Posted Sunday, February 15, 2004; 15.48GMT
But once they have diplomas, can they get those jobs? In Saudi Arabia, women make up 55% of undergraduates, but only 15% of the labor force. Those who venture beyond traditional working-women's sectors like health care and education are greeted by male skepticism. Architect Nadia Bakhurji recalls how hard it was to win funding for her Riyadh firm. Men doubted her trustworthiness, purely due to her gender. "One man said, 'Don't you have a husband? A male figure we can deal with? Between you and me, what if we don't get our money back?'" she says. "They don't have as much faith in you because you're a woman." She pressed on, thinking of her mother, who wed at 14 and never realized her dream of entering politics. "The best she could do was to concentrate on her children," Bakhurji says. "She boosted me. She told me, 'You're a star.'" Her persistence paid off in 1996, when she won the backing of billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud. His willingness to bet on a businesswoman shows an openness that Bakhurji, 36, hopes will soon be the norm. Her generation "will have a knock-on effect" on her son's, she says. "The next generation is going to be far more accustomed to seeing their mothers as work-oriented and high achievers."
Role models matter, agrees Nawal El Moutawakel, who was the only woman on Morocco's Olympic team in 1984, when she won the 400-m hurdles and became the first Arab woman to strike Games gold. Now an International Olympic Committee member, she notes that "it's becoming something very usual" for Arab women to have a medal-winning presence in the male-dominated sports world. El Moutawakel, 41, says her success — and that of athletes who have followed her — has opened doors and minds even for those who will never set foot on an Olympic track. She points to the Run for Fun, a 10-km race she organizes in Casablanca each May, as one symbol of the larger public space now becoming available to women. Last year, 12,000 women — "all sizes, all ages, all dress codes, Olympic champions, members of parliament, grandmothers" — took part. "We don't exclude men; they come to help," says El Moutawakel, laughing. "But I want to push for women to understand the importance of participation."
It's not always easy to get that message to the grassroots, especially when women have not had a real voice in society for so many generations. Trickle-down equalization may not be ideal. But given the starting point in most Arab countries, change "has been top down because it has to be," says Oman's Assilah al-Harthy. She ran her family's construction company until last year, when she became the national oil firm's first female executive. "We need to teach people that they can speak out, that they have a choice," says al-Harthy, 33. "People may not understand the first time or the second time, but they will start asking, 'Why, where, when?'"
It helps if they hear others speaking out. The pan-Arab media — more influential than ever, due in part to the proliferation of the satellite dish, jokingly called the national flower in several countries — has broadened debate through the work of journalists such as Diana Moukalled, editor of Beirut-based Future TV's international news, and the Arab world's only female roving reporter. "The media has a great role to play in putting the spotlight on issues, providing a platform for women and educating people," says Moukalled, 33, producer of about 30 hour-long documentaries on topics such as Taliban-era life in Afghanistan. Her work is sometimes shelved; pro-Saddam sentiments in the region killed a show about Iraq's Kurds, made before the war started last year. "We all know there is censorship," she says. "But so many have made it on air, stirring discussions about important issues." That women are viewing, reading and talking is itself progress. "The lives of Arab women are still not what they should be," Moukalled says, "[but] things are moving forward." Calls for change are getting louder. Last month, 300 Saudi women signed a petition to Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud demanding reform, including more women in government and the relaxation of restrictions on their daily lives.
Debating the Faith [Nov. 18, 2002]
a Muslim woman and a cleric debate Islam's role
The Runaway Bride [May 5, 2003]
TIME investgates forced marriage and the torn feelings that it engenders.
The Women of Afghanistan [Dec.3, 2001]
The West rejoiced when Afghan women were freed from the burka. But the costume remains — as do more serious problems
The Many Faces Of Islam [Dec. 08, 2002]
European Muslims are speaking out, reassessing their faith and their feelings about assimilation in liberal, secular societies.
A Stone in the Eye Of Brute Force [April 20, 2003]
Turkish activist Nebahat Akkoc might seem an unlikely David, but experience tells her that violence begins at home
Mogadishu at 60 Miles an Hour Arms merchants are once again doing brisk business after a rapid change of power in this tough town, but so far the peace has held
The Year of The Nuke A rundown of the world's nuclear powerhouses, and what to expect in the coming months
