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Veiling and Blogging: Social Media as Sites of Identity Negotiation and Expression among Saudi Women

2015; Bridgewater State University; Volume: 16; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

1539-8706

Hala Asmina Guta, Magdalena Karolak,

Globalization and Cultural Identity

Introduction: the interplay between Saudi Arab culture, society and gender Women in the Middle East in general, and Saudi Arabia in particular, have been portrayed frequently in the Western media as passive, submissive and an oppressed lot. These portrayals have been challenged by many feminists who rightly argued that these portrayals conceptualize non-Western cultural identities as static and ahistorical and only served reinforce the illusion that Middle Eastern patriarchal institutions are unchanging and untiring (Abu Lughod, 2002; Mohanty, 1988; Narayan, 1997; Oyewumi, 2003). Indeed, women have strived play an active role in the Saudi Arab public sphere (Karolak, 2013) and the blossoming of the new communication technologies may offer further opportunities for changes women realities in such societies. Unlike other media, where gatekeepers play role in what message 1 2 be broadcasted, the Internet creates an open space with no gatekeepers. Internet access grants anybody the opportunity communicate the masses without control. Saudi Arab society is regarded as largely conservative. Given its status as the birthplace of Islam, religion plays central role in the Kingdom's culture, and [Islam does] not only shape people's attitudes, practices, and behaviors, but also shape the way they see and do things and perceive their (Alsaggaf & Williamson, 2004, para 5). Saudi society observes strict segregation between genders. Women are not allowed mix with unrelated men in public. Most educational institutions, banks, restaurants, and work places have separate divisions for males and females. For instance, until recently women education have been governed by separate entity to ensure that women's education did not deviate from the original purpose of female education, which was make women good wives and mothers, and prepare them for 'acceptable' jobs such as teaching and nursing (Hamdan, 2005, p. 44). The need for such segregation is most often legitimized by citing Islamic teachings although some scholars challenge this notion (Hamdan, 2005). It is important note that some Saudi Arab religious scholars, among others, Sheikh Abdullah al-Mutlaq, stress the need for the gender segregation be enforced also on social media portals. Women and Social Networking in Saudi Arabia In 2005 the novel Girls of Riyadh (Banat Al Riyadh) by Rajaa Al Sanea was published stirring controversy in the Saudi Arabia. The novel narrates the lives of four Saudi young females in form of email exchanges in yahoo group. The authenticity of the lives of the novel characters remains subject of dispute. Nonetheless, the novel brings attention how, in traditional society where women are confined the private sphere, the blooming of the new communication technologies brought significant changes women realities in these societies by providing new space for self-expression. The general Saudi public was granted access the internet by end of the 1990s. Saudi Arabia has approximately 13 million Internet users as of June 2012. Of the 13 million Internet users Facebook users comprise 5.5 million (Internet World Statistics, 2014). Users between 15 and 29 year old constitute 75% of users in the Middle East and 67% of users in Saudi Arabia. Women in the Middle East constitute 30% of the total number of users of social network. The percentage is approximately the same for Saudi Arabia (Mourtada & Salim, 2011). Women in the Middle East have embraced blogging in particular as a place express themselves, often anonymously, in way that would not be possible in other public forums (Otterman, 2007). It is in the blogging activity that numbers of active Arab women equal the numbers of men. This situation is reflected in Saudi Arabia where 50% of Saudi blog are written by women (de Vriese, 2012). As in other parts of the Middle East (Otterman, 2007), female bloggers in Saudi Arabia are young, aged on the average between 18-30 years old, and educated (de Vriese, 2012). …