Re: Working in the Middle East

[Jacqueline Porter <r5559c -at- EMAIL -dot- SPS -dot- MOT -dot- COM>]

Hi Melissa,

Forgive me for jumping in here, but if I'm not mistaken, workers visas are not
extended to women in Saudi Arabia, only men.  I had a colleague who worked
there for a year and did not take his wife over for that reason. But then
again, that was a few years ago.

Jacqueline Porter
Techincal Writer
Phoenix, AZ

M. Hunter-Kilmer wrote:
>
> 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
>