PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI · Nama : Putri Riskya Iriani Nomor Mahasiswa : 104214015...

THE STRUGGLE OF WOMEN AGAINST GENDERDISCRIMINATIONS IN GIRLS OF RIYADH BY RAJAA

ALSANEA

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirementsfor the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

PUTRI RISKYA IRIANI

Student Number: 104214015

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMDEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERSSANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA2014

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

i


ALSANEA

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirementsfor the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

PUTRI RISKYA IRIANI


ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMDEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERSSANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA2014


ii

A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis


ALSANEA

ByPUTRI RISKYA IRIANI


Approved by

Dewi Widyastuti, S. Pd., M. Hum. November 13, 2014Advisor

Dra. A. B. Sri Mulyani, M.A., Ph. D. November 13, 2014Co-Advisor


iii

A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate ThesisTHE STRUGGLE OF WOMEN AGAINTS GENDER

DISCRIMINATIONS IN GIRLS OF RIYADH BY RAJAAALSANEA

ByPUTRI RISKYA IRIANI


Defended before the Board of Examinerson November 25, 2014

and Declared Acceptable

BOARD OF EXAMINERS

Name Signature

Chairperson : Dr. F. X. Siswadi, M.A. _______________

Secretary : A. B. Sri Mulyani, M.A., Ph.D. _______________

Member 1. : Dr. F. X. Siswadi, M.A. _______________

Member 2. : Dewi Widyastuti, S. Pd., M. Hum. _______________

Member 3. : A. B. Sri Mulyani, M.A., Ph.D. _______________

Yogyakarta, November 28, 2014

Faculty of Letters

Sanata Dharma University

Dean

Dr. F. X Siswadi, M.A.


iv

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

I certify that this undergraduate thesis contains no material which has been

previously submitted for the award of any other degree at any university, and that,

to the best of my knowledge, this undergraduate thesis contains no material

previously written by any other person except where due to reference is made in

the text of the undergraduate thesis.

Yogyakarta, November 13, 2014

Putri Riskya Iriani


v

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA

ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma

Nama : Putri Riskya IrianiNomor Mahasiswa : 104214015

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada PerpustakaanUniversitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul

THE STRUGGLE OF WOMEN AGAINST GENDERDISCRIMINATIONS AS IN GIRLS OF RIYADH BY RAJAA

ALSANEA

beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikankepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan,mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalandata, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet ataumedia lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari sayamaupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama sayasebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Dibuat di YogyakartaPada tanggal 13 November 2014

Yang menyatakan,

Putri Riskya Iriani


vi

Whatever your past may have been,your future is still spotless

Boona Mohammed

As you get older, you will start tounderstand more and more that in

life, it’s not about what you look likeor what you own

It’s all about the person you’vebecome

Anonymous


vii

ForMy Beloved Parents

AndMy Lovely Family and

Friends


viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to say Alhamdulillahirabbil’aalamiin, all praise is

to Allah SWT, the One who owns my life and makes anything impossible,

possible, the One who hears me crying when no one else does, and obviously the

One who gives me strength in carrying all burdens, only with His permission that

I could finish this undergraduate thesis.

I also want to give my gratitude to my beloved parents, Pak Ngatmi and

Bu Harmi whose love for me never ends, the ones who always support me in

anything I do and always remind me when I did something wrong. Only with their

guidance I can be who I am now. I also send my gratitude to my great big family

that I know always pray for my success.

I want to express my gratitude to my beloved advisor, Dewi Widyastuti,

S. Pd., M. Hum. who always makes me feel excited to come to her office not

only to get her advice regarding my thesis but also to have a fun chat about

baking. Also, I would like to thank my co-advisor A. B. Sri Mulyani, M.A., Ph.

D. who has helped me with her suggestions in order to improve the content in my

thesis.

Bunch of thanks to Mba Ebta, my beloved cousin who accompanied me

to stay up late working on my thesis, De Icha, whose support for me never ends,

and always reminds me that nothing is impossible, I thank her for all her duas for

me. I also give my great gratitude to Kak Fajar. He is one of the reasons I can

graduate on time.


ix

I want to say thanks to all of my best friends in campus who always

support me all the time and always be by my side whenever I need them: Sinta,

Diyan, Indy, Mba Aul, Mba Momon, Mba Pucil, Mba Pipi, Pinta, and

Michael. Last but not least, thanks to my high school friends and play mate,

because they are the one who can always make me laugh, with whom I can forget

all problems I’m facing : AOETISS 2010, Fassa, Neza, Cony and Nadia.

In addition, I thank everyone who might not realize their role in my life

especially during the hard time I was working on my thesis who I cannot mention

each of them.

Putri Riskya Iriani


x

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE …………………………………………………………….APPROVAL PAGE ……………………………………………………...ACCEPTANCE PAGE …………………………………………………..STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY …………………………………….LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ……………..MOTTO PAGE …….…………………………………………………….DEDICATION PAGE ………………………………………………..…..ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...……………………………………………..TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………...ABSTRACT ...…………………………………………………………….ABSTRAK ...……………………………………………………………...

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...……………………………………..A. Background of the Study………………………………B. Problem Formulation ………………………………….C. Objectives of the Study ……………………………….D. Definition of Terms ...…………………………………

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ………………………….A. Review of Related Studies..……………………………B. Review of Related Theories …………………………...

1. Character and Characterization ………….………...2. Gender Discrimination……………………………..3. Feminism …………………………………………..4. Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia…………………..5. Literature and Society……………………………...

C. Theoretical Framework ……………………………….

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY …………………………………….A. Object of the Study …………………………………….B. Approach of the Study……………..…………………..C. Method of the Study …………………………………..

CHAPPTER IV: ANALYSIS ……………………………………………A. The Descriptions of Major Characters…………………..

1. The Description of Gamrah…..…………………….a. Hardworking……………...................................b. Brave …………………………………………..

2. The Description of Michelle……………………….a. Tough…………………………………………..b. Critical………………………………………….c. Brave…………………………………………...d. Educated………………………………………..

iiiiiiivvviviiviiixxiixiii

11445

779101112141717

19192122

24242424262828293132


xi

B. The Gender Discrimination Revealed in the Novel……1. Social Life …..…………………………………….2. Domestic Life ……………………………………..3. Discrimination in Law ……………………………..4. Discrimination in Politics …………………………

C. The Struggle of Women toward Gender Discrimination1. Struggle Shown through Action ...…………………2. Struggle Shown through Speech …………...……...

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ………………………………………….

BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………..APPENDIX …...…………………………………………………...….......

3535404344454550

53

5759


xii

ABSTRACT

Putri Riskya Iriani. The Struggle of Women Against Gender Discriminationsin Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Al-Sanea. Yogyakarta: Department of EnglishLetters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2014.

In some societies women are often seen as inferior human beings. Womenare treated unequally and are often discriminated while men have the power tocontrol women. Eventually, women realize about their rights and they fight to getthe equal treatment as what men get. Saudi Arabia is one of the patriarchal societywhere women are not treated equally. There are many rules that prohibit women’smobility while men can have more freedom. The phenomenon of the conservativepatriarchal society of Saudi Arabia can be seen in the novel Girls of Riyadh byRajaa Al-Sanea. The novel reveals the struggle of Arab women in order to fightfor their rights as women. The writer analyzes the characteristics of the charactersin the novel and also the discriminations that they experienced in order to see howwomen in Saudi Arabia are struggling toward the gender discrimination.

