Showing posts with label drive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drive. Show all posts

Friday, June 17, 2011

Little Veiled Woman From Madinah (Sung to a Beach Boys Tune)

I hope there are lots of news reports and posts about women who drove in Saudi Arabia today.  TIME's coverage is the only professional journalist coverage  I've found so far.   This is significant in so many ways.

Women are the majority in every culture unless other cultural practices such as selective abortion, infanticide (in all its forms), extreme gender differences in access to food resources are in play and institutionalized.

Arab Spring has been typified as political unrest and that often is misinterpreted because of too narrow of a definition of political.  Governmental processes only one small part of political structure.  I would make the argument that women' participation in government, including willingness to engage in civil disobedience and to be arrested is extremely significant and at least as important for the trajectory of governance of a country as any other element of government.

While I am sure there are many ways to celebrate this important event in a continuing campaign, I find myself singing something similar to the Beach Boys Little Old Lady from "Pasadena."

It's the Little Veiled Woman From Madinah

The little veiled lady from Madinah

Go
lady, go lady, go lady go
Has a pretty little flower bed of white gardenias
Go lady, go lady, go lady go
But parked in her family's Saudi garage
Is her brand new shiny red Super Stock Dodge

And everybody's saying that there's nobody braver

Than the
little veiled lady from Madinah
She drives real safe and she drives real good
She's the terror of Amir Abdulah Boulevard
It's the little
veiled lady from Madinah

If you see her on the street don't try to choose her

Go lady, go lady, go lady go
You might drive a goer but you'll never lose her
Go lady, go lady, go lady go
Well, she's gonna get a ticket now sooner or later
'Cause she can't keep her foot off the accelerator
And everybody's saying that there's nobody braver
Than the
little veiled lady from Madinah
She drives real safe and she drives real good
She's the terror of Amir Abdulah Boulevard


It's
the little veiled lady from Madinah

Go lady, go lady, go lady go
Go lady, go lady, go lady go
The cops come to bust her from miles around
But she'll give 'em a length then she'll shut 'em down

And everybody's saying that there's nobody braver
Than the
little veiled lady from Madinah
She drives real safe and she drives real good
She's the terror of Amir Abdulah Boulevard


It's the little old lady from Pasadena


Go lady, go lady, go lady go
Lady go
Go lady, go lady, go lady go
Lady go

Go lady, go lady, go lady go
Lady go

Go lady, go lady, go lady go
Lady go

Please understand that I mean no disrespect.  I understand that Madinah is the second most holy city to Islam. It is also the Saudi city that best fits the lexical structure of the lyrics.

Go ladies!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Drive Sisters Drive!

It is well into Friday June 17th in Saudi Arabia as I write this and women there are demonstrating their ability and right to drive.  That is right. Drive. A car.  Women's voting rights are restricted there.  Similarly it is forbidden for women to drive.   They've been arrested.  Watch the You Tube video for which  Manal al-Sharif  was arrested when she uploaded it.  The video is of  her driving and talking about the about the driving ban and her feelings of hope that women were volunteering to join the Saudi Women Driving Campaign.

In the Washington D.C. women drove around the Saudi Embassy, encircling it,  in Foggy Bottom on Wednesday to show their support. My favorite support action thus far is the protest in Kiev where topless members of FEMEN demonstrated in front of the Saudi Embassy.

To follow what is going on use Twitter hashtags #women2drive #W2drive

Some have already reported success without problems, but one report's link to an image of a woman driving has already gone "empty."  The world is watching!   And commenting.    And supporting!!!

Drive sisters, drive!!!