We had to pick a stereotype, and analyse it thoroughly.
Then provide our own opinions.
My topic was Homophobics.
Gay bashers.
Which was a very interesting topic.
Due to its psychological background, I ended up writing an entire thesis on it.
There was another stereotype I wanted to work on, however.
The stereotype of gender roles in Saudi Arabia.
A few days ago, I was reading this book.
It was a biography of a Saudi Arabic princess.
Now, this Saudi Princess had many privileges.
She had servants at her every beck and call.
She had her pick of whatever clothes to wear.
If they weren't enough,
She could always buy more.
She had everything she wanted, as long as it didn't go against the rules of her religion - rules of her country.
Which was fair enough, I suppose.
I mean, every country has to have its rules.
And I'm pretty sure Islam isn't a bad religion.
I mean all religions teach us to be good.
So it's a good thing, in a way.
If there were anything bad, it'd be because the people who practiced it twisted its meaning.
The princess had a life of luxury.
But she was not free.
You see, being a woman in Saudi Arabia,
You were subjected to be obedient.
You had to obey the men.
No matter how much of a bastard the man is, you had to obey.
You couldn't stand up for yourself, no matter how much you wanted to.
The men could beat you to a pulp, and you had to take it.
That was how it was.
Women had very little rights.
There was one story in the book,
It was about a 13 year old girl.
She had just begun her teen years.
One night, her parents went out and left her brother in charge of the house.
The brother invited all his friends over to the place and had a grand party.
They turned the music up at full volume, smoked, had drugs and drank booze.
An illegal thing to do in Saudi Arabia.
Now the little girl was trying to sleep at the time.
Her room was one floor above the party place.
Because of the loud music, she couldn't sleep.
So she decided to go down and ask her brother to turn down the volume.
She was in her nightdress.
She poked her head through the door of the party room.
She yelled for her brother, but he didn't hear.
So she decided to look for him.
She slipped in, and in the process, got herself gang raped by her brother's friends.
Because the men thought she was a prostitute of some sort, hired to bring entertainment.
She kicked, screamed and yelled that she was the daughter of the owner of the house.
But none of them listened, obviously.
When they realized who she was, they bolted out of the house.
The girl got pregnant, the boys made up a story saying that she enticed them to have sex with her.
The religious leaders and the girl's father refused to listen to her story.
They thought the men were right.
So the girl was stoned to death for her "sins".
After she gave birth to her child.
Now I'm not too sure how much has changed in Saudi Arabia now,
'Cos the book was published back in the 1990s.
But I was definitely very shocked when I read it.
I hated how the women were so mistreated.
How they had little or no rights at all.
I honestly can't see how they could treat women the way they do.
It's barbaric.
How can a country be so rich, yet still so backward?
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