In today's society, Saudi women do not shie away from expressing their views about their plight and what they wanted. Two women expressed different views in a talk with Saudi Gazette. The first question was wheter Saudi Arabia is a perfect place. Masha, the first woman to be asked, heaved an angry sigh and retorted: “What is there to do here? Eat and sleep? Like animals?” Masha, a blonde-haired, brown skinned young woman opened up a Pandora's box of her complaints against this land. Hala, the other woman countered: “There is no question of liking or not. This is my country. Do you ask a British or American whether they like their country? Is there any country on this earth that is perfect? It is what you make of it.” On the subject of education, Masha, who is half Bahraini, said she knows that there were many women working, going to university, becoming doctors, teaching in schools. “But I never finished school; I was married very early. Now, marriage for many women is early and that doesn't hinder their education or their zest of life.” Hala, on the other hand, is educated. She is an English lecturer at Health Sciences University in Riyadh. She completed her studies after getting married. Her full-time job is, however, to take care of his three children. On Barbie dolls, Masha said she used to play with them even after her marriage. “When my husband slept, I took out my dolls from under the bed and played.” “Girls are married off early for money,” quipped Masha. “Yes, even now, many families marry the girls early, especially to Bedouins and pure Saudis.” Hala has a different view: “There are various tribes having different traditions as far as marriage age is concerned and it really depends on that. Also, the dowry is in accordance with what tribe you come from. For me, neither my age nor dowry played a role in my marriage at the age of 22. In fact, my father spent a whole lot more on wedding expenses, reception, and honeymoon than he got as dowry from my husband.” So what about shopping? Women across the world love to shop and Saudi Arabians are no exception, according to Masha. But she hated going shopping in Saudi Arabia. “I live near the Rashid Mall but never go there. Men surround you, flashing their phone numbers on papers and through Bluetooth, it is crazy,” complained Masha. She said all her shopping for the whole year is done in Dubai. “Now, that is a place, open and full of life,” she said, her shiny eyes reflecting the joy de vivre of Dubai. “I go to Bahrain every other weekend. I can drive there, go to clubs, you know for fun. Just sit and listen to live singing. Go to the movies. I have a great time there.” Hala had a different view: “Yeah you get unwanted attention from men when you ask for it. If your Bluetooth is on and you have really eye-catching nicknames, you will be inundated with cheap messages from men.” She recounted how, in the middle of the street, she was asked out by a man. “That or anything close to it has not happened to me here.” The perfect vacation! And what about the summer vacation? “I have been to many places - Egypt, Dubai, Morocco, Jordan, but this time maybe Europe or Malaysia, said Masha.” When asked whether there was no nice place to visit here in the Kingdom, Masha had a hearty laugh. “Our choice of vacation depends on the money factor. However, Gulf countries and Malaysia are good options due to simple visa procedures and tickets,” said Hala. “Tourism inside Saudi Arabia will probably take forever to get off the ground because of all the restrictions on movements and lack of proper groundwork in tourism.” The one thing that these two very interesting, different women had in common was their love of cuisine. They both agreed that Thai, Italian, Mexican, Sushi and Saudi food were on their lists of favorites. And yes Indian curry too! __
