Final Paper

Social media as Counter-publics for  Saudi Women in Discussing

 Male Guardianship.

Saudi women have been constantly silenced, censored, and oppressed. In breaking their silence, Saudi women turned to public forums, specifically social media platforms. To raise awareness about the issues that concern them daily by creating a counter-public that protects their identity and shares their views, stories, and opinions about what’s happening to them in the country. These public forums by creating a counter-public community encouraged and strengthened female activists in calling for reform and obtaining attention from the state regarding various matters, such as the end of male guardianship and the female driving ban. The male guardianship laws grant male relatives the power to have authority over the Saudi female's freedom and decision-making process, more precisely, considering her a minor under the law (Alotaibi and Mulderrig, 2021, 1). Through public forums and counter-publics, Saudi women and female activists succeeded in generating petitions denouncing the law. Counter-publics refers to the space; for marginalized groups to discuss, critique, and challenge the dominant group or the state and campaign (Thorsen and Sreedharan, 2019, 1124). The question of how social movements in a censored and conservative society were possible through public forums becomes fundamental. This article will explore how public forums can be a double-edged sword for Saudi women, where they can demand their rights and be threatened and unsafe. Furthermore, it will discuss how Saudi women are in a constant battle between demanding their rights and protecting themselves from the unknown. This paper will argue that public forums, precisely, social media platforms, mattered in the case of Saudi women’s fight against male guardianship mainly because of the level of counter-public it could provide and not because of the level of freedom they obtain over social media. Nevertheless, public forums can and are still a threat to Saudi women's fight for freedom, safety, and rights as they expose women and deny counter-discourses. 

Social media platforms are often regarded as a revolutionary way of demanding justice and reform because of their ability to reach out to many people; locally and globally, and put pressure on the government and other institutions by involving various stakeholders, from locals and victims to officials and policymakers, in addition to international organization and the international community. Nevertheless, attention is scarcely given to what the people behind the social media accounts go through, encounter, and risk to voice their concerns on the issue. Saudi women are a fundamental element in the discourse of the balance between the risks and potentials of demanding rights through social media. Therefore, when looking at social media’s capability to create a change, it is necessary to level one’s expectations because of the danger some people endure while asking for that change. “Saudi women’s rights activists are challenged from multiple fronts, including the state, the religious lobby, and counter-campaigns from women who hold opposing and more conservative views” (Tønnessen, 2016, 20). It is important to note that within the counter-public, opinions varied in terms of to what degree do they need reforms, some were extremely radical in their visions, while others were more moderate in what they wanted.

The significance of social media for individuals from conservative societies, in addition to their active participation in various discourses; whether political, social, sensitive, or taboo topics, they can protect their identity by using pseudonyms, not sharing private information, and not putting their pictures up on social media. Anonymity in social media is crucial for Saudi women; it allows them to explore different topics while expressing their views and opinions freely. Female participation in discourses online allows society to recognize their immense influence on society. The online persona of Saudi women is constructed delicately without revealing too much of the offline identity but clear enough to portray the purpose of the account and the intentions. As Guta and Karolak stated, “Concealing identity from the scrutinizing of family members in an online environment that protects individual privacy, enables females to explore other subjects of interest that cannot be tolerated in public” (Guta, Karolak, 2015, 121). Through a constructed online identity, Saudi women protect themselves, their families, and their views from getting attacked. The end of the male guardianship movement on social media falls under the types of topics not encouraged for discussion in the public sphere or traditional media because of their sensitivity. Participants of the #TogetherToEndMaleGuardianship online campaign protested by posting posters hiding their faces, a cartoon profile picture, and using pseudonyms and nicknames (Anderson, 2017). Thus, social media allowed Saudi women to demand their rights in ways that the public sphere never provided them with, whether protecting their identity or expressing their views without boundaries. Nevertheless, there are restrictions on Saudi women on social media in different ways; Saudi users are encouraged to participate in the various forms of censorship by reporting inappropriate content online or content that is not considered preferable to the Saudi society and state (Thorsen & Sreedharan, 2019, 1126). 

Counter publics are often invalidated and attacked because of how they challenge the norms, the state, and society. During the online campaign advocating for an end to male guardianship, Saudi women faced backlash and criticism from their male counterparts and even females. To fight the female-led campaign; a hashtag quickly went trending on social media asserting that ‘Saudi Women Proud of Guardianship’ (Perez, 2016). Although the effectiveness of social media and public forums is that it provides both sides of the story for the public to judge, in this case, it heavily invalidates the lived experiences of many Saudi women who have fallen victims to the male guardianship law. The rise of such campaigns opposing them asking for their rights proves to the females fighting the unwillingness of society to listen to them and acknowledge their experiences. The influential religious figure, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh, said, “Any call to abolish male guardianship constituted a ‘crime’ against Sunni Islam” (Perez, 2016). Such comments by prominent religious figures in the country reduce the influence of the campaign by encouraging people to oppose it. The reason statements like this hold extensive authority, as Alotaibi and Mulderrig described, “The guardianship system is not enforced by the judiciary or royal decree, but instead through Saudi Arabia’s powerful religious tier” (Alotaibi and Mulderrig, 2021, 2). Many objectors to the end male guardianship movement support their argument by using religion, referencing Quranic verses or sayings of the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH), and reiterating the importance of family union and strong familial ties. 

