By: Rebecca Hawkes
Source: http://muftah.org
On Thursday, July 25th, 2013, in a ceremony broadcast by several regional TV and radio channels, the foundation stone for Al-Mrah [Arabic for the woman], the first satellite TV channel for women in Saudi Arabia, was laid.
Abdullah Al-Nawazi, chairman of Ideas Arabia Limited, which created the new network and is owned by Saudi businessman Sheikh Yusuf bin Awad Al-Ahmadi, stated that the channel aims to “highlight the skills, traditions, culture, education, Islamic thought and problems facing Arab women in general and Saudi women in particular.” Riyadh bin Kamal Najam, president of Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Audio and Visual Media, also said that the channel will “help in removing some stereotypes about Saudi women.”
In a region where satellite TV channels have consistently multiplied over the years, this is not the first network devoted to women nor is it the first all-veiled women’s channel, which was launched in Egypt almost a year ago.
It is, however, the first channel dedicated to Saudi women.
News reports on the network do not reveal much information about its organizational make-up, or whether its female employees will play a leading role in managerial and administrative positions.
The channel is expected to start broadcasting in 2014. Unless it is directed by women, for the betterment of one another, the project will be yet another veneer to mask fundamental social and economic issues faced by the majority of Saudi women.
In Saudi Arabia’s conservative culture, there are many obstacles that prevent women’s social and professional advancement. That is not to say there are no pioneering Saudi women who have challenged the path of least resistance and achieved great things, including those who have become the country’s first female filmmakers, pilots, flight dispatchers, Mount Everest mountain climbers, government ministers, fine arts performers, Olympic athletes, and UNDP and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors. There are women business owners, engineers, doctors, academics, television, and radio anchors and other female professionals in the country.
This success, however, has been achieved on an individual level. Collectively, Saudi women fare less well. In January 2013, women gained access by appointment to the all-male Shura Council, a government body that advises Saudi King Abdullah, but still cannot run for political office and are not expected to gain the vote until 2015. Among other forms of disparate treatment, women’s gyms are not granted licenses and, of course, there is the ban on female drivers in the country.
Al-Mrah can be a platform that brings women’s individual successes to a larger audience and generates support for the social and political changes they seek in Saudi Arabia. A female leadership team for the channel would make these possibilities even more likely.