Foreign Policy: Lingerie Store Redefines 'Support'
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—On the "ladies' level" at the Kingdom Centre shopping mall in the Saudi capital, winds of change for Saudi women are blowing among the racks of bras. Gender barriers are falling among the body-shapers and panties. In what Saudi activists argue is one of several potentially momentous moves this spring and summer to ease some of the toughest strictures in the world upon women, Saudi Arabia says that it is remaking employment regulations — so that women clerks can wait upon female customers in lingerie stores.
Never mind that it took changes in the labor law in 2005-2006, a boycott and online campaigns by Saudi female activists, and, ultimately, personal intervention by King Abdullah himself this month to counter fatwas regarding lingerie clerks, simply so that Saudi women wouldn't have to talk to male clerks about cup sizes and overflowing muffin tops.
In deeply conservative Saudi Arabia, where King Abdullah's government moved this year to further open jobs and education for women and responded surprisingly leniently last week to the most significant protest in decades against the kingdom's ban on women driving, this summer is what amounts to hopeful times for supporters of greater freedom for Saudi women.
"This is something great! A huge change," says 18-year-old Latifa al-Fahed, scanning the racks in the lingerie section at the Kingdom Centre's Debenhams department store.
(King Abdullah's edict, yet to be implemented, requires that female clerks sell what the king called "women's necessities," even in malls where men are present. Currently, most stores in Saudi Arabia, and the majority of workplaces overall, are staffed by men — Saudi women make up less than 15 percent of Saudi nationals in the workforce. The exceptions include female education and health care, and segregated women-only malls and "ladies' levels," where women can shop alone among other women, at a price premium.)
Even conservative women who oppose other moves, such as allowing women to drive, are applauding the lingerie measure. "I'm married, so I wanted to buy something a little sexy," Fatima, a 22-year-old in niqab that covers all but her eyes, explains to me after buying something lacy and floral on the ladies' level. "These are sensitive issues, and I definitely would not buy from a man. I support this change."
While on the surface quite small, each of the pending changes, Saudi activists argue, should be viewed as a chipping away at the gender segregation that crushes the employment prospects of most of the kingdom's more than 10 million Saudi women and drains fortunes from Saudi women and their families.
Breakthrough Religious Barriers - News
Smashing one of the first of many barriers to mixing genders in the workplace may lead to breakthroughs in other professional and trade fields, says Princess Ameerah al-Taweel. The wife of a Saudi prince who is one of the world's wealthiest men,
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, some of the last theoretical barriers to magnetic fusion were raised. "For people who believe in fusion, we don't believe in it because we have some religious faith in it. It's because we've done the research,
Traditionally, women across the nation face 'deep prejudices, profound discrimination, barriers to their advancement in the areas of education, politics, economics, nutrition, healthcare, equality and even survival itself. They also face sex stereotype
The underlying concern among WTA officials was that Richards would relegate its practitioners, at their breakthrough moment, to nothing more than a cast of freaks. In other words, Richards would later note, the very women who sought to break barriers,
They feel like 'ambassadors' for their cultures, and their shared interest in science, and Africa's future, quickly overcomes language and religious barriers. Take Daphney Singo (pictured overleaf), daughter of a domestic worker in the Limpopo region
Preview: In God's Name: President Bill Clinton and Christiane ...
CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour and former U.S. President Bill Clinton discuss the recent struggles in Israel and Lebanon, the daily clashes in Iraq and the question of whether religion can be a solution -- and not just a source of conflict.
Religion will never be a solution for humanity. Religion blatantly misrepresents God as it is not His creation. Religion was man's invention. As Adam in the garden hid behind fig leaves upon discovering his nakedness, mankind also has sought to hide behind religious affiliations instead of pursuing a relationship with the Creator of heaven and earth.
Religion is all about doing in an effort to become good enough to curry favor with God. Christ however died on the cross for us, having done the biggest work, so we can be liberated from religion and having to do good works. God is a Spirit and He desires humanity to enter the realm of the Spirit rather than be duped by dead religion.
Jesus warned that before He returns to the earth there will be killing occurring in the name of God. Jesus said that these who would kill "in the name of God" would think they are doing God a service (John 16:1-3). On the contrary, killers take God's name in vain and grossly misrepresent His heart toward humanity.
To answer the question then, the answer is a resounding NO. Religion is NOT the answer. In fact RELIGION IS THE PROBLEM.
The answer is to teach spirituality rather than religiosity and thereby reeducate humanity in regard to the realm and dimension of the Spirit. Spirituality is liberating. Religiosity is aggravating. Religion divides. Spirituality is experiential, celebratory and unifies. Religion is dogmatic and divisive. Spirituality is divine and transcends all barriers facing mankind.
Paul Davis is a minister and author of several books including God vs. Religion; Breakthrough for a Broken Heart; Stop Lusting & Start Living; and Adultery: 101 Reasons Not to Cheat.
Paul is a life coach (relational & professional), popular worldwide keynote speaker, creative consultant, explorer, mediator, minister, liberator and dream-maker.
Paul's compassion for people & passion to travel has taken him to over 50 countries of the world where he has had a tremendous impact. Paul has also brought revival to many in war-torn, impoverished and tsunami stricken regions of the earth. His nonprofit organization Dream-Maker Ministries is building dreams and breaking limitations.
Breakthrough Religious Barriers - Bookshelf
The Metavalues Breakthrough, Limitless Power, Boundless Opportunities
... individuals transcend the barriers of labels when they are driven by MetaValues, ... Although many Actualizers had a formal religion, they had also ...The reinvention of religious music, Olivier Messiaen's breakthrough toward the beyond
Breakthrough is not thinkable in a pure sense; it is always already ... for a pure breakthrough nor a purely idolatrous barrier to a religious passage, ...Time of the Quickening, Prophecies for the Coming Utopian Age
Not only does a breakthrough religion promise to unite the people of the world in a common brotherhood of love, but more and more artificial barriers come ...Mercer dictionary of the Bible
The Hellenistic Breakthrough of National-Religious Barriers (6:1-12:25) I. Stephen: Witness to God beyond National Boundaries and Martyr for It (6: 1-8: la ) ...Religion, beyond a concept
It is more realistic to assume that in matters “religious” we may not even hope to work the ... But the concept “reverse breakthrough” might well contain a ...Day-to-day Information Directory
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Amazon.com: Give It Back!: God's Weapons For Turning Evil To Good Break Through The Enemy's Barriers Reclaim What Is Yours! (9781599790572): Kim Daniels: Books
The Path to Happiness
She is able to break through religious barriers, for what she speaks of cannot be limited to any one religion. It is helpful to any and all seeking ...
BIMI -
In order to break through religious and cultural barriers, we have to do exactly what Paul did. ... Another way we break through barriers is by taking advantage of the people's ...
Acts In Motion
Jeffrey & Alina have a pioneering anointing to breakthrough religious barriers. They bring a fresh understanding and demonstration in worship and the arts. ...
CAC Women of Purpose
CAC Women of Purpose Official Website; a branch of CAC Wosem Chicago Church ... Category: Religious. Category : Religious. Description : Hour of Breakthrough. A New Dawn By ...