Nevertheless, the negligence of social media's aid in ending the male guardianship campaign is not ideal. By creating a counter-public where they discuss counter-discourses, Saudi women succeeded in building a community where they can bring up political and social issues regarding their well-being and status as Saudi citizens. They succeeded in creating a petition, acquiring 14,700 signatures from women and men, and sent it to the king to demand reforms (Alotaibi and Mulderrig, 2021, 3). The signatories revealed their identities by signing their full names and ID numbers. Saudi women’s rights activists and groups are not allowed to function fully due to the various risks present. Therefore they demand justice and their rights through other means which are more lawful and less risky. “They operate through the circulation of work online (either in the form of blogs, reports, or campaigns) and petitions—since the Basic Law of Governance opens up the possibility for citizens to petition the king or the crown prince” (Tønnessen, 2016, 18). 

Despite the achievement of social media platforms in giving Saudi women spaces to create counter-publics and discuss various important issues, the risk they endure is substantial, from being targeted to being threatened. While their participation in such acts is present, they conceal their identity with a female that wants freedom, justice, and to become her own person. “Online activists have also been punished under the 2014 Antiterrorism Law that defines terrorism as broadly as ‘insulting the reputation of the state’ and ‘disturbing public order of the state’ (Anderson, 2017). The broadness of the law allows the targeting of Saudi female activists who go against the norms of society by the state and citizens. Saudi women are under constant monitoring. Although some reforms took place regarding the guardianship law, as a consequence of the pressure of the counter-public community and the campaign, there were imprisonments for anti-guardianship activists. Thus, seen is a pattern where although slight changes took place, female online activists who were on the front lines of campaigns such as the end of male guardianship and lifting the ban on women driving were imprisoned and actively threatened (Wagtendonk, 2019). In efforts to become modern and more open in specific things, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is easing restrictions but simultaneously holding onto certain traditions and holding accountable those who initially started and advocated for the change. 

Saudi women's online activism significance derives from the question of to what extent can the media influence and push for change in a conservative society? They were muted and suppressed from voicing their opinions or demanding their rights, the counter-public community created through social media platforms allowed them to freely express their views and mobilize them without being afraid of getting exposed. Nevertheless, the risks of social media activism for Saudi women withstand. Imprisonments, cyberattacks, and threats are all parts of online activism for these women. Blinded by the achievements made possible because of social media, we need to level our expectations of what they can really do. Ultimately, social media does not give Saudi women full freedom; they are still unsafe and at risk in many ways. The techno-utopian assumption that Saudi women are consistently and adequately capable of carrying out political and social movements is flawed. While social media provides them with a platform to discuss diverse issues and engage with their male counterparts in ways they can't in a traditional setting, the limitations are present, and changes will not occur overnight. This discussion of the role of social media to Saudi women with the risks presents the question of are Saudi women willing to ask for more reforms through social media once again? Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages of the dangers of online activism in a conservative society? 

References

Alotaibi, N., & Mulderrig, J. (2021). Debating Saudi womanhood: A corpus-aided critical discourse analysis of the representation of Saudi women in the Twitter campaign against the 'Male Guardianship' system. In Exploring Discourse and Ideology through Corpora. (pp. 233-262). Lausanne, Switzerland: Peter Lang Verlag.  https://doi.org/10.3726/b17868

Anderson, A. (2017, February 15). Saudi Women and Dissent: Use of Social Media for Online Activism. The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. https://jsis.washington.edu/news/saudi-women-dissent-use-social-media-online-activism/

Guta, H., & Karolak, M. (2015). Veiling and blogging: Social media as sites of identity negotiation and expression among Saudi women. Journal of International Women's Studies, 16(2), 115-127.

Merlyna Lim. (2018). Unveiling Saudi Feminism(s): Historicization, Heterogeneity, and Corporeality in Women’s Movements. Canadian Journal of Communication, 43(3), 461–479. https://doi.org/10.22230/cjc.2018v43n3a3379

Perez, F. (2016, September 9). Saudi women denounce male guardianship on Twitter. DW. Retrieved from https://www.dw.com/en/saudi-women-denounce-male-guardianship-on-twitter/a-19563156

Thorsen, E., & Sreedharan, C. (2019). #EndMaleGuardianship: Women’s rights, social media and the Arab public sphere. New media & society, 21(5), 1121-1140.

Tønnessen, L. (2016). Women’s activism in Saudi Arabia: Male guardianship and sexual violence. CMI Report.

Wagtendonk, A. van. (2019, August 3). Saudi Arabia changed its guardianship laws, but activists who fought them remain imprisoned. Vox. https://www.vox.com/world/2019/8/3/20752864/saudi-arabia-guardianship-laws-women-travel-employment-mbs

Media References

ADHRB (2018, October 19). Ms Saffaa Artwork, Women in Shemagh. https://www.adhrb.org/2018/10/art-as-protest-ms-saffaa-and-the-male-guardianship-system-in-saudi-arabia/

Human Rights Watch. (2019, January 30). Saudi Arabia: 10 Reasons Why Women Flee [Video]. https://youtu.be/69Sa_FNjP7g