Dichotomy in terms of women's rights and the focus on education Essay

There is an interesting dichotomy in terms of women's rights and the focus on education. While women cannot travel without a male guardian, drive a car, or get a job in certain industries, the education ministry supports women getting degrees including doctorates and traveling abroad to do so. The Saudi education ministry released statistics showing that women constitute almost 52 percent of university graduates inside the kingdom while more than 35,000 female Saudis studied abroad in 2014 (Drury). One given explanation is the high value that the Arab culture and Islamic faith place on education. "Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave" and "Seek learning even if it is as far away as China" are among the Prophet's oft-quoted sayings (Drury). The reform to educate women is new to the country. Prior to 1970, a meager two percent of women knew how to read. This was a concern for the Saudi ministry of education as they saw Saudi men traveling after the oil boom to foreign countries and they were fearful that Saudi men would marry foreign women because Saudi women were uneducated. Fast forward to today and the literacy rate of Saudi women compared to Saudi men is 91to 97 percent respectively (Madawi Al-Rasheed).
In 2011, King Abdullah issued a decree ordering women be allowed to stand as candidates and vote in municipal elections, even though they did not actually have the opportunity until Dec. 2015, almost a year after the king's death in January 2015 (Women's Suffrage). While this is progress we must also remember that Saudi Arabia is not a democracy and the voting system is someone a mute activity. Additionally, we should think about how these women got to the polling places did they drive themselves, where they amongst the other men when they voted? So while it is a nice gesture that women can now vote, the question really is what did the voting decree actually do to help improve women's rights or equal opportunities? If symbolism was the objective, the ministry scored a victory as now Saudi Arabia is no longer the sole country where women did not have the right to vote. Although there is criticism stating that this is more about show and tell versus actual meaningful change, I would argue that they have to start somewhere and with King Abdullah's passing King Salman has pledged to continue to push for more change. With that being said we must also remember that there was once a time when the United States was behind in making things equal. Before we cast a frown on the appearance of being late to the party we should consider when other countries made similar decisions. Women in the United States did not have the right to vote until 1920 through the passage of the 19th Amendment, twenty-seven years after New Zealand who was the first country to allow women to vote. The United States did not abolish slavery until 1865, almost sixty years after Britain.