The perils of women drivers...

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mittfh

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Apparently allowing women to drive would increase prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce.

Yes, we're talking Saudi Arabia, and one particularly loopy academic (Kamal Subhi) who's submitted that description as part of a report to the country's legislative assembly, the Shura, in an attempt to get it to drop plans to reconsider the ban on women drivers.

You can read more about this rather strange report over at BBC News. Further evidence it's a mad world out there.

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I read this last night...

...sad to think that beliefs such as these exist in this day and age, but that's the way things can be when folks are convinced they know better for others how they should live than they do. And this is just the beginning.

Dio vi benedica tutti
Con grande amore e di affetto
Andrea Lena

To be alive is to be vulnerable. Madeleine L'Engle
Love, Andrea Lena

Road Trip!

Come on Drea, I got the T-Bird gassed up with a steamer trunk full of guns and ammo
and we're going THELMA & LOUISE all over Saudi Arabia. See how far we can get.
These male supremist fucks want crazy women drivers we'll give 'em to 'em!

.
What borders on pure insanity?
Canada and Mexico.
.

Thanks for pointing this out

but I shan't be giving it the time of day. There are reactionaries all over the world and this bloke probably also believes in a flat Earth.

Susie

Women driving in Saudia

I was Muslim for a little over 5 years, and perhaps still am in many ways. Anyhow, I used to follow Aljazeera, and Arab News. I still have lots of Muslim friends, including Saudi folk.

Apparently this conversation about women driving has been going on for a very long time, and the conclusion I have come to is that the men are not civilised enough to be responsible around women drivers.

One of my male friends from Riyadh says that men honk and swear at each other constantly, and once in a while there is a fight. So, it is not a question about the competency of women but of the lack of it for men.

Many westerners like to think that Saudi women are downtrodden slaves, but from what I saw in dealing with them, many are demanding princesses, and can make life quite miserable for the men around them.

As far as the Niqab (face covering), again it is not that the women are forced but that the men are only a short time from living in tents, riding camels, and using the scimitar to negotiate. Even covered like they are, they still must cope with men stealing a grope or two. So, in spite of having all that money, I am guessing it will take another 50-100 years for them to join western civilisation.

Much peace

Gwendolyn (Khadijah)

Now that makes a whole lot more sense.

Women tend actually, to be more responsible drivers than men in the nations where both genders are permitted to drive. I can't see this being much different in the nations where women are banned from it and many other things still.

The idea, however, that male drivers might become even LESS responsible with the presence of female drivers on the road, now that makes sense.

I can only imagine the behavior, considering how much crude behavior happens even in westernized nations with men gawping at and trying to pick up on women when they're driving.

Abigail Drew.

Obvious solution

If the men cannot be civilized in the presence of women drivers, ban male drivers.

There's a legend that Golda Meir offered a parallel restriction when someone in the Israeli Cabinet suggested a curfew on women in order to keep them safe from rape. One version of the story had her bullying the Cabinet into voting on the idea, a Yea to restrict women or a Nay to restrict men.

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Ah... But unfortunately...

Most of this world, and, indeed, the very nations this is of greatest concern for, are ran by the men. So, if a man knows he can't be responsible when presented with a certain situation, and is in a position of power to prevent that situation from being possible, what do you think he's going to do?

He's of course then going to try to excuse his behavior with poorly constructed fallacious arguments.

Abigail Drew.

Wife's Driving

If you had taught my wife to drive you too would agree with that report

Huggles

Chelle_MM

The stupidity & ignorance

of fundamentalists never fails to astonish me. Small minds have small horizons matched by a myopia which fails to see past it's own nose. Sadly we are always likely to have them with us unless some genetic defect inherent in them is discovered and bred out - Eugenics yes, I admit, but the world would be a happier place without people telling me what I should think, feel, believe and behave.

Quite frankly, I think we should stamp out intolerance!

Angharad ;)

A woman driver.

Angharad

It is cultural, not about fundamentalisim

Some of the Saudi men that I know, think that their time in college is their time to abandon all religion and social mores and be dogs. It is a problem that some young western women fall to the charm of Middle Eastern guys and then they do a "temporary marriage". Of course these guys bullshit the young naieve girls into thinking that they can have sex and even babies.

They get a huge surprise when college is over and the men return to Saudia, either leaving their women behind, sometimes with children, or taking wife and children to Saudia to live. Then if the western woman has a problem, and wants to go home, she can, but the children are the husband's, so she can not take them.

I educate as many young coeds about this as I can but in this world, ignorance is bliss.

Much peace

Gwendolyn

Well... he's confounding

Well... he's confounding correlation and causality... it happens to the best of us :P

He's just looking at the "west" and sees "prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce". Women can drive in the west ergo women driving causes said "problems".
A western feminist politician might conclude that women driving causes a greater alphabetization or producing industry or something. He's just a politician with a conservative agenda. Like any politician every point is good enough as long as it furthers his agenda.

