Review of Women and Society in Saudi Arabia

Yahya Al Alhareth^1, , Yasra Al Alhareth¹ and Ibtisam Al Dighrir¹

¹General Administration of Education in Najran Region, Ministry of Education, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Cite this paper:
Yahya Al Alhareth, Yasra Al Alhareth and Ibtisam Al Dighrir. Review of Women and Society in Saudi Arabia. American Journal of Educational Research. 2015; 3(2):121-125. doi: 10.12691/education-3-2-3

Abstract

Saudi society is a unique mix between religion and culture, which poses difficulties for the government over education for women. The position of women in this society is complicated and they have to face a lot of barriers to get an education as they live under male authority all the time. Thereby, this paper will review the literature on women and society in Saudi Arabia and its relation to their educational achievement, considering several different aspects including: Feminist theory, Islamic feminism in Saudi society, the status of women in Saudi society and the Holy Book of the Muslims (Qur’an) as well as their comparison in both.

Keywords:
Feminist theory Islamic feminism Saudi society women’s situation

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Ahmadi, F., (2006), Islamic Feminism in Iran, ‘Feminism in a New Islamic Context,’ Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 1: pp. 34-53.
[2]	Al Lily, A. E. A., (2011). On line and under veil: Technology-facilitated communication and Saudi female experience within academia. Technology in Society, 33 (1-2): pp. 119-127.
[3]	Al-Fahad, F.N., (2010), The Learners’ Satisfaction Toward Online E-Learning Implemented In The College Of Applied Studies And Community Service, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia: Can E-Learning Replace the Conventional System of Education?, Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 11 (2): pp. 61-73.
[4]	BBC, (2011), Women in Saudi Arabia to vote and run in elections [online], BBC News Middle East, 25-09-2011, available at: , [Accessed: 20/09/2014].
[5]	BBC, (2013), Saudi Arabia's king appoints women to Shura Council [online], BBC News Middle East, 11th January 2013, available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20986428, [Accessed: 19/10/2014].
[6]	Brym, R. J. and Lie, J., (2010), Sociology: Your Compass for a New World, 2nd ed, Cengage Learning, USA.
[7]	Coleman I., (2011), Women, Islam, and the Push for Reform in the Muslim World [online], Solution Journal, 2 (2): pp. 42-51, Available at: , [Accessed: 26/11/2014].
[8]	Cordesman, A. H., (2003), Saudi Arabia Enters the Twenty-First Century: The Political, Foreign Policy, Economic, and Energy Dimensions. Westport, CT: Praeger.
[9]	Deaver, S., (1980), The contemporary Saudi women. In: Bourguignon E, ed. A world of women: anthropological studies of women in the societies of the World. New York: Praeger.
[10]	Doumato, E., (2000), Getting God’s Ear: Women, Islam, and Healing in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. New York: Columbia University Press.
[11]	Doumato, E., (2002), Women and Work in Saudi Arabia: How flexible are Islamic margins? Middle East Journal, 52 (2), Spring, 582.
[12]	Doumato, E., (2010), Saudi Arabia, In Sanja Kelly and Julia Breslin, eds., Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa, New York, NY: Freedom House; Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010’, pp. 2-30.
[13]	Evans, M., (2011), doing gender: Gender and women's studies in the twenty first centuries, Women's Studies International Forum, 34: pp. 603-610.
[14]	Faiza S., (2005), Saudi women recall a day of driving, [Online], The Christian Science Monitor, [Online] available at: , [Accessed: 15/11/2014]
[15]	Fierke, K. M. and Jørgensen, K. E. (eds.)., (2001), Constructing International Relations: the Next Generation, Armonk: M. E. Sharpe.
[16]	Hamdan, A., (2005), Women and education in Saudi Arabia: Challenges and achievements. International Education Journal, 6 (1), 42-64.
[17]	Hurley et al., (2008), Futures studies and Feminism, FUTURES, 40: pp. 388-407.
[18]	Kaufman, M., (1999), Men, Feminism, and Men’s Contradictory Experiences of Power, London, UK: SAGE Publications.
[19]	Kendall, B., (2006), Saudi Arabia's unseen reform, [online], BBC News, Middle East, 26th April 2006, Available at: . [Accessed; 17/10/2014].
[20]	Leslie, L. (2011) Saudi Feminism doesn’t Mirror Western Ideas. Muslim Voice, [Online] Available at: <> [Accessed: 23/11/2014].
[21]	Lord, M., Greiter, A. and Tursunovic, Z., (2012), Feminist Theory, [online], available at www.soc.iastate.edu/sapp/Feminist.ppt, [Accessed: 10/11/2014].
[22]	Margot, B., (2011), From Islamic Feminism to a Muslim Holistic Feminism, IDS Bulletin, 42 (1): pp. 78-87
[23]	Mehran, G., (2003), The Paradox of tradition and modernity in female education in the Islamic republic of Iran, Comparative Education Review, 47 (3): pp. 269-286.
[24]	Metz, H. C., (1992), Saudi Arabia: A Country Study, Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, [Online] Available at: <> [Accessed: 23/10/2014].
[25]	Olaniyi, S. S., (2006), E-Learning Technology: The Nigeria Experience, A paper presented at Shape the Change XXIII FIG Congress, October 8-13, Munich Germany.
[26]	Prokop, M., (2003), Saudi Arabia: The politics of education, International Affairs, 79(1): pp. 77-89.
[27]	Roy, D., (1992), Saudi Arabian education: development policy. Middle Eastern Studies, 28: pp. 477-508.
[28]	Saudi Gazette, (2008), Business: Kingdom's e-learning industry to reach $125 million this year. The Saudi Gazette, 26th April.
[29]	Sechzer, J., (2004), Islam and Woman: Where Tradition Meets Modernity: History and Interpretations of Islamic Women’s Status,’ Sex Roles, 51 (5/6): pp. 263-272
[30]	Sen, A., (2000), Social Exclusion: Concept, Application, and Scrutiny: Asian Development Bank.
[31]	Wajcman, J., (1991), Feminism Confronts Technology, Cambridge: Polity Press.
[32]	Wiseman, A.W., Sadaawi, A. & Alromi, A.H., (2008), Educational Indicators and National Development in Saudi Arabia, paper presented at the 3rd IEA International Research Conference 18-20 September, Taipei City, Taiwan.