Joseph Meyers Women and Sports Post#1

Arabic Culture #1

With the 2014 winter Olympics already underway in Sochi, much of the sporting world has come together to compete on the globes highest stage. While watching the Olympics I was curious about how Arabic culture and sports combined. I actually found a major conflict with Arabic women and sports. Through history Arabic women have been excluded from most, if not all sporting events. However, that trend has been changing. I read an interesting interview about a female athlete from Qatar who is a Summer Olympic hopeful. She said, “Before, women couldn't go out or do sports, but then everything changed when the Asian Games came to Qatar in 06. That's when women started realizing it was possible to play too. Now I have a lot of support” In previous years women would not even be given a chance to participate in sport. On the other hand Saudi Arabia has taken a harsher approach on women in sports.  Even stadiums prohibit women from viewing. However in a private setting women are allowed to participate in whatever athletics they want, but as soon as they leave to a public stetting they are considered to be going against their natural role. Families have even gone as far as calling women in sports “embarrassing” and instead should be home doing household duties.

            Until 2013, women were even “banned” from sports.  Conservative Islamic authorities backed the ban, even to the point where women were harshly reprimanded for taking part in sport. Human rights organizations have tried to make a stand to help gain participation of Saudi women. In 2013, the first Women’s sport center opened in Saudi Arabia. I major step forwards in gaining gender equality in athletics. Saudi Arabia headlined the 2012 London Olympics with sending its first female athletes to compete at any level, let alone on the national scale. One of Saudi Arabia’s female athlete competed in Judo and the other ran the 800-meter track race. Both athletes received a lot of harsh criticism by Saudi Arabia for taking part in such a public event. Unfortunately, neither athlete medaled in the Olympics but defiantly set a tone for future Saudi female athletes to come.

Prior to this and even after the event the Olympic committee has placed pressure upon Saudi Arabia to send female athletes to compete as well as promote sport throughout the country.

 Activist groups such as the Human Rights Watch (HRW) have openly supported and criticized the Saudi and partially Islamic belief of women in sports. Another more localized effort to bring sport equality has come from a women’s basketball team named Jeddah United, making headlines for supporting women’s fitness in Saudi Arabia. The country of Saudi Arabia has been making significant strides in gaining gender equality in athletics, but there is still much to be done in this cause. Some women aim to fight for this cause until no more barriers remain. It seems to be a long fight that wont be easy but the results would be worth it.