Under The Invisibility Cloak

One of the advantages of being a woman here in Saudi Arabia is that I get to talk to and see women under the black cloaks that keep them hidden from the rest of the world.

In Saudi Arabia women have a very strict dress code. They must, without fail, wear a black abaya, a black hijab and a black niqab. I am told that only recently have the abayas been permitted to have a little bit of sparkle or a splash of color on the ends of the sleeves, but only foreigners wear those. A real Saudi Women is a purist and wears plain black. An abaya is intended to take away all a woman’s curves and hide the way she walks from men. Girls start wearing the abayas when they start going through puberty. You can see 9 or ten year old girls wearing training abayas that are just black robes that they leave open in the front. They don't wear the hijab etc until they are about 12 or 13.

There are stores like this one all over the place that sell nothing but black abayas, hijabs and niqabs.

The hijab is the head scarf that is meant to cover a woman’s hair. In KSA it is black, foreigners sometimes wear colors other than black, but it makes you stick out and invites everyone to stare at you. The niqab is a piece of black cloth that is tied around your head over your hijab to cover your entire face with a small slit for your eyes to peer out.

There are niqabs that have a thinner fabric over the eyes so that not even your eyes are visible but those are less common. Non-muslims are not required to wear the niqab but some do just to avoid the unwanted attention. The entire ensemble is intended to make women invisible. Saudi’s will tell you it is to protect women from men and their (apparently) uncontrollable need to attack women. I think it is to help you know what it would feel like to be invisible.

And if there is a wardrobe malfunction and a woman is visible...there is always photoshop to erase them. In case you haven't read it, the Ikea catalogs for Saudi Arabia have had all the women removed. There are no pictures of women on billboards or advertisements, products or signs. In major European or American stores, the in store displays are modified to erase the women's faces.

My students are all 18 to 19 year old girls with fancy smart phones and in each class, after they became comfortable with me, one of the girls would shyly walk up to me with her phone and nervously piece together the words of a request to take my picture. They are strictly forbidden from taking pictures of themselves, their mothers, their sisters and their friends so when I agree (because I really don't care if my picture is taken) they all whip out their phones and to the soundtrack of giggling and squeals of delight they take 100s of photos of me but are extremely careful to not stand in front of a camera. They duck and avoid them as though they are loaded guns, shrieking if they think someone is pointing the camera at them. They gave presentations about their family and only showed pictures of men, even though we are in an all women's university.

This uniformity of appearance can present challenges because you really can't tell people apart. I remember I went to the mall my first day here. It was full of women and wonderful shops. As it turns out there are TONS of big beautiful air conditioned shopping malls. I understand that this is what the Saudi Women do all day. They can’t work, they can’t drive, there are no movie theaters here and eating at restaurants can be complicated without your husband so their husbands drop them off at the mall and they stay there all day. If you do want to catch a bite to eat at a public place like a mall you can buy it at the "ladies window" and then take it behind these screens to eat it. Men can't go back there because there are women who have raised their niqabs to eat.

Women have a separate entrance to Mosques, restaurants and even banks!

All the women are in full black getup whenever they go out. They all look exactly the same, long flowy black abayas and a black hood covering their head and face. Only their eyes are peering out and some even have their eyes covered. I was standing in the crowded supermarket and saw a little 5 year old girl running frantically around and calling for her mother. She, like most children at some point or another, got separated from her mother and was now frantic to find her. I was thinking how much more difficult that situation would be for her. She was looking at a sea of black burqas and the only way to identify her mother would be to hear her voice or to see her eyes closely because even everyone’s eyes look similar. I am told that Saudi children learn to notice their mom's height and size, the way she walks and the shoes she wears or they are just cautious not to get lost.

That all being said...UNDER the invisibility cloak these women are smart and sassy and stylish and outspoken and fun! I just adore my students and love working with them. At school they don't wear their abayas and it is always a shock to me to see them putting it all on as they approach the exit. While on campus each girl wears a black skirt and a modest top, but the uniformity ends there. Their hairstyles, shirts and shoes and even glasses seem to scream at the top of their lungs that under all that black fabric they are indeed unique. They have style and interests. There are hipsters, and athletes, and nerds and tomboys and prima-donnas with tons of make up and high end clothing. They laugh and joke and play and cry and even pray here in their private world and then at the end of the day they all head for the door and just before they walk out into the men’s world beyond they wrap themselves completely in black and join the uniform ranks of women, where their uniqueness is only evident in the eye makeup and fake lashes they wear There is usually a mutawa (religious police) waiting just on the other side of the gate to make sure that everyone is completely covered.

I love being able to see both sides of this fascinating culture. But I am glad I don't have to see it from behind a mask.