There are three problems that have to be answered in order to see howwomen in Saudi Arabia are struggling toward the gender discrimination. Theproblems are (1) How are the major characters described? (2) What are the genderdiscriminations revealed in the novel? (3) How is the struggle of women towardgender discrimination revealed?

The method of the study that is used is library research. The primarysource of the study is the novel Girls of Riyadh while the secondary sources arethe books that are related to the study and also internet sources. Feminist approachis used in the study since the study discusses women and the struggle of women toget equality.

The findings of the study show the struggle of women toward the genderdiscrimination. Firstly, the writer analyzes the characteristics of two majorcharacters. The first character is Gamrah who is described as a brave and hardworker, the second is Michelle who is described as tough, critical, brave, andeducated. Secondly, the writer analyzes the gender discrimination that occurs inthe novel and experienced by the characters. There are four categories of thediscrimination, namely: the social discrimination, the domestic discrimination,discrimination in law, and discrimination in politics. Lastly, by relating thecharacteristics of the characters with the discrimination that they experienced, theway women struggle toward gender discrimination can be revealed. There are twocategories of struggle, the first is the struggle that can be seen through action andthe second is the struggle that can be seen through speech.


xiii

ABSTRAK

Putri Riskya Iriani. The Struggle of Women Against Gender Discriminationsin Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Al-Sanea. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris,Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2014.

Di beberapa kelompok masyarakat, perempuan sering dianggap sebagaimakhluk yang rendah. Perempuan diperlakukan tidak adil dan mendapatdiskriminasi, sementara lelaki memiliki kebebasan untuk mengontrol perempuan.Pada akhirnya para perempuan menyadari hak-hak mereka dan mereka berjuanguntuk mendapatkan perlakuan yang sama seperti yang didapat oleh pria.Fenomena dari sebuah masyarakat patriarkal Arab Saudi yang konservatif bisadilihat di dalam novel Girls of Riyadh karya Rajaa Al-Sanea. Novel inimengungkap perjuangan perempuan Arab dalam berjuang atas hak-hak merekasebagai perempuan. Penulis menganalisis karakter dari tokoh-tokoh di dalamnovel dan juga diskriminasi-diskriminasi yang mereka alami agar dapat melihatbagaimana perempuan di Arab Saudi berjuang untuk melawan diskriminasigender.

Ada tiga pertanyaan yang perlu dijawab untuk melihat bagaimanaperempuan-perempuan di Arab Saudi berjuang melawan diskriminasi gender.Pertanyaan-pertanyaan tersebut ialah (1) Bagaimanakah tokoh-tokoh utamadigambarkan? (2) Diskriminasi-diskriminasi gender apa saja yang diungkapdalam novel? (3) Bagaimanakah perjuangan perempuan melawan diskriminasigender terungkap?

Metode yang digunakan pada studi ini adalah metode studi pustaka.Sumber utamanya adalah novel Girls of Riyadh. Sedangkan sumber tambahanadalah dari buku-buku yang berkaitan dengan studi ini dan juga dari internet.Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam studi ini adalah pendekatan feminis karenastudi ini berkaitan dengan perempuan dan perjuangannya untuk mendapatkankesetaraan.

Hasil dari studi ini menunjukkan perjuangan perempuan melawandiskriminasi gender. Pertama, penulis menganalisis karakter-karakter dari duatokoh utama. Tokoh pertama adalah Gamrah yang digambarkan sebagai orangyang berani dan pekerja keras. Yang kedua adalah Michelle yang digambarkansebagai orang yang tegar, kiritis, berani, dan berpendidikan. Kedua, penulismenganalisis diskriminasi gender yang muncul di novel dan dialami oleh karakter.Ada empat kategori diskriminasi, yaitu: diskriminasi sosial, diskriminasidomestik, diskriminasi hukum, dan diskriminasi politik. Yang terakhir, denganmengaitkan karakteristik dari karakter dengan diskriminasi yang mereka alami,maka perjuangan perempuan melawan diskriminasi gender bisa diungkap. Adadua kategori perlawananan, yaitu yang pertama perlawan dengan perbuatan danyang kedua perlawanan dengan perkataan.


1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the study

Many aspects of life are dominated by men, whether economically or

socially. The patriarchy system seems to limit the freedom of women. Women are

often seen as inferior human beings that they are discriminated and even

oppressed. This is then what is called gender-discrimination. In many societies,

whether in the west or in the east, gender discrimination is something common. In

some countries, especially in the east, women are discriminated in many aspects

of life. They are seen as objects that should stay at home and be responsible for

any household matters while men are the one responsible of any matters outside

the house.

In almost all societies, women and men perform different activities,although the nature and range of these activities vary across classes andacross communities. They have also changed over time. Women aretypically responsible for childcare and household work, but they alsoengage in producing goods for household consumption or for the market.Men are typically responsible for meeting the household's needs for foodand resources (Ravindran, 2001: 55).

Sometimes women find it difficult to express their thoughts, and they are

oppressed by the patriarchal system in the society since they do not have the same

opportunities as men have.

One of the countries that limit the rights of women is Saudi Arabia. The

patriarchy system which results in gender inequality in Saudi Arabia is a very

strong system. As a result, women in Saudi Arabia are hindered by various rules.


2For example, in order to take care of official tasks such as legal matters with bank

and other offices, women in Saudi Arabia are not permitted to do the official tasks

themselves. Things related to them should be done by their male guardians,

preferably family.

The relationship between man and woman who are not family is also

regulated by law. Those who are not family or relatives cannot interact in public

places freely. If a man and a woman who are not relatives are caught having

interaction in public places, they will definitely be punished because it is

considered a crime.

One crime for which women are especially targeted is khulwa (the illegalmixing of unrelated men and women), which can occur whether men andwomen are dining together in a restaurant, riding in a taxi, or meeting forbusiness (2010:429).

Even though the regulations seem to take the freedom of women in Saudi

Arabia, the majority of Saudi Arabian do not see it as a discrimination, instead

they see it as equivalence. It is stated by Kelly that

A healthy majority of Saudi citizens agree with the social agenda of theulema, and would not view the inequalities between men and women asdiscrimination, but as equivalence (Kelly, 2010: 425).

Yet, a forceful movement keeps pushing to improve women’s parity with men in

terms of civil rights. It is the society that created such inequalities, not the

religion. As what Amani Hamdan explains in a journal Women and education in

Saudi Arabia: Challenges and achievements, that Women’s issues in Saudi

society are often mistakenly connected to Islamic teachings whereas women’s

inequality is traditionally structured in the society (2005: 45).


3The awareness of some people especially women in Saudi Arabia about

the gender inequality that is caused by society then lead some of these women to

criticize it. Hamdan said that Saudi women devise their own strategies to

challenge gender inequality and achieve social justice not only in education but in

all life matters (2005: 45).

Rajaa Al-Saena as a writer shows her awareness through her writings. In

order to criticize the strong patriarchal system in Saudi Arabia society, she shows

the phenomenon of discrimination towards women in Saudi Arabia that is

portrayed in her novel Girls of Riyadh. In the novel she reveals the life of women

in Saudi Arabia especially in Riyadh. She makes a close up view of the patriarchal

society in which women seem to have no choice but to accept their destiny built

by the culture and the society. Yet these women still have a wish for a

reformation. Al-Saena wants to show the reader that some women in Saudi Arabia

are wishing for a reform without destroying their religion and cultural values. As

she said in her note in the novel,

I hope you will see, too, that little by little some of these women arebeginning to carve out their own way—not the Western way, but one thatkeeps what is good about the values of their religion and culture, whileallowing for reform (2005: viii)

There are four main characters in the novel. They are friends and all of

them live in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Each of them experiences similar problems.

