Blogs fast becoming place of refuge for women
Habib Shaikh
MORE women’s issues are being addressed by bloggers as an estimated half of Saudi blogs are written by women. Across the kingdom and the Internet, Saudi female bloggers are determined on being heard.
Saudi women bloggers are mostly young, energetic, and have a lot to say. They range in age from 18-30 years, and a majority are university students expressing their personal thoughts. They prefer to be anonymous, and use nicknames.
“Our society is very critical and I don’t feel I can say what I want to say without censoring my words if I use my real name,†said a blogger called Uber Girl.
This Khaleej Times article notes that Saudi women—who represent better than 50% of university students—also represent the majority of Saudi bloggers. Blogging provides an outlet and a voice for those who otherwise find themselves limited by policy and a culture in which women lack a political voice.
Among the blogs by women mentioned in the piece are:
A Thought in the Kingdom of Lunacy, by ‘Jo’
سعوديات كما يجب
Saudi Jeans (Ahmad is male, of course!)
The piece notes that Blogspot tends to be the blogging site most often used. I suspect that’s because it’s both free and handles Arabic text, well, ‘fluently’. The blogs (other than Saudi Jeans) cited in this piece, though, are rather inactive. Nothing has been posted on them since the autumn of last year. That could be because universities are in session, or maybe this piece was just one sitting in a drawer, waiting to be published on a slow news day. Fridays tend to be slow news days in the Gulf region.
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February:25:2007 - 11:10
I just got the bright idea to start up my own blog because I didn’t think that a lot of the topics I wanted to talk about had been addressed. Then, to my surprise, I came here. I am pleased to find thoughtful English language blogs which can communicate with the outside world in a way that Arabic blogs cannot. I look forward to reading more in the future. As for info about myself, I completely agree with Ubergirl, I’m also in disguise and I’m careful to whom I reveal my identity. I do however, think it very important for people outside of the country to learn about us from our own mouths and NOT from what is said about us.
February:25:2007 - 12:06
I absolutely agree! I hope to see more Saudis writing for wider audiences on the issues they deal with daily as well as their aspirations, both personal and national.
February:26:2007 - 01:54
This piece seems familiar to me:
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21675&Itemid=116
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21672&Itemid=116
February:26:2007 - 09:52
Shh!
February:28:2007 - 11:07
[...] Crossroads Arabia have also been very busy recently. In one week, they updated on the recent Valentine’s-day-related punishments, Adel Al-Jubeir’s formal assignment as Saudi ambassador to the US, HR groups protesting Saudi beheadings, cyber activism by Saudi women, and both forced divorce cases of Fatima and ex-husband Mansour, and Rania and ex-husband Saud. Regarding the most-recent death of celebrity Anna Nicole Smith, Yazeed seems to have had it with the obsessive media coverage of the case. He is disappointed with CNN’s Larry King and said: “Every night, every single night (I like to have CNN on when I sleep) that’s all he talks about, he has the same guests (almost), talking about the wacky case.” He also said that he is changing his “sleep channel” to Fox News. This whole craze has certainly turned some heads. Aya thinks that the media regards Anna Nicole’s death more important than Iraq. Speaking of Iraq, Ubergirl87 raised some very interesting questions, in a recent post, regarding the wartorn country. [...]