By Rakhi Kundra ’17, News Editor

For a country that has received heavy criticism for its treatment of women throughout its entire history, Saudi Arabia seems to finally be making subtle but significant steps towards progress in gender equality. This past August, Saudi women were given the right to vote and participate in elections for the first time ever. This new right has energized and inspired Saudi Arabia’s female population, and there were more then 950 female candidates on the ballots of the elections that took place in December.

However, despite the new rights granted to women, Saudi Arabia still remains a monarchy with deep-rooted sexism, arguably stronger then any social progress that was made with this newly established  right. There is a glaring difference in the numbers: only 130,000 women registered to vote while 1.35 million men were registered, and although over 900 women ran for office, this number is minimal when compared to the 6,000 men who ran. In the unlikelihood that any women are elected, they would be extremely outnumbered and overpowered by the number of men elected.

Furthermore, Saudi law says that women are not supposed to interact with men, and are required to limit the amount of time that they spend with men who are not related to them. How, in a political world so overwhelmingly dominated by men, are women supposed to be successful and influential? Allowing women to participate in elections and run for office looks good on paper and on the international stage, but it does not guarantee that the voices of women will be heard and valued. To this day, women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive, travel, compete in sports, or attend school without a male companion.

In order for new laws, such as allowing women to vote, to effect lasting and significant social impact, the way women are perceived and treated needs to change. Women will not be treated as equals unless they are believed to be equal, and in Saudi Arabia, women are nowhere near being perceived as equal to men. Julia Tarnow ’17, co-president of POWER, said, “In order for this new law to be effective, the way women are viewed nationwide needs to be changed. This right is progress in recognizing the voices of women, but there is much more progress that needs to be made.”

Change not only needs to be made in Saudi Arabia, but around the rest of the world as well. Julia pointed out that although it is easy to separate gender inequality from our everyday lives and define it as a problem that affects underdeveloped countries, in reality, we are surrounded by it everyday in our own country. She said, “I think NA students need to see how progress still needs to be made in our world. As students, we can definitely change our dialogue of how we view what inequality is. Inequality isn’t just forbidding women to drive cars or denying them the right to vote; its also denying them equal pay and the right to make decisions about their own bodies.”

Our country lit up with excitement when women in Saudi Arabia gained the right to vote, but we should channel some of that excitement and energy into improving gender equality in our own environment. The fight for gender equality has not been won, and it is important to realize that we are in the same war that countries such as Saudi Arabia are in.