They live the life of Arabic women and accept all rules under the domination of

men. Some of them accept the arranged marriage that end in a divorce and others

should break their relationship because the men they love are forced to marry

another woman due to family pride.


4Deep inside, these four women are against all rules of the society and

culture. They want to be free in living their life, and choose their life partner. Each

character shows a different reaction toward the discrimination that they

experience. Some of them show a frontal reaction towards the discriminations,

while another shows their reaction through their speech.

B. Problem Formulation

The background above leads the writer to formulate several questions to

be analyzed further. The writer then formulates the questions as follows.

1. How are the major characters described?

2. What are the gender discriminations revealed in the novel?

3. How is struggle of women toward gender discriminations revealed?

C. Objectives of the Study

In the story, there are four main women characters who are friends and

experiencing different yet similar problems in their life and willing to pursuit their

happiness in the middle of patriarchal society and strict rules of their country

Saudi Arabia. Yet, the study will only focus on two characters who are Gamrah

and Michelle because they are the ones who brave enough to show resistance

toward gender discrimination in the story.

The first objective is to answer the first problem by analyzing the

characteristics of the characters, how they are portrayed, by analyzing the way

they think, what other characters say about her, and by seeing the way they reacts

toward certain situations. The second objective is to answer the second problem,

which will focus on the gender discriminations toward women in the novel Girls


5of Riyadh. The discriminations will be categorized, whether it is social, domestic,

political, or law discriminations.

After identifying the gender-discrimination that happen in the story, the

struggle of women toward the discrimination will be identified through the

characteristics of the major characters. The way the women struggle toward the

gender discrimination depends on the characteristics of the character, thus each

character might have their own way of struggle.

D. Definition of Terms

There are terms that should be explained clearly in order to avoid

misunderstanding.

1. Characters

According to A Glossary of Literary Terms by M.H Abrams, characters

are,

The persons represented in a dramatic or narrative work, who areinterpreted by the reader as possessing particular moral, intellectual, andemotional qualities by inferences from what the persons say and theirdistinctive ways of saying it--the dialogue--and from what they do--theaction (2009: 42).

The writer concludes that character is a person in a literary work such as novel or

other narrative work whose qualities can be seen or identified from the

descriptions about the character, the dialogue, what other characters say about

another characters, and the way the character react toward a certain situations.

2. Gender

Based on Fifty Key Concepts in Gender Studies by Pilcher, gender is,


6A line of demarcation between biological sex differences and the waythese are used to inform behaviours and competencies, which are thenassigned as either ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’.

It can be said that gender is a way to differentiate two sexes based on their

biological characteristics. These characteristics will define the nature of the two

sexes whether it is ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’.

3. Discrimination

Based on Eurofond website discrimination is defined as,

Different treatment of individuals or groups based on arbitrary ascriptiveor acquired criteria such as sex, race, religion, age, marital or parentalstatus, disability, sexual orientation, political opinions, socio-economicbackground, and trade union membership and activities.(http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/areas/industrialrelations/dictionary/definitions/discrimination.htm)

Gender discrimination is the inequal treatment to individual or groups that based

on some aspects such as sex, religion, age, etc. Discrimination might cause a

person or a group live in limitations or without full freedom.

4. Patriarchy

As stated by Madsen in Feminist Theory and Literary Practice, patriarchy

is,

a cultural (ideological) system that privileges men and all thingsmasculine, and a political system that places power in the hands of menand thus serves male interests at the expense of women (2000:xii).

It can be said that patriarchy is about the prerogative rights of men to control

women in many aspects of life that men have the absolute power over women.


7

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Al-Sanea was released in 2005 in Arabic as Al-

Sanea’s debut as a writer. Girls of Riyadh is a sensational novel that caused a

controversy and was banned in Saudi Arabia.

There are already some studies done by some other researchers on the

novel Girls of Riyadh. The first study is done by Eska Dwi Palupi. In her

undergraduate study entitled The Roles of Family and Women on Saudi Arabia

Tradition of Marriage as Revealed in Rajaa Al-Sanea’s Girls of Riyadh, Palupi

analyzes the phenomenon that happen in the novel through the social-cultural

point of view. She focuses on the phenomenon of marriage in the relation of the

roles of family and women in Saudi Arabia society that is revealed in the novel.

In Saudi Arabia society, marriage is controlled or arranged by the family.

Meaning to say that men and women can only get married under the approval of

the family. As Palupi states that

The other roles of family on marriage can be seen on when the familybecomes the decision maker on who marries who and whether a couplecan get married or not. The guardian or wali—father or other close malefamily member is the one who has responsibility in selecting a familymember’s marriage partner. It also can be seen that family’s approval isthe most important license to get married. When their family rejects theirpartner, there is nothing they can do but accept it (2010: 48).

Saudi Arabia society is a patriarchal society, but in the case of marriage

life, women have an important role in the family. The roles of women on the

marriage tradition in Saudi Arabia are quite a lot. A woman as a mother has a big


8role in the family. Mother becomes the decisive voice related to the household

expenditures, the upbringing and education for children, and sometimes in the

marriage arrangements. Woman as a husband’s companion is demanded to be a

good wife. She should devote her life for her husband (2010: 48). Even though the

Saudi Arabia society is a patriarchal society, which means the absolute power is in

the hand of men, women in family have their own place to control some matters

that they also have power over some things in their family.

Another study about Girls of Riyadh is by Moneera Al-Ghadeer. In her

article Girls of Riyadh: A New Technology Writing or Chick Lit Defiance Banat

al-Riyad (Girls of Riyadh, Al-Ghadeer analyzes the way the text is written in the

form of “emails as the other of literature”. The “chick” writing style is used by the

narrator in order to reveal the phenomenon of youth especially young women in

Saudi Arabia. It becomes a media to see the hidden circumstance among

youngsters there. Al-Ghadeer states that

The narrative is a peephole into what a young woman sees in her societyand captures what goes inside the hearts and minds of her girlfriends, theyounger generation (2006: 299).

(http://www.jstor.org/stable/4183570)

The narration is written in the form of emails and the narrator shows the

reactions of the “email readers” in the novel who are Saudi Arabian youngster that

are mostly women. This is the way the author reveals the hidden circumstance or

phenomenon among youngsters in Saudi Arabia society. The narrator uses the

Internet as the medium to discover the truth among young generation that is

hidden in Saudi Arabia society. Al-Gadheer states


9Consequently, the e-narrator evokes the echoing and referential effects ofher narrative, striking fear of semblance in women readers who apparentlyassume that the e-narrator is exposing their stories, just like theproliferation of gossip in chat rooms or the blogosphere (2006: 298).

This undergraduate thesis tries to develop another studies that have been

done by another researchers as mentioned above. The first study by Eka Dwi

Palupi focuses on the role of family and women in marriage life by using socio-

cultural perspective while the study by Muneera Al-Gadheer focuses on the way

the text is narrated and the effect of using internet as the medium to reveal a

phenomenon. Unlike the previous studies, this undergraduate thesis focuses on the

struggle of women against the gender discrimination by analyzing some of the

major women characters as seen in Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Al-Sanea.

