answer. Our entire system is riddled with systemic sexism and that needs to be addressed so we can keep moving forward. Otherwise we will stagnate or go backwards. We can continue to struggle against the systemic sexism in our own society at exactly the same time as campaigning to help women in other countries.
Many Muslims in the world do not hold Saudi Arabia on a pedestal. I am very critical of them. They literally get away with murder.
Surprising that this grew so big when it is common knowledge that foreign officials do not wear hijab in Saudi. If I saw her picture I wouldn't have even cared.
So many First Ladies from the USA have not worn it whilst visiting so why all this about Michelle Obama.
Ladies, it is not insulting for a NON Muslim lady to not wear a hijab around Muslims. A bikini, yes! But uncovering hair.... no big deal.
Last fact. Despite the restrictions on women with regards to tertiary education, women make up the majority of university students. I will stand by my Saudi sisters. They are highly educated women.
I always learn something when I read your comments, Stacey. Thank you.
You have a choice to wear a head covering, I have the choice to wear a bikini. We should be offended by neither. Religion is not an excuse to dictate what others wear or how they behave.
Interesting insight, but when you say Muslims are not offended by a non Muslim not wearing a hijab, then how would you feel if a Muslim woman didn't wear a hijab? Would that be offensive to you or not?
Also it's good if you aren't offended by a non Muslim not wearing the hijab, but here's the thing I get told all the time that Muslims wear them for modesty purposes and to prove their faith, so if it is so essential to a Muslim to wear hijab(or similar covering) to prove how virtuous she is, surely someone who chooses not to cover themselves by default must be deemed not virtuous. Because you can't have it both ways Muslims can't declare that covering themselves is an important part of their faith but on the other hand say it's not important if others don't wear it. It's either important or it isn't. It can't be both, this is why many non Muslims have a problem with it because we know that if a Muslim thinks that being covered is essential to proving their modesty/morals than obviously they must be judging any woman (Muslim or non Muslim) as being immodest/immoral by not wearing one.
This is why I am yet to see any articles expressing outrage that Indian women wear saris in Sydney streets, because we know it is something that they are used to wearing and feel good in but it is just simply an article of clothing to them and not some statement of faith and they are not judging others who do not wear it.
A bikini in Saudi might be a bit dangerous. That was my point. I bought my sister some bikinis as a gift last month so nothing against the bikini.