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Subject:Working in the Middle East From:"M. Hunter-Kilmer" <mhunterk -at- BNA -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 9 Jul 1998 09:46:59 -0500
Eric, please bear with me, this does have tech writing implications.
George Mena <George -dot- Mena -at- ESSTECH -dot- COM> and Buck Buchanan
<writer -at- NTWS -dot- NET> wrote that women are not allowed to drive in the
Middle East, though John Renish <John_F_Renish -at- NOTES -dot- SEAGATE -dot- COM>
wrote that "Saudi Bedu women drive by themselves out in the desert,
often unveiled. Nobody hassles them. It's the very _public_ behavior
of American women that the Saudis of both sexes found scandalous, even
offensive."
So I'm confused. Women may not drive in the cities, but out where
nobody can see them, it's okay? And what public behavior was
considered scandalous? Driving?
Tilly may have accepted "with aplomb" being forbidden to drive, but I
can't see how a woman would manage in such a situation. Hire a
driver? I'd hate to have to rely on that. Take public transportation
everywhere? Does it go everywhere you want?
I would also have a hard time living in a country that required me to
cover my hair at all times, as John said is the law for all women.
Moreover, I'm not sure I would be able to live in the Middle East. I
thought I had heard that women were not allowed to have jobs there?
Buck, I know you said your wife operated a school in your home, but
that could be considered less "scandalous," I guess, which is how it
passed muster.
*If* it's true that women aren't allowed to have jobs outside the home
in the Middle East -- and I'm sure many techwhirlers will jump in with
their clear and certain knowledge of whether this is the case -- can
women do freelance writing at home? Or maybe telecommute? Or work in
an office just a day or so a week?
Otherwise, I can't understand why a woman with a paying job would want
to live in the Middle East. And I can't understand why a man with a
wife who needs, wants, or enjoys her paying job would want her to do
so.
Of course, I have a bias -- I'm the sole wage-earner for my household
of six. My husband stays home with the kids and has a very part-time
paying job. He is chronically ill, so I will probably always be the
sole wage-earner. Sounds like we'll never live in the Middle East. I
think I can live with that.
Melissa Hunter-Kilmer
mhunterk -at- bna -dot- com
(standard disclaimer)
Washington, DC