B. Review of Related Theories

The theories that are used here are the theory of character and

characterization, the theory of gender discrimination, the theory of feminism,

theory of literature and society and some information about the women’s rights in

Saudi Arabia. These theories help the writer reveals the struggle of women toward

gender discrimination as seen in Rajaa Al-Sanea’s Girls of Riyadh.

1. Character & Characterization

One of the important elements in a literary work is character. According to

A Glossary of Literary Terms by M.H Abrams, it is stated

characters are the persons represented in a dramatic or narrative work, whoare interpreted by the reader as possessing particular moral, intellectual,and emotional qualities by inferences from what the persons say and theirdistinctive ways of saying it--the dialogue--and from what they do--theaction (2009: 42).


10What is possessed by characters could be interpreted by the reader by identifying

what the persons says and the way they say it, whether through the dialogue or

through their acts. Another thing that is also important to analyze characters is by

understanding their motivation which is as also stated in A Glossary of Literary

Terms, are ‘the grounds in the characters’ temperament, desire, and moral nature

for their speech and actions’ (2009: 42).

In Understanding Unseens by Murphy, there are 9 ways to identify the

characteristics of characters in literary works. Yet only 5 ways that are used by the

author to characterize the character in the novel. They are:

1. Personal Description

The author describes the character’s physical appearance such as skin

color, height, face, hair, etc. It’s the reader mind’s eye that work to figure

out the characteristics of the character.

2. Character as Seen by Another

The author does not describe the qualities of a character directly but he/she

uses other characters’ opinion. The reader will see the characteristics of a

certain character through the eyes of another characters.

3. Speech

Readers are able to indentify a character by paying attention on the speech

of the character. The characteristics can be revealed through what the

person says.


114. Reactions

By analyzing the way the character react toward certain situations, the

reader will have another clues about his/her characteristics.

5. Direct Comment

The author might also describe the character in the novel directly through

his/her narration (1972: 161-170).

2. Gender Discrimination

Based on Bernard E. Whitley Jr. in The Psychology of Prejudice and

Discrimination, discrimination in general is a behavior which deals with the way

people act toward members of other groups and it consists of behaving differently

toward people based solely on their membership in a social group. The term

discrimination usually refers to acting in an unfair or demeaning manner or to

giving someone an undeserved advantage (2010: 370).

One of the forms of discrimination is gender discrimination. Gender

discrimination is a kind of discrimination which is based on the gender role. As

stated in Handbook of Prejudice, Stereotyping, and Discrimination by Todd. D

Nelson, gender discrimination usually puts women in disadvantages because

“individuals still perceive that women and men should occupy different social

roles” (2009: 413). Such belief can be considered sexist because they reflect lack

of support for those who do not occupy traditional roles. The traditional roles

itself tends to limit people to particular roles, it gives a greater power and

authority to men, and lead to women’s dependency on men (2009: 413).


12Even in this modern era “gender inequalities remain stubbornly entrenched

in all regions of the world” whether in the rich or poor countries, the phenomenon

of gender inequality is still happening

(http://www.unicef.org/sowc07/docs/sowc07_panel_1_2. pdf).

Any acts that limit the rights of a person based on the sexual difference is

considered as gender discrimination that make a person cannot have the full

freedom to do anything he/she likes in many aspects of life.

3. Feminism

In An Introduction to Literary Criticism, Bressler makes an assumption

that in this masculine world, the feminists declare that it is men who defines what

it means to be human, not women (1999: 189). As women realize that the life is

dominated by men while women are only seen as inferior human beings compared

to men, some critical thoughts arose and use the literature as one of the medium to

transfer their ideas. Bressler also explained that in 1972 Judith Viorst recreates

Cinderella story which aim is, as Bressler said, to crystallizes the central issue of

feminism which are:

1. Men, either unconsciously or consciously, have oppressed women,

allowing them little or no voice in the political, social, or economic issues

of their society.

2. By not giving voice and value to women’s opinions, responses, writings,

men have therefore suppressed the female, defined what it means to be

feminine, thereby devoiced, devalued, and trivialized what it means to be a

woman.


133. In effect, men have made woman the “insignificant other” (Bressler, 1999:

180)

Viorst recreates the characteristics of Cinderella as a woman who has her

own opinions. As we know that the ending of the original Cinderella story is that

Cinderella ends up marries the prince, but in Viorst new creation of the story, she

decides not to marry the prince because she finds the prince no more attractive

that she pretends that the glass shoe does not fit her foot. Bressler pointed out,

This new Cinderella refuses to be defined as the nonsignificant other.Unlike the old Cinderella, she will not allow herself to be shaped by hersociety. She realizes that her culture has all too often presented her withstereotypes that she and many others like her have so blindly accepted”(1999: 179)

The old Cinderella character tends to “accept the commandments of their

patriarchal society” but Viorst see it differently (1999: 179).

The position of women that is seen as inferior, triggered the emergence of

feminist movement, a movement in which women are fighting for gender equality

and to be seen as significant and valuable. Maggie Humm in Feminism: A Reader

states,

“The emergence of feminist ideas and feminist politics depends on theunderstanding that, in all societies which divide the sexes into differingcultural, economic or political spheres, women are less valued than men.”(Humm, 1992: 1)

Bressler also explains about main purpose of feminism that is to change

the degrading view of women so that all women will realize that they are not a

“nonsignificant other”. In his opinion, Bressler thinks that each woman is a

valuable person possessing the same privileges and rights as every man. Bressler

also adds that in order to create a society where the male and female voices are


14equally valued, women have to define themselves and assert their own voices in

the arenas of politics, society, education and the arts (1999: 180).

Another opinion about the important of fighting for equality for women is

by Simone de Beauvoir a French writer. As stated by Bressler,

According to Beauvoir, a woman must break the bonds of her patriarchalsociety and define herself if she wishes to become a significant humanbeing in her own right and defy male classification as the Other (1999:182).

In order to have the same rights as men have, women should break the notion in

the society that women and men are not equal and women are lower than men.

A particular movement of feminism is radical feminism. Specifically,

radical feminism occurs because it is believed that women form a ‘sex-class’.

Women are seen as the fundamentally oppressed class. Radical feminism

recognizes that the foundation of social inequality is the domination of women by

men. The patriarchal system is the root of all oppression of women as what

Madsen says that “the sexual oppression of women is seen to underlie the

economic, cultural and social subordination of women” (Madsen, 2000:152-153).

Radical feminist is against the standard gender role that put women as inferior.

Thus, radical feminism intends to “destroy” the sex-class system in order to make

a change and stops the oppression in the society so that women can have freedom

in living their life without being restricted by any restriction under the domination

of men in the patriarchal society.

4. Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, gender inequality is a very common phenomenon since

Saudi Arabia society is a patriarchal society. Amani Hamdan in his article,


15Women and education in Saudi Arabia: Challenges and achievements, explains

that Saudi women were considered as extension of their male guardians and in

Saudi society in general, it is believed that the role of women was basic to

maintaining the structure of the family and therefore of society (2005: 45)

Some of the restrictions for women in Saudi Arabia are regulated. The

government use Al- Quran and Sunnah as a based of the kingdom law. As Kelly

said in her book Women’s Rights in The Middle East and North Africa, that The

Basic Law of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not guarantee gender equality

(2010: 425).

Women in Saudi Arabia cannot have full freedom for their mobility, as

Kelly said that the social and cultural rights of women are limited by the same

sex-segregation values that automatically limit the expression of all other forms of

women’s activities (2010: 447).

