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1- She DOESN'T log into facebook at all.
2- She DOES log into facebook with a fake name, NO face, NO contacts.
3- She DOES log into facebook with a correct name, NO face, NO contacts.
4- She DOES log into facebook with a correct name: MINIMAL facial exposure, NO hair, NO body, NO contacts.
And I cordially invite YOU to conduct a study on facebook, comparing the number of Saudi Males to Saudi Females, and the amount of personal data, explicit photos, uni-gender friends, that are listed for both.
Without attempting the investigation, I came across some names of immediate male relatives who's photos are updated daily, not to mention all email addresses, and phone numbers of course, while their sisters on the same book are hiding behind comic nicknames, false data, places of birth.
The irony is that one of my female cousins identified me as follows: I dated Aysha back in 2005, we broke up, and will never speak to each other again.
So at least I know that my ongoing irritation isn't without a reason!
5/29/07: "Why don't you put your last name?" is a culture revealing discussion going on right now in Facebook between Saudi guys and girls!
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2244263917&topic=2444&start=0
13 comments:
What's good for the goose isn't good for the gander, or is it vice versa?
I posted a picture of me in my picasa web album, COMPLETELY covered, burga and all, because I want my blog to bridge the cultural divide. Most of my readers are in America and England so it's a must for them to see me. I don't expose my face in public so doing so online isn't an option anyway. When my husband saw it he objected to it. There's no was I was going to remove it and my reaction was, 'are u nuts', nothing shows!
I suspect my husband will further object when I place moral restraints on my boy as well as my girls...why let them run amuck morally? Wrong is wrong.
Salam,
I am an American married to a Saudi female. Her father was a diplomat here at the Saudi Embassy.
I just wanted to give you a heads up to let you know that the Cultural Mission does keep on eye on blogs and other online activities of Saudi students.
Anything found online that contradicts the rules for Saudi students can be cause for termination of the scholarship and cause one to be sent home.
You can publish this or not, it is up to you. I just wanted to let you know.
My sister in law is best friends with a daughter of the Culture Minister, Mazyed al Mazyed, and she was told his by her.
This is just kind of a modern update to the old practice of sending spies out to report on the actions of Saudi students, more than a few of which were sent home because of them.
My wife got her BA from the scholarship, my youngest sister in law is working on her BA and the one sister who is just older than her is on the scholarship getting her MS. The oldest sister in law got her MA through the scholarship and is now teaching in Jeddah.
Good luck and enjoy Oregon. I lived in the Northwest for over three years and loved it!
BTW, my wife has a blog. The address is:
http://www.majlismanal.blogspot.com
PS, Nice to see another Fairoz fan. I guess my favourite song by her at the moment is Allah Ma3ak ya Hawana.
I am glad you put Omayma's 3asfoor as well. I think she is not as popular as she should be. I think she is the best Arabic singer there is in the Middle East at the moment.
Have you listened to Natacha Atlas? Especially her old stuff. Give her a go.
Nice blog by the way. You see to have a good mix of secular and personal stuff mixed in with religious stuff.
It seems to me many Saudi/Muslim/Arab blogs are either strictly secular or religious, never the middle of the road.
By the way, my wife Manal and I have two little boys under the age of two. You can find pictures of them, and us, here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/abusinan/
Thanks.
Stepford Wife,
I have not a better example than the one you listed!
By the way, wonderful blog, and I am very proud to have it in my list.
Keep up the good stuff.
Abu Senan,
It makes sense that Saudi Arabia, with such a huge scholarship program(15000 students in the US alone)- HAS to follow up with students' various activities, online and offline.
Lots of money and effort had gone out to serve this educational agenda, and surely, eyes are wide open to insure that it is going according to plan :)
I'm a big fan for cross culture marriage. No matter how extra effort it might take at times for a couple to bridge the gap between their backgrounds, the results are almost always unique in a good way.
Thank you for the singer you suggested. I'll definatly give her a try. Also, for introducing me to MajlisManal. She's on my list now! Last but no least, for the pics of your beautiful sons. Having managed one so far, I can only look with parents that have more..with awe!
