I recently read an article in Al-Eqtisadiya claiming that 2013 was the golden year for Saudi women. In 2013, Saudi women were given many rights, the most important of which was the right to be members of the Shoura Council. While many young Saudi men were unemployed, young Saudi women were offered hundreds of jobs with decent salaries. Women who worked as cashiers in 2013 were paid over SR3,000 a month whereas young men only got SR2,000 and without any perks. The young Saudi men who graduated from health institutes were left to fend for themselves by the concerned authorities. No one helped them to find jobs. At the same time, the Ministry of Labor was exerting great efforts to create job opportunities for young Saudi women who graduated as pharmacists. It seems clear that while the authorities open the door for Saudi women, they close it for Saudi men, and that while the media focuses on issues concerning women, it ignores those concerning men. In fact the media seems prepared to focus on any issue concerning Saudi women no matter how trivial it may be. Young Saudi men do not get the same attention; they are described as being lazy and only interested in easy jobs that do not require a great deal of effort. But this is not true. Look at the Saudi men who work as security guards. They get low pay although their work involves many risks and dangers. They also work long hours. No one is focusing on their plight because society does not appear to consider them important. It seems clear that in many ways Saudi women have marginalized Saudi men.
