Restatement of purpose
The purpose of this study is twofold. First, this study seeks to be attuned to the voices of Saudi women leaders in the USA. Second, this study seeks to highlight their success factors, practices, and barriers that are hindering Saudi women’s progression into leadership roles and affecting their gender perceptions.
Research Design
A research methodology is the plan and structure of investigation to obtain answers to research questions (Kothari, 2005). To collect data in this study, a qualitative research / Narrative inquiry approach will be used. What “narrative researchers hold in common is the study of stories or narratives or descriptions of a series of events” (Pinnegar & Daynes, 2007, p. 4).
Population
This study is will select seven to ten Saudi women who have been living in the USA for at least four years and their ages (30-60). By using interviews, the study will explore the experiences of three Saudi women living in the USA. Two types of purposeful sampling will be used: convenience and snowball (Creswell, 2008, 2009). They will be selected using a convenience/ snowball qualitative sampling. For convenience sampling, participants were willing and available to share their lived stories (Creswell, 2008). For snowball sampling, the participants from the convenience sampling will receive an email to recommend other participants for the study. The participants will be listed in a table that has more information about them.
Data Collection/
In order for Saudi Arabian culture to have adopted such a mentality they must have had large amounts of people - particularly males - with the same belief in extreme modesty and male superiority. If at the inception of the Saudi Arabian culture individuals believed females were inferior to males, Saudi Arabian culture must have adopted policies that implied male superiority and misogyny. The means by which cultures create consensus upon shared beliefs such as male superiority and misogyny is to make the shared beliefs into a generally accepted ideology or law. Laws are made of rules; they determined “how the [ideology of gender roles] was formulated, applied and implemented” (Yahyaoui 38). In order to make particular gender roles a generally accepted Saudi Arabian ideology, the ideology must have been supported by laws both directly and indirectly. One form of direct control of women is religious police or vigilante. Women aren’t allowed to socialize, act, or dress in a fashion that isn’t considered appropriate. In order to ensure that no woman is behaving outside of what the culture condones, Saudi Arabian males created
Being born and raised in America, I and many other Americans have been taught that we live in a country of freedom. Women and men are treated equally; every human being has rights, and you have the freedom to move at will and without restrictions. Women have come a long way in our country, gaining rights ever since the dawn of patriarchy and proving that they are just as good as men with the ability to think, speak, and act for themselves. However, discrimination of women still exists in America and many other countries, but women are taking a stand and trying to eliminate the inequality between genders, such as the difference in salaries, and the bad representation of and portrayal of women in the media.
“Life is full of unhappiness and most of it caused by women (Harik and Marston 11)”. For women in the Middle East life is faced with great and unequal odds, as their human rights are limited, due to Islamic beliefs and that of patriarchy. From their daily actions at home to their physical appearance, Middle Eastern women are portrayed as quiet, faceless women veiled from head to toe. While this image is just another stereotype, women in the middle do face many obstacles and challenges of creating their own identity as they are frequently denied a voice in their rights. Living in a society dominated by men life is not, but regardless women in the Middle East, predominantly Muslims, continue to fight for
In recent years, America’s attention has been gripped by stories of women who have escaped from the Middle East. Each has a unique story, but they all have the same themes of oppression, abuse, and domination. Americans rushed onto the scene ready to “save” Middle Eastern women and many of the activists are now been highly praised for the influence they made in the region. Others, however, have come to question whether the Muslim women in the Middle East really needed the U.S. to rescue them from Islam. *Insert Thesis*
The first country, allowing women to vote was New Zealand in 1893.The next country was Australia 9 years later and 18 years later the US finally decided to ratify the 19th amendment allowing women to vote. And almost 100 years later, after the US, Saudi Arabia decided to let the women of their country to vote. Many people think that the US took too long to make the decision to let women vote, but what do you think the women of Saudi Arabia thought when the majority of the countries let women vote but they. Saudi Arabia has very strict laws when it comes to the rights of women in fact, they only earned the right to ride a bike in 2013 and earned the right to drive this year.As a woman living in a country where women have an awful lot of rights compared to places like Saudi Arabia I feel that women’s rights in Saudi Arabia are completely unfair.
