(This was written to fulfill a requirement for my internship, but it might be interesting to normal people.)
I feel underdressed in here. In this country, a woman’s clothes define her. Does she wear a head covering? Does she wear three-quarter sleeves and no head covering, but a skirt? Does she wear a shirt that comes to her knees or shorter or too short? What does a good Muslim wear?
The answer is: a good Muslim here wears almost anything she wants as long it follows her own convictions or helps her get a good job. A university student here told me that in order to get a good job in business you cannot wear a head covering and that no woman working in the military is allowed to wear a head covering.
The good thing is that women are allowed to work here. They are allowed to get a good education, although they are mostly limited (or limit themselves) to business degrees. Every college-age girl I have met here has been taking a degree in business. On the other hand, getting a higher education seems to be one of the only directions toward work here. Almost every shop owner is a man, even in woman’s clothing stores. I have met only three or four women shopkeepers here. Although on the train ride in I did see women working in the field alongside the men. The rich women work because they can get an education, the poor work in the fields outside the city work because they have to.
Head coverings seem to be the all important part of Islam for a girl here. They all say that the Koran says they must wear one. (Although it does not actually) But some don't wear them anyway. My university student friend told me that yes, she was supposed to wear a head covering, but her parents had never made her and she still believed in God so she was 'okay'.
Despite the king’s reforms for women (including mandatory seats in the parliament, citizenship transferable from mother to children, and the near outlaw of polygamy), despite better educations, and better jobs, the women here still long for a husband. Instilled in them is the idea that only being a wife will fulfill their lives. I met a lady in her early thirties. She was sitting on a low wall waiting for the man she had met on holiday only a week ago. Already he had asked her to marry him. Even though she had a good job as an English teacher and even though she had been successful in life without a husband she was seriously considering marrying a man she had only just met. She did not love him, but she would marry him simply for the stability that a husband still provides in this society.
Women’s rights in government and society may be progressing, but the women themselves still cling to their traditions. Generations of Islam have made them feel safer with a home and family. Even though their clothing and their head covering may be their choice many women here still dress according to their religious values. This country might want its women to be progressive, but the women here will continue to be bound in tradition so long as they are still Muslims.
