The boys and the banned

This is old news, but I'm still steamed about it.

U.S. "ally" Saudi Arabia is preparing to hold its first nationwide elections early next year in a vote for municipal councils. In a country that was heretofore unencumbered by anything resembling democratic rule, these elections are considered a huge step forward.

Unless, that is, you were born with ovaries.

The Saudi government has hung a "men only" sign on the ballot boxes. Not only can women not run for office, they can't vote, either. And just to pour salt in the wound, prisoners (unlike in the U.S.) will be allowed to vote in the Saudi elections - provided, of course, that they're male. In other words, Saudi women have less of a voice in their government than criminals.

Which shouldn't amaze us, I suppose. Heck, I still marvel that these theocracies haven't made it illegal to have breasts.

Amnesty International points out that this discrimination is not explicit in Saudi Arabian law:

Saudi Arabia's electoral law is clear about women's participation. The law uses the word "citizen" -- in Arabic, this refers to both men and women in indicating those eligible to vote. Despite this, Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdel Aziz announced last month that women would not be allowed to take part in the elections, saying "I don't think that women's participation is possible."

Nonsense; of course it's "possible." It would take some work, but it's possible.

Unfortunately, it would also require your country to view women as people and not property.

Especially depressing is the way Saudi women seem to aid and abet their oppressors. For instance, one of the reasons cited for the "impossibility" of allowing women to vote is that many of them don't have the photo ID cards required of all voters. And the reason they don't have them, according to CNN, is that many women "have balked at getting the ID cards -- introduced three years ago -- because the photographs would show their faces unveiled."

Democratic reform comes slowly to the oppressed ... but it always seems to come more slowly to women than to anyone else - and even more slowly to those who oppress themselves.

Oh, one more thing: foreign observers will not be permitted.

But hey, what are a few human rights violations between friends, right?