Saudi Women with “Sexy Eyes” Will Have to Cover Them Up in Public

As most people may know, Saudi Arabia is one of the most if not the most conservative country in the world. It is the only country in the world that doesn’t allow women to do a lot of things that they should be allowed to do. In the article written by John Didymus, he explains the new law that has come about. In 2011, the government of Saudi Arabia decided that they wanted to ban all women from showing their, as they referred to as, “sexy eyes” or tempting eyes. This new proposal was brought up when a committee member of the promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice was caught looking into a woman’s eyes because he thought they were pretty. The husband of the woman saw him looking and quickly got offended, which then led to the man who was looking to get stabbed twice. This is what led to them considering women cover up their “sexy eyes”. Saudi women are already required by law to wear a long black robe called an “abaya”, which partially covers their body from head to toe and sometimes even over the nose. It is part of their conservative culture to cover up their bodies, however it is going a little overboard by making women cover up their eyes, making their entire face not visible. This, to some extent, brings us to the Women’s Suffrage Movement, which made it possible for women to have their voice heard and their ideas projected through voting. However, Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that still does not give women the right to vote and takes away a lot of their rights. It is said that King Abdullah declared that women will be able to vote in the 2015 local elections.

We related the article to the chapter 3; group association. The level describes how organizations and groups have to do with culture. With culture within the group or organization, the role of dress varies. For Saudi women, culture plays a whole role in their world, which determines how a woman is supposed to dress. Due to the restrictions Saudi women must obey, therefore they must wear abaya, and possibly cover their eyes. If Saudi women do have to cover their eyes in the future it would be because of the role culture plays in their dress. It also relates to the meaning of dress messages, because the way you dress can be misinterpreted. For example, many man that are accused of rape, give the excuse that the way the victim was dressed was a sign of content. In Saudi, things such as rape aren’t as frequent as in other places such as United States, simply because they are covered up. But will “sexy eyes” be the next reason?