Chapter four of Creswell (2013) discusses the different research approaches. These approaches consist of: narrative research, phenomenological research, grounded theory research, ethnographic research, and case study research. Each of these research approaches has defining features, different categories within each type, procedures, and lastly, challenges.
Saudi Arabian women should feel free about the way they present themselves in public places. There’re a lot of rules and regulations about what women can wear and do in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Women aren’t allowed to drive, they must always have a guardian, and there are separate buildings and lines for women and men. For example, women must cover her whole body in public and in front of men. In the essay “Saudis in Bikinis” by Nicholas D. Kristof, talks about a time where he was in Saudi Arabia, and women were wearing a abayas. An abayas is a long black cloak worn by Muslim women, it covers the whole body head to toe, but their eyes. Kristof calls them, “black ghost”, it’s part of the women’s culture to wear
First off women in Saudi Arabia face Discrimination from everyone, even the country's highest religious authority its Grand Mutifi, who said that women's involvement in politics would be like “ Opening the door to evil”. In addition the Grand Mutifi also stated that it would be a “dangerous matter” when asked what he thought about women gaining the right to drive driving (Source 1). In my opinion the religious leaders are the ones most responsible for the discrimination of women in Saudi Arabia. In, fact I believe that they are more responsible than the top government officials because of the fact that in many aspects the religious leaders have more power than the majority of government officials. However the political leaders don't get a break
In today’s world, many people believe men are the ones who possessed the physical, and mental endurance to do beyond and greater things then woman. America and the Middle East share some similarities, but have more differences when it comes to women’s right, education, and freedom.Women in American gained their rights during the 1920s (Women Suffrage Movement ), and until this day women in the Middle East are struggling to obtain their rights, because of the domain society the live in.
Chapter 1-What really stood out to me in chapter one was the section about woman praying during the shabbat. Men would spit on them and curse them for praying. Most haredim men believe women should be at home on the Shabbat, cooking for their families. What also stood out to me was the fact that the haredi population doubles every seventeen years. Not only that but, the population of people between the sea and the Jordan has increased also.This causes stress on the environment! Lastly, I have learned that in places like Bnei Brak, pollution is increasing due to the number of automobiles. Lands are suffering from water pollution, air pollution, and animal extinction.
I Believe Jacoby’s intended audience are both male and female, he is letting women know they have rights. Drastic measures may just have to be taken to fight for those rights. By sticking together it can be possible. Once these women overcome their fight to freedom they will be undefeated. The essay in my opinion is also a warning to males that they should never underestimate a woman, to show them all the challenges women face to be treated equally.
Creswell, John.W (1998). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Traditions., Sage Publication, Oak, California
The women of Saudi Arabia have been oppressed by the men of the country for generations due to the ignorance of the people, their Islamic faith, and the government. They have no rights and they must receive permission from their husbands or fathers to work, travel, and receive medical attention. The memoir Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia by Jean Sasson, is an excellent example of the oppression of women in Saudi Arabia and the literary devices of characterization and setting help to bring the oppression to life.
When utilizing a qualitative approach, the task becomes one of determining the qualitative method to be used. Additionally, Stake (2010) used purpose, research design, and methodical data techniques as a way of classifying types of qualitative research. Similarly, Cresswell & Cresswell (2007) spoke of five practices of qualitative research. These five practices consist of biography, phenomenological study, grounded theory study, ethnography, and case study. This researcher chose a phenomenological study for this research project.
Qualitative research methods are utilized to study the social and cultural phenomena. So it includes observation, participant observation (field work), interview sessions, documents and texts and finally the researcher’s imitations and feedback. [Myers, 2009]