While the Religious Police today launched their annual nationwide crackdown on stores selling items that are red or in any other way allude to the banned celebrations of Valentine’s Day, Reem Asaad and her fellow women continue their lingerie jihad. Starting on the 13th of February and for two weeks, women are called to boycott all lingerie shops that employ men.
This is the second phase of the campaign that Asaad started a year ago, aiming to address one of the many bizarre contradictions in Saudi Arabia, where in this supposedly most conservative country on earth women have to divulge their underwear sizes and colors to strange men on regular basis. Check out this Facebook group to learn more about the campaign.
Ghazi al-Gosaibi, minister of labor, who is currently ill and being treated in the US, has issued a law in 2006 stating that “only females may be employed in women apparel and accessories stores.” However, the law has never been implemented due to the objection and resistance of different parties.
5 Comments
Consumerism breeds decay and atrocity. We must go to war against the corporation. There is no compromise.
ToG
I’m just annoyed I’m not there at the moment, but really I have been boycotting lingerie shops in KSA for the past 8 years or so (ever since this this bearded stranger insisted and argued with one of my sisters that he knew her bra size better than she did), maybe I am one of the lucky ones I can buy what I need elsewhere. So really I call on all women to boycott all year around if they can afford to do so.
Good for Reem!
Laws that are never implemented and non-laws that are not only strongly implemented but even punishable at best!
To quote Nina Simone: “Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood”
It points out again (as if we needed reminders) of the hypocrisy of the clerical establishment.
They assertedly are deeply concerned with inter-gender fraternisation, unless the situation involves money.
Their concerns rapidly evaporate when confronted by commercial gain.
One wonders, “how many of the clerical establishment have commercial interests, directly or indirectly, in lingerie shops?”
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