Some regulations do restrict the movement of women in Saudi Arabia yet

the society also plays an important role that causing the gender discrimination. As

Amani Hamdan explains in his journal Women and Education in Saudi Arabia:

Challenges and Achievements that Women’s issues in Saudi society are often

mistakenly connected to Islamic teachings whereas women’s inequality is

traditionally structured in the society (2005: 45). The strong patriarchal system in

Saudi Arabia create a society in which women is inferior. An example of the

gender inequalities in Saudi Arabia is in choosing marriage partner. All matters

related to marriage are in the hand of the family, as Haifaa A. Jawad explains in

The Rights of Women in Islam, she states


16Most marriages that currently take place in Muslim societies are arrangedunions, during which force and intimidation are quite often employed toobtain the girl’s consent (1998: 38).

Arrange marriage system is something common that also take place in Saudi

Arabia society as an Islamic state.

Women in Saudi Arabia often lacks in choices regarding fundamental life

decisions such as marriage, childbearing, and whether to work outside the home.

They are under the legal control of their closest male relative (mahram) (Kelly,

2010: 449). Women do not have many choices in order to work, most of the job

fields are for men.

The everyday mobility of women in Saudi Arabia is also limited. Women

are not permitted to drive a car by themselves. They are also not allowed to take

care of any legal matters with bank or any other offices by themselves. For

example, until 2005, in order to obtain a commercial license for a business, a

woman should proves that she had already hired a male manager and she needed

permission from her guardian to go into business or take out a bank loan (Kelly,

2010:438). Without a male manager, a woman could never be able to run a

business in Saudi Arabia because men and women cannot interact freely so that a

male manager is needed to take care of many things related to official tasks.

Since segregation in public places is one of the regulations in Saudi

Arabia, it is prohibited for unrelated men and women to meet in public places

which can occur whether men and women are dining together in a restaurant, or

meeting for business (Kelly, 2010: 429). If they are caught by the religious police,

they will definitely be punished. In addition, Saudi Arabia society as a


17conservative patriarchal society has so many legal constraints and social controls

that limits the freedom of movement of all women in Saudi Arabia (Kelly, 2010:

431).

5. Literature and Society

A writer is a social being since he/she lives in a society. A society in

which a writer lives can give a big influence toward his/her writing. Rene Wellek

in Theory of Literature explains the relation of literature and society. She states

Literature represents ‘life’ and life is, in large measure, a social reality,even though the natural world and the inner or subjective world of theindividual have also been objects of literary imitation (1956: 94)

Literature is often used by authors as a representation of their life, it is ‘an

expression of society’ (1956: 95). The aspects of society such as social, economy,

or even political aspect in which an author lives, can bring influences in his/her

literary work.

A novel, for example can be a description about a certain society in which

the author lives, it can represent many aspects of the author’s society that he/she

puts in the story as an imitation of the real world.

C. Theoretical Framework

As mentioned in the previous part, there are three problem formulation

regarding to this research. Each problem needs a theory in order to be answered.

All theories help to analyze the struggle of women in a patriarchal society of

Saudi Arabia as seen in Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Al-Sanea.

First is the theory of character and characterization. By applying Abrams’

and Murphy’s theory, the qualities of the character can be identified through the


18way she speaks and what she does, her way of thinking, what other characters say

about her, etc. Even though there are four major characters in the novel, the writer

only focuses on two characters, they are Gamrah and Michelle. Once the qualities

of the characters are revealed, the writer applies the theory of gender

discrimination to see phenomenon of discrimination against women in Saudi

Arabia society and the effect toward the characters.

Secondly, the theory of gender discrimination is used by the writer to

identifying the discrimination against women that occur in the novel whether it is

a domestic or social discrimination that cause a struggle for women characters in

the novel. The writer will also use the information about women’s rights in Saudi

Arabia in order to get a deeper analysis on the gender discrimination issue.

The last is the theory of feminism. In order to identify the struggle of

women in the novel towards the gender discrimination, the theory of feminism is

used by the writer. Not only feminism in general but also the theory of radical

feminism as one of the particular movements of feminism.


19

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

The novel Girls of Riyadh was written by Rajaa Al-Sanea, a young woman

doctor who grew up in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The novel was first published in

2005 in Arabic language in Lebanon with the original title Banat Al-Riyadh. It

was prohibited to be published in Saudi Arabia due to the controversial content

since Saudi Arabia is very strict with things related to sex segregation. In 2007,

the novel was translated into English and published by The Penguin Press New

York and finally available in many bookstores in Saudi Arabia. The novel consists

of 286 pages and divided into 50 chapters.

The novel which is written in the form of emails by a woman narrator tells

about the life of four Riyadh young women. They are, Gamrah, Michelle, Lamees,

and Sadeem. The narrator herself is the friend of these four women. She discovers

the life of her friends by sending emails every week to the internet subscriber in

Saudi Arabia.

The story begins with Gamrah’s wedding. She is married to Rashid who is

chosen by her family and move to United States. Gamrah realizes that Rashid

does not love her. Once they move in America, Gamrah finds out that Rashid

loves another woman who is a Japanese women. Gamrah tries hard to protect her

marriage by using her pregnancy but it did not work out. She eventually divorced

with Rashid and comes back to Riyadh and bears her son there. Being a widow


20causes a depression for Gamrah but she eventually is able to move on with her

life.

Michelle whose real name is Mashael is half American. Her father married

her mother who is an American. She cannot have a happy ending love story with

her boyfriend Faisal since Faisal’s mother refuses to let Faisal to marry Michelle

due to family pride. Nothing hurts Michelle more than the reason behind Faisal’s

mother refusal, she just cannot accept the very conservative way of thinking of the

Saudi Arabia society that in order to choose a right partner for their children a

family background is very important, rich people will only marry rich people. At

the end Michelle and her family move to Dubai where she is able to live a better

life in a more liberal society.

A bit different from Michelle and Gamrah, Sadeem who already signed the

marriage contract with Waleed ends up being divorced by him. He left her without

a word, even before their wedding celebration was conducted. The reason why

Waleed divorces her is simply because she sleeps with Waleed before she moves

in with him. Even though it is not forbidden since they are already legally

married, he is shocked by Sadeem’s interest in sex. At the end, Sadeem end up

marrying her cousin.

The last is Lamees, she is the one who has the happy ending love story,

she marries Nizar, a friend that she loves and obviously loves her. Unlike her

other friends, they live happily after marriage.

Girls of Riyadh is simply a love story yet through the romantic atmosphere

the author discovers the life of women in Saudi Arabia who live under the male


21dominance. The novel reveals many things about women In Saudi Arabia and the

discrimination that they experienced, it also shows how they are struggling to get

their freedom without leaving their religious values.

B. Approach of the Study

The approach that is used in order to analyze this study is feminist

approach. The study focuses on the struggle of women who live in a patriarchal

society, so the writer uses the feminist point of view in order to analyze the women

struggle.

Elizabeth Kowaleski Wallace in Encyclopedia of Feminist Literary

explains that feminist implies an intellectual commitment to achieving gender, class,

and racial equality, and it often see all aspects of culture, especially literature as the

site to transfer the ideas and as a means of eventual change (2009: vii).

In Women: A Feminist Perspective, Jo Freeman said that feminist

perspective starts from the premise that women and men are constitutionally equal.

They share the same human capabilities and that is why it demands a critical

analysis of the social institutions that cause the inequality (1984: 553).

In conclusion, feminists, who see women as a significant human being

compared to men, think that it is not fair that life is dominated by men, while

women are only the “insignificant Other”. That is why the feminists fight for

equality between men and women. The aim of the study is to see the struggle of

women towards gender discrimination in order to get the equality. Thus, the feminist

approach is the most appropriate approach to be used in this study.