Same shit as usual...
Beyogi

glad to be canadian

I take offense at "women driver" comments. Gender has nothing to do with how people drive.

Actually my bf gets me to drive all over. He hates driving.

"men fight more than women while driving"

that comment made me laugh. I remember a time not long ago where I was being tailgated by a man in a truck. If the light had not changed when it did I would have gotten out and put my tire iron( i had it in hand) right through the rad of that truck. I was that pissed off.

I do ponder where trans people would fit into that rule. If someone was born male got drivers license and then became female does that mean she can no longer drive?

I have only gotten into three accidents in all of my 20 years of driving legally... add another 7 for illegally. None of them were my fault as the man did something totally stupid such as not stopping for the red light even though i did infront of him. Pulling out into oncoming traffic without looking, his poor vw bug when up onto the embankment for that one. And when A really stupid idiot swerves into my lane and then stops because of a stupid mutt in the other. Not the best thing to do on a highway when there is a car being followed closely by a big semi truck. My car stalled i was braking so hard while swerving around that stupid car and dog who sat in the middle of that lane wagging his tail and into the ditch. The semi truck couldnt stop as fast unfortantly.

I have driven infull control over black ice surfaces for miles in a k car (very light car) without incident, gone through a mile of mud to rescue a friend without getting stuck although my car was really dirty after, gone sideways over a bridge at speed (that was fun btw but car was a bit too powerful for middle of winter)75 royal monaco with a fresh tweaked 440. front bumper was maybe 2 feet from one rail and rear same for other rail which is a narrow bridge if i had tried to stop slow down or steer in any other way i would have gone over the side of bridge into a deep river. was a good thing i had extra panties in my purse that time.

I remember my first driving lesson well. I was in a dress (it was a hot day in summer) and my dad stopped the car on this old not well kept loose gravel road. It has many bends and ups and downs.

He told me to drive at whatever speed until I started to loose control. I was terrified the whole time. I drove that same way down that road many a time until i learned to relax.. of course by that time i was going down that road at 140 km per with the rear fishtailing alot scaring my poor dad.

Yes a girl of 14 was taught to "drift" drive before learning rules of the road. Back then we just called it controlled skidding. My brother was taught the same way but he freaks when the vehicle swerves even a little bit.

Every winter at the first snow I always do the same thing. I go to an empty parking lot and drive around relearning when my car starts to drift. It works amazingly well to keep in control at all times and not panic.

And i talk to much sorry.

I don't really drive too much myself...

I have a license, but no car. I wasn't a very responsible driver though.

A bike, on the other hand... I'm a very very skilled bicyclist as my main mode of transportation. Ice, snow, rain, loose stone, pot holes, silly motorists, you name it, and I have no problems maintaining control.

I drift my bicycle all the time, as a regular trick no matter what the conditions. There's a certain trick to doing this that involves just the right application of brake, balance, steering, and NOT STOPPING PEDALING, that when done correctly, makes just about any kind of terrain perfectly passable, at high speed, around rough corners, even on a very heavily laden bike (I go shopping on my bike, even in the winter).

Done wrong, and you'll plant yourself rather harshly on whatever surface you're riding on, and usually with very painful consequence.

In rough conditions, this is mainly just to maintain control on sudden skids, but it has other uses...

I think that's the main difference between driving and riding for me though, I learned all my bicycle tricks from the school of hard knocks, and my bike is now like an extension of my own body. I did this out on dirt trails and such, with a large group of other riders, where it was fairly safe to make mistakes.

I've never had a chance to do similar with a car, and so, instead of being an extension of me, a car is an alien entity that I'm trying to exert control over without fully understanding what I'm doing. Meanwhile, I'm scared to death of what the alien can do. Obviously, this is going to fail.

Abigail Drew.

good point

For me a car truck or anything that has a motor is also an extension of my body. Being female my senses are actually better than a males.

I do like the comment after this cusing woman drives then topping it with why do i wanna be a woman driver. Cute.

Why is it?

Hi Ben and all,

I often curse at the stupidity of women drivers. I wonder WHY - ANYONE - would EVER let a woman drive ANY vehicle. AFTER - ALL - THAT, Why do I want to BE a woman driver?

with love,

Hope

with love,

Hope

Once in a while I bare my soul, more often my soles bear me.

That silly fellow!

He forgot to mention that allowing women to drive would exponentially increase the likelihood of Earth being hit by a giant Kuiper Belt object falling in from outer space. There's ample precedent, because every schoolchild knows that the dinosaurs were destroyed when they allowed lady dinosaurs to drive SUVs. This is why they were punished by being turned into petroleum.

Levanah

לבנה