Saudi Gazette translates a wonderful story from the Arabic daily Al-Watan about the goings on of Moudhi, a Saudi woman who is willing to take on Saudi attitudes about women and transportation. The story also informs us that it’s not just cars that women are forbidden to drive: bicycles are off-limits, too! When it comes to donkeys, however, even the police have to take a step back. Now, donkeys are noted for being stubborn, but I don’t think they have anything on Ms. Moudhi!
Moudhi riding on a donkey
Abdullah Nasser Al-FouzanMOUDHI, a noted Riyadh secondary school headmistress, is continuing in her five-year quest to persuade the relevant folk that women have as much right to drive a car as men, furnishing them with the evidence piece by piece, showing that the benefits outweigh the perils. The persistent failure of her previous efforts, however, led her to turn to more practical methods, and so it was that she recently got behind the wheel of a car and drove off into the streets of the capital.
When stopped by police Moudhi produced her international driving license, but the failure of officers to be persuaded by such a document led to a lengthy exchange during which Moudhi showed them that their reasoning was more fragile than a spider’s web. Unmoved, the police told her that she was required to have a driver to protect her and help her should she find herself in difficulties, such as her car breaking down.
“Okay…,” Moudhi said. “We’ll see…”
A few days later Moudhi got behind the wheel again, only this time, seated in the back of the car, was her foreign driver. When the police stopped her – along with the young men who had been pursuing her down the street – officers believed the man in the back to be her bodyguard, and so were taken aback along with the rest of the gathering crowd when Moudhi told them he was her driver, there to “protect her and help her if the car broke down.”
“Isn’t that what you told me I had to do when you stopped me last time?” Moudhi said as perplexed officers glanced at each other.
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April:01:2010 - 16:06
Bravo!
April:01:2010 - 20:42
Alright… I’m loving this one
April:01:2010 - 22:22
Me too! I think she needs to be given some sort of award.
April:01:2010 - 22:55
This is fantastic. My favorite is “Do I need a donkey riding license?”
April:02:2010 - 11:51
Looking forward to reading the next episodes;
it would be nice to have many Moudhis in KSA !
April:02:2010 - 19:42
So let me get this straight. According to officers of the state, we should not ride on donkeys like they did in the 6th Century because this is the 21st century and times have changed. However, it is OK to marry off pre-teens to octagenarians because that is the way it was in 6th Century and challenging that is OMG WRONG.
No wonder the government does not hand out licenses for dealing with donkeys. If we take the ones in human form into account, the supply could not keep up with the demand. Though in all fairness, the same could be said for practically every country under the sun.
April:02:2010 - 20:03
The full story said that the police backed off (after they got a phone call) and left her on her donkey. I’d love to know who called and what was said.
While I can see how a donkey would be hazardous on Riyadh streets, she took down ‘the Man’ with words, entirely appropriate words. That is wonderful and a very useful tactic that could be repeated by others.
April:02:2010 - 20:41
I’d love to know who called and what was said.
Caller: There is a battle of donkeys on the street!
Powers-That-be: Quick! Recall the ones on our payroll!
April:03:2010 - 10:09
Hello
For those of you who think that there is a “headmistress Moudhi” who went out and did all this, I’m sorry to tell you that it is a fictional story written by an op-ed writer in Al Watan newspaper to drive a point. http://bit.ly/cM4a1k
I don’t know why Saudi Gazette failed to get that across.
April:03:2010 - 11:06
I had thought it was fictional to be honest but I sure liked playing make belief. I was just wondering how she was keeping a donkey around.
I would rather the ride be on Tahleeya street though.
April:03:2010 - 11:11
It’s a pity if this is just a fiction.
April:03:2010 - 11:12
Thanks Eman–I was looking for the original Arabic, and now I have it. Also fiction can be more powerful than non-fiction, and is particularly helpful when certain statements made in a non-fictional context would be dangerous to the author.
April:03:2010 - 12:07
Eman, you are a kill-joy! Don’t you hate it when sour fact interferes with fun fiction? There ought to be a law.
April:03:2010 - 17:58
Don’t you hate it when sour fact interferes with fun fiction? There ought to be a law.
Kactuz speaks to the truth. What are facts but a mere inconvenience in the face of a good story?
April:11:2010 - 08:51
I just did a post inspired by this one, linking to post, and referencing comments:
Driving Señor Platero in Saudi Arabia: Headmistress Moudhi, Juan Ramón Jiménez, and Their Respective Donkey Stories
Fact and fiction are addressed.