22C. Method of the Study

The method that is used by the writer in this undergraduate thesis is the

library research. The writer uses sources from both books and Internet. The writer

only uses reliable sources from Internet to support the study. The primary source of

the study is Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Al-Sanea.

The second sources of the study are from books and Internet. For this

thesis, the writer used A Glossary of Literary Terms by Abrams, Bresslers’s An

Introduction to Literary Criticism, Understanding Unseens by Murphy, Maggie

Humm’s Feminism, A Reader, Deborah L. Madsen’s Feminist Theory and Literary

Practice, and some other books to find related information on discrimination and

women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.

In conducting this research, the writer used several steps. The first is by

reading the novel and understanding the content. The writer focuses on the two

major characters in order to analyze the struggle of women toward gender

discrimination. After reading and understanding the novel, the writer formulated

some problem formulations that can be used as the writing guidelines.

The second step was finding and understanding a theory on

characterization to be applied in the study. This theory was used by the writer to

analyze further the character in the novel in order to answer the first problem

formulation.

The third step was by studying the theory of feminism. The feminism

theory was used by the writer to analyze the idea of feminism which was seen in the


23struggle of the women as objects in the conservative patriarchal society where men

are dominating.

The theory of the relation of literature and society also added by the writer

in order to understand the function of literature and its significant related to society.

The writer also studying about the gender discrimination and women’s rights in

Saudi Arabia in order to find more information related to the discrimination

experienced by women in Saudi Arabia and their limitation of human rights.

The fourth step was by making an analysis based on the understanding of

the novel to reveal the struggle of women who have to face the fact that there is no

equality between men and women in the patriarchal society in Saudi Arabia to

finally reveal the struggle of women. The last step is to make a conclusion based on

the analysis that has been done.


24

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

This chapter discusses the three problems as stated in the first chapter.

The first part discusses the first problem which is about the description of two major

characters in the novel and how they are described. Secondly, the focus is to answer

the second problem about the gender discriminations that are experienced by women

in the novel. The last part is to answer the last problem about the how the struggle

against the gender discrimination revealed in the story.

A. The Descriptions Major Characters

There are only two characters that is analyzed in the study and in order to

understand the characteristics the characters the writer uses Murphy’s theory on

character and characterization. There are only 5 ways used here from the 9 ways that

Murphy has. They are, personal description, character as seen by another, speech,

reactions, and direct comments. Through characteristics of the characters, the writer

tries to reveal the struggle of women toward gender discrimination in Girls of

Riyadh by Rajaa Al-Sanea.

1. Gamrah

a. Hardworking

As a single parent, Gamrah realizes that she has no husband to depend on

anymore, she needs to work in order to earn money and be an independent woman

even though her parents are still able to fulfill her needs. When Sadeem decides to

start a party organizer business, she asks no one but her closest friends to be in

charge in the business. She asks Gamrah and Um Nuwayyir to be the ones who are


25responsible for the business Riyadh. Gamrah does not let such opportunity to be

wasted. Gamrah works very hard even though she had to work until late at night.

Gamrah wouldn’t get home before two or three in the morning, althoughduring the final third of the month she would return an hour or two earlier,in time to do the Qiyam prayers** at the mosque with her mother andsisters (Al-Sanea: 2005: 233).

Gamrah who lives in isolation after her divorce can finally prove to her

mother that she can be independent by her hard work, and does not need to be

protected like a little child anymore. Her mother can finally let her daughter to go

out of the house without the companion of her brothers. Gamrah also proves to her

mother that she works really hard by get her mother impressed with the profit she

gets from the business.

At first, Gamrah’s mother wouldn’t let her go out on these work missionsalone, but she began going easier on her daughter when she noticed howseriously Gamrah took it all. What most impressed Um Gamrah was whenshe saw her daughter make her first profit—for arranging a dinner party inthe home of one of Sadeem’s professors at the university (Al-Sanea: 2005:233-234).

As a widow, Gamrah’s hardworking characteristic can be a way for her to struggle

and fight against the discrimination against women in order to get equality. She

proves that a woman can be independent and survive without the help of a man.

She could break the rules in her family and show that being a widow is not a

disgrace.

b. Brave

Gamrah who is treated badly by her husband is actually a brave woman. It

can be seen in her reaction when she found out that her husband was cheating on

her. Gamrah takes several risky actions in order to defend her marriage. Firstly, after


26a long consideration, she decides to call Kari who is Rashid’s affair and she asks her

to meet up. Even though Gamrah’s English speaking ability is very poor that she

might find difficulties in communicating with Kari, she still has the courage to call

her and meet her.

Gamrah called Kari at the second number and asked to meet her. Sheintroduced herself first. Kari answered calmly, saying she was willing andready to come to Chicago to see her at the next available opportunity (Al-Sanea, 2005: 80)

Gamrah, who had never expected an offensive such as this, found that thecat had gotten hold of her tongue. Even without understanding Kari’sspeech completely, what Gamrah did absorb was enough to make hersuddenly snap out of her stunned silence and explode in Kari’s face,cursing in weak English and in Arabic, too (Al-Sanea, 2005: 83)

Secondly, during the two months interval before Gamrah meets Kari, she

needs to make sure that she is pregnant, knowing that her husband forbids her to

get pregnant by always asking her to take certain pills to avoid pregnancy.

Gamrah knows that it is just her husband trick because he is cheating on her, and

that a child in their marriage will only get their bond stronger and make things

more difficult for her husband.

During those two months, Gamrah stopped taking pills without consultingher mother, whose opinion she knew anyway: “All you’ve got is yourchildren, my dear. Children are the only way to tie a man.” (Al-Sanea,2005: 80)

Her husband got so angry when Gamrah told him about her pregnancy. It is a brave

action she takes in order to get her marriage continues even though she has to face

the oppression toward her.

What? Pregnant? You are pregnant! How did that happen? Who gave youpermission to get pregnant? You mean you’re not taking the pills? ...Youfigured you could twist my arm with these filthy tricks! (Al-Sanea, 2005:85)


27

The second slap came and she fell to the floor, sobbing painfully. Rashidleft the apartment to run into the arms of the “unworthy one,” leavingGamrah cursing and slapping her cheeks and spitting at him, in a state ofhysteria, close to madness (Al-Sanea, 2005: 85).

Gamrah realizes that she has the right of herself and her body, thus her brave

characteristic helps her to get her rights as a women no matter what consequences

that she should face. Without her bravery she will not be able to resist her

husband’s oppression towards her.

2. Michelle

a. Tough

Michelle is a tough person because no matter how hard the problem she is

facing she is always able to overcome it. For example when she has to face the fact

that Faisal, her boyfriend should leave her and marry another woman—since it is a

family decision—she is able to survive by not letting herself drawn to the sadness.

When Faisal tries to pursue her again, she makes a firm decision not to fall to any of

the attractions of Faisal and that she has to be strong. Her toughness can be seen in

one of her speeches when he talks about Faisal to her friend.

That’s why I went on refusing him and denying my feelings and not lettingmyself be sucked into his weakness. One of us had to be the strong one. Idecided it was going to be me (Al-Sanea, 2005: 269).

Michelle who is half American, found it hard to live in Saudi Arabia. She

cannot marry the person she loves because of her family background that her mother

is an American. Even though she does not come from an under privilege family,

Faisal’s mother still cannot accept Michelle as her son’s choice. Michelle should face

the fact that relationship may not succeed just because a family background.


