Lubna Hussain on women’s employment at lingerie shops: “What’s more is that I don’t understand why it is that in the retail industry it is forbidden for women to serve alongside men within their own enclosed sections when in other sectors such as hospitals, banking and the media they are allowed to. If those opposed to such a move toward greater employment integration cite mixing as being a problem then I would like to ask such individuals that if it came to their wives, daughters and mothers having to buy underwear would they not prefer them to be in contact with a woman over such matters than a strange man?”

I’m on the front page of Arab News today for a story on Saudi bloggers. The story is not available online for readers inside Saudi Arabia, so if you were interested in reading it you should get the printed edition. The story is written by fellow blogger Rasheed, and several other
bloggers are mentioned there.

During a recent interview, I was asked the following question: “You are calling for more freedoms, what are these freedoms?” I said, all kinds of freedoms; let’s start with personal freedom. “So anyone becomes free to choose, and to speak his mind,” I added. After living for 22 years in this land, I have come to the conclusion that the word freedom is nearly meaningless here. I find it difficult to understand how someone can be so threatened by the ideas of others, but to feel threatened by the mere appearance of others is really beyond my comprehension. I mean, how can a pair of jeans, an expressive t-shirt, or a weird haircut be dangerous for a religion, society or culture?

I’m on ZavineOnline.com homepage. Yay!

In what Al Hayat newspaper described as a “first of its kind” decision, Shoura Council have decided to vote against the expansion of the Committee to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice (aka the Religious Police). The Islamic committee at the Shoura Council has put a report of the performance of CPVPV during the last year, and introduced four recommendations for the council, which voted against three of these recommendations and only approved one of them.

The only approved recommendation was to create more jobs for graduates of the higher institute to promote virtue and prevent vice, which was opened recently. I don’t understand this: why to open this institute when there is no jobs to its students? The three rejected recommendations were: 1) increasing salaries of field workers (whatever that means) by 20%, 2) opening new centers for the committee in all parts of the Kingdom, starting with 20 new centers every year, and 3) supporting the R&D department with SR 5m. This comes after a recent move by the government to limit the power of the religious police.

Khaled Batarfi: What is it like to be a Saudi woman?