What about your blog address?
This is so true; all the Saudi girls on my Facebook list of friends either hide behind false aliases, choose to display their real names show no pictures of themselves, or show photoshopped ones.
Fedo,
There you have it!
I believe that double standardness is as easy to rationalize as it is to use "statistics" for two opposing purposes. Reasoning the unreasonable is an art as old as life itself.
I have seen your blog recommended at several places, and could not disagree.
Thank you for dropping by.
Facebook is another way to show the world how fucked in the head we all are. The society we live in, our society breeds liars, and you can't get anywhere in Saudi without being two faced.
Well,
I believe that all countries have people who are as concerned as you are about their societies going astray.
You see, every human being has their own mind, and accordingly, their own version of the "ideal". The problem is when you have people trying to overimpose their version of idealism, becoming overly blinded to the importance of individualism.
[In the beginning, was the individual!]
Wow! I just discovered your blog and I am jumping up and down in celebration.
I lived in Riyadh (not in a housing compound!) in the 90s, and had the privilege of working with a number of young Saudi women (high school and universtity students) and predicted then that in about 10 years time (now!) the world would be hearing from some of these intelligent, fiesty and very courageous women.
I am so happy to learn that I was right!
Robin,
I have never been in good terms with my name, but I grew used to it eventually, and admired the variations of it that non-Arabic speakers came up with.
Yet, the name that I remained hopelessly in love with is: ROBIN!
While studying in Canada, I had a classmate who carried the name. He was a very fragile boy, but likeable nonetheless. His hair was pale blond, his eyes pale blue, and his voice barely above a whisper. He seemed non-earthly, in a way that made it surprising to the students whenever he attempted to joke, act silly, or even volunteer to domenstrate the correct use of birth controls represented by "DARE".
During highschool when everybody is roughing it to survive the competition, peaceful "Robin" became the symbol. The quite side of school life that held no threat. The thin line that is neither feminine nor masculine; humanly only...
Until today, I think if I had to change my name for some reason, it will be Robin.
I am so happy that you experienced Saudi, and that you wre thorough enough in your experience to have forseen what is already taking place. Please keep in touch.
أهلا عايشة.
الحقيقة أنني شاهدت صورا عديدة على الانترنت لنساء سعوديات يظهرن بلباس محتشم وسمت في غاية اللياقة والاحترام. وقد ظهرن بالزي الشرعي، إن جاز التعبير، أي الذي يبيح كشف الوجه وتغطية الرأس، وهو اللباس الشائع في معظم أرجاء العالم الإسلامي.
ولا ادري عن السبب الذي يجعلنا مختلفين عن بقية المسلمين خاصة في الأمور التي تتعلق بالمرأة.
الزميل الذي كتب متحدثا عن ازدواجيتنا معه حق. واعتقد أن السبب يعود الى التشدد في العادات والتقاليد الذي ُالبس مع مرور الوقت لباسا دينيا. أما ما قيل عن دور ما للبعثات التعليمية فأتمنى أن ينصرف جهد تلك البعثات للأمور الجوهرية الأكثر أهمية من قبيل تحسين ظروف الطلبة ومساعدتهم على حل ما قد يعترضهم من مشاكل في دراستهم.
تحياتي.
بروميثيوس
http://prom2000.blogspot.com/
Hi Aysha,
I came across your blog by chance.. I understand totally your comment about face book.. but thats how we are we are a two faced society.. Im studying in canada and Im always known not to wear a cover as many saudi women are when they go abroad ( on vacation, during studying or working abroad everybody knows that) that means brace yourselves ...ohhh.. some men have seen saudi women with out a cover..and my saudi colleges known me since medical school how I always been.. But some of them because I posted my face on face book reacted to me cooly afterwards and called me eccentric.. my face is my identity.. and face book is a social network anyways its for people who already know you and know who you are so what is the problem.. why do we always have to be faceless because we are Saudi women..
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