28Marriage is a very sensitive matter in Saudi society. One cannot decide

who he/she wants to marry because family is the institution that will decide such

matter. Yet, not matter how hard the problem she is facing, she stays strong and she

is able to overcome any problems, she says it herself “I know I can face whatever

hassles stand in my way (Al-Sanea, 2005: 269)”.

The tough characteristic of Michelle is also proven by her friend’s opinion

about her. She is seen as a strong person by her friend. Gamrah really “wished that

she could draw strength from Michelle (Al-Sanea , 2005: 175)”.

b. Critical

As a person who used to study in America, Michelle’s characteristic is

influenced by American culture. As explained by Hamdan that Saudi women and

men who have been educated in the West return to the country with different

visions for the future, they see their society differently. Those who support

women’s rights tend to seek and implement change (Hamdan, 2005: 55)

Michelle cannot stand the society which in her opinion is “sick”. Different

from her other friends who tend to keep silent and not voicing their mind, Michelle

is the one who often criticizes the men in the society. Her critical characteristic can

be seen through her own speech. Michelle says “I could have challenged the whole

world if my love had been from somewhere else, not a crooked society (Al-Sanea,

2005: 270). She criticizes the society that in her opinion is “crooked” or twisted.

She also says that the society is a “sick” society. She said so because it seems like

no one is free for choosing their marriage partner or deciding any important things

in their life because things are controlled.


29I have complete confidence in my-self, and I know I can face whateverhassles stand in my way, but frankly I don’t have the same confidence inFaisal or in any other guy in our sick society (Al-Sanea 2005: 269)

Michelle’s critical characteristic can also be seen in her speech when she

talks about women. In her opinion, women in the society never tried to become

strong, women in her society tends to keep silence that they always accept

everything, they are defeated by the society around them and never show their

opinion.

We always act the role of the helpless females, completely overcome bycircumstances, and as if we don’t have a say in anything or opinions of ourown! Utterly passive! How long are we going to keep on being suchcowards, and not have even the courage to see our choices through,whether they’re right or wrong? ( Al-Sanea, 2005: 125).

When she talks about men, she is also critical. It can be seen in her reaction

toward Gamrah when they talk about Nizar who is Sadeem’s husband, Gamrah

thinks that Nizar is very considerate by letting Sadeem to stay in Riyadh to finish

her study until she graduates. Gamrah is amazed by Nizar’s decision because it is

so uncommon. Yet, Michelle argues her, she agrees that Nizar is quite considerate

but it is not something that is surprising.

This is her life, and she’s free to run it as she wants, just as he’s free to runhis as he wants. Our problem here is that we let men be bigger deals thanthey really are. We need to realize—assume, even—right from the start thatthings like letting us graduate are not even optional, it’s just what makessense, and our eyes should not fly out of our heads if one of these menactually does something right! (Al-Sanea 2005: 235)

Michelle thinks that what Nizar did, does not have to be seen as something big, it

is what a man should do. She shows that society has been wrong all the time, that

being a considerate man becomes something amazing. Michelle’s critical


30characteristic can reveal the gender discrimination in her society and also shows

that deep inside, a woman realizes that she has to fight for the equality.

c. Brave

Michelle is not afraid of saying what is right in her opinion and also do

something which for some people is risky. Michelle is always questioning the Saudi

Arabia society which in her opinion is “sick”. Sometimes her brave characteristic

scares her friends. Her braveness can be seen from the direct comment about her.

Michelle had become truly frightening lately, the way she talked aboutfreedom and women’s rights, the bonds of religion, conventions imposedby society and her philosophy on relations between the sexes (Al-Sanea,2005: 175).

She is not afraid to talk about things that are actually taboo to be talked about in

Saudi society. Women’s rights and religion matter are sensitive matters in the

society.

Michelle’s brave characteristic can also be seen in the way she reacts

toward a situation during Gamrah’s wedding celebration. In Saudi Arabia, the

wedding celebration separates men and women in different rooms before the groom

can finally join the bride. In women room, all women can dress up as they like that

they do not need to cover their body with hijab or veil. Once the groom and all other

men join the women room to get the bride and the groom meet each other, all women

should cover their body in order to protect them from the sight of men. Yet, Michelle

prefer to stay as the way she is, she does not care whether men can see her body

shape in her gown.

Michelle, though, remained Michelle: she stayed exactly as she was andeyed the men one by one, paying no attention to the mutterings and trulysharp stares that she drew from some of them (Al-Sanea, 2005: 9).


31

Michelle braveness can also be seen in her decision to drive a car and

dresses up like a man. In Saudi Arabia, it is forbidden for a woman to drive a car

even if the person owns an international driving license. What Michelle did is

actually a crime due to the law in Saudi Arabia and she might be accused for driving.

Yet, Michelle is brave enough to still drive and to avoid being caught by the religious

police of Saudi Arabia, she dresses up like a man.

The hostess greeted them wearing baggy trousers with lots of pockets andan oversized jacket—gear that artfully concealed any sign of femininity—plus a bandanna that hid her hair. To top it all off, she had on a pair ofcolored sunglasses that gave her the appearance of an adolescent boy whohas escaped parental surveillance (2005: 14)

Wearing man’s clothes is inappropriate and against the law of Islam that become the

base of law in Saudi Arabia. The risk of being accused for driving by the religious

police of Saudi Arabia, shows how brave Michelle is.

d. Educated

Michelle and her family live in and her family moved to Riyadh when she

is in the second year of middle school. Since at that time Michelle did not have the

ability of speaking Arabic, she studies in a school that all the classes are taught in

English. After graduated from high school, Michelle continues her study in King

Saud University and studied computer science there.

Right after graduating from high school Michelle intended to study in a

university in America, yet her father did not give the permission that she ended up in

a university in Saudi. The reason why her father did not allow her to go is because—

since they already lived in conservative Saudi society—he was influenced by the

conservatives ideas that a woman who studies abroad by themselves will not find


32anyone who will marry them when they go back to Saudi and bad rumors about her

will spread.

Her father’s nosy sisters had really gone out of their way in this case tostuff her open-minded father’s head with retrograde ideas. They warnedhim of the likely consequences of letting her go abroad all by herself tostudy. Girls who traveled out of the kingdom to study, the aunties argued,found lots of unflattering talk swirling around them when they returned.And then they couldn’t find anyone who would marry them (Al-Sanea,2005:46)

Her father who is actually an open-minded person, got the influence from his sisters

who are very conservative. On the other hand, while Michelle is not allowed to study

abroad by herself, her little brother Meshaal is allowed to go for summer boarding

school in Switzerland.

The atmosphere of their home had become very bleak with her depressionand the departure of her brother Meshaal to Switzerland for his summerboarding school (Al-Sanea, 2005: 112).

In Saudi society, it was a hard battle for a woman to get formal education, they only

got religious education in the past. Thus, even now many conservative Saudi people

see that education for women is not needed. Amani Hamdan in his article Women

and Education in Saudi Arabia, says that the struggle for women education in Saudi

Arabia is an ongoing battle (Hamdan, 2010: 47)

Eventually, Michelle is able to study abroad. She is depressed after break

up with Faisal that she asks her father to let her go and study in the US. This time her

father let her go as a way to cure her broken heart. Her father does not give

spontaneous refusal because he knows that Michelle is in a bad psychological

condition.

This time when she proposed the idea of studying abroad to her father, shedid not face an immediate refusal as she had a year ago. It may be that the


33weight she had lost and the paleness that taken hold of her face in recentweeks had an effect on his decision (2005: 112)

Michelle continues her study at the University of California in San

Francisco major in communication. In San Francisco she met her cousin Matty who

helps her taking care of anything related to her study there. Later Michelle find

herself have a crush in Matty but when she tells her father, he cannot accept it since

Matty is not a Moslem.

Michelle does not finish her study in University of California, she only

spent two years there because her father decided to move to Dubai, UAE. It was her

father’s plan from the beginning, moreover after knowing that her daughter loves her

non-Moslem cousin (Al-Sanea, 2005: 135)

In Dubai, she still continued her study in communication. She entered the

Departement of Visual Communication at the American University in Dubai so that

her two years in San Francisco will not go to a waste. Major in communication is a

way that leads her way to success. Later she gets a chance to work in a famous TV

station in Dubai and become a producer for her own TV program (Al-Sanea, 2005:

185).

Through the description about her, it can also be seen that Michelle is an

educated woman. Her education also influences her way of thinking because she can

see things from the Eastern and Western perspective at the same time.

Mashael was a cultured, educated girl; she was a university student whosepotpourri of Eastern and Western thinking he really liked and admired.(Al-Sanea, 2005: 95)


34B. The Gender Discriminations Revealed in the Novel

In this section, the gender discrimination in the novel Girls of Riyadh will

be revealed. The discriminations are categorized into 4 categories. The first is

discrimination in social life, which reveals any discriminations against women in

their interaction with people outside the house. The second is discrimination in

domestic life where women are discriminated in their home even by their own

parents. The third is the discrimination in law where women cannot have the same

rights as men have in the aspect of law. The last is discrimination in politics, the

freedom of women in Saudi Arabia in political life is very limited due to the

Kingdom’s regulation.

1. Social Life

Social life is a combination of some components which are interactions,

people, and places outside the house. A social interaction, as explained by Jos ́e A.

Scheinkman in his journal, Social Interactions, refers to particular forms of

externalities, in which the actions of a reference group affect an individual’s

preferences (https://www.princeton.edu/~joses/wp/socialinteractions.pdf).

As mentioned before that Saudi Arabia society is a patriarchal society, the

very extreme one. Men in Saudi Arabia have more power than women do. Whether

socially or domestically, women only have limited freedom. The mobility of women

in Saudi Arabia is hindered by the gender discriminations. Women are not allowed

to go out of the house without their male guardian or at least the permission from

their male guardian. They should behave carefully, they are not allowed to drive a

car, and in order to take care of official task or running a business they should


35depend on their mahram (male guardian), it could be their fathers, brothers, or

husbands. Women in Saudi Arabia is a full dependant of their mahram. Lastly, the

extreme patriarchal society of Saudi will challenge the education of women.

Women especially the youth who are not yet married are expected to

behave with instruction especially during social gatherings because the way they

behave will influence their life. Such phenomenon can be seen in Girls of Riyadh

during a gathering where many women gather.

You barely walk,you barely talk, you barely smile, you barely dance, bemature and wise, you always think before you act, you measure yourwords carefully before you speak and you do not behave like a child.” (Al-Sanea, 2005: 6)

From the quotation above, it can be seen that the freedom of women in Saudi

Arabia is limited. They should act and behave according to instructions, they are

not free to do anything they like and cannot be just the way they are.

Another discrimination is the prohibition to drive for women. Actually

there is no written regulation about the prohibition of women to drive. Yet, the

government do not allow women to get a driving license. In order to have a driving

license, some women will go abroad and apply for international driving license. As

mentioned before that women need to fully depend on their mahram, it means that

wherever they go they should be accompanied by their mahram. That is why it is

taught that women do not need to drive because by driving, it might threaten their

guardian system (http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/24691034).

Women’s lack of mobility remains a salient point of contention in the

kingdom, as they still are not allowed to drive a car (Kelly, 2010: 426). Women in

Saudi Arabia will be driven by their mahram to go somewhere. Yet, some women


36often break the rules and they still drive, and in order to avoid being accused, they

dress up like a man. As said by Mohammed Jamjoom in CNN news, some women

would find it (dresses up like a man) as the only solution for them in order to drive a

car and not being caught (http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/25/world/meast/saudi-

women-drivers-jamjoom/).

As seen in Girls of Riyadh, Michelle has the courage to drive a car, she

owns an international driving license that she applied abroad and in order to avoid

being accused, she disguises herself by dress up like a man so that the religious

police will not recognize her as a woman.

The hostess greeted them wearing baggy trousers with lots of pockets andan oversized jacket—gear that artfully concealed any sign of femininity—plus a bandanna that hid her hair. To top it all off, she had on a pair ofcolored sunglasses that gave her the appearance of an adolescent boy whohas escaped parental surveillance (Al-Sanea, 2005: 14)

Another discrimination related to gender is that women in Saudi Arabia

are not allowed to take care of any official tasks by themselves. For example

when they need to take care of things related to a bank or any other offices, they

need a male guardian to help them. Also in running a business, a woman needs a

permission from her guardian and a male manager to conduct the business. In this

case, the function of the manager is—as mention before—to take care of things

related to official task, such as to take a bank loan, etc.

Such discrimination can be seen in Girls of Riyadh. It is experienced by

Sadeem. Sadeem starts a new business, it is a party organizer. She sees a big

chance for such business in Saudi because most of the party organizing sector is a

monopoly held by Moroccan, Lebanese, or Egyptian women. Yet, in order to run


37the business she needs to take care of many legal matters and in order to do so,

she hired her cousin, Tariq, to help her with anything related to official task.

Tariq, Sadeem’s cousin, helped them take care of official tasks, obtaininga commercial license and other necessary documents. Since women arenot always permitted to take care of legal matters with banks and otheroffices themselves, Sadeem made him their official agent for legal affairs(Al-Sanea, 2005: 226)

Even though this matter is not regulated, without a man hired by a woman to be a

manager, women in Saudi Arabia will never be able to run a business because it is

kind of impossible for them to interact with people especially men in order to deal

with official tasks, since men and women relationship is very restricted. This is a

discrimination that limits the mobility of women.

The patriarchal system in Saudi Arabia which gives the power in the hands

of men, also resulted in the chance to get married for women which has something

to do with their education. Even though women in Saudi Arabia are no longer

forbidden to get a proper formal education and that formal schools for women are

already provided by the Kingdom, but still by having a high education or only a

modest one can influence a woman’s life. It will be one of the most important

considerations for a man to marry a woman. As Hamdan said in his article that

women’s education did not change the patriarchal nature of Saudi society. Women

in every field are subordinate to men (2005: 48).

In Girls of Riyadh, Sadeem, one of Gamrah’s friend is always questioning

whether it is a blessing or a curse for a woman to have knowledge. Referring to

both academic knowledge and the practical experiences of everyday life. It is a


38question that none of her friends can answer. Sadeem finds out that many men in

Saudi society would prefer to marry a woman who has a modest education.

when it came down to searching for a suitable bride, young and naïve girlstended to hold more of an attraction than girls who had attained anadvanced level of knowledge and had a more sophisticated understandingof the world (Al-Sanea 2005: 246).

The men are afraid that by marrying educated women might present a challenge to

their capabilities so they will choose women whose education is lower than theirs.

By doing so, it will be easier for them to take control of their wives by being a

“teacher” who will teach their wives whatever they want and forming them into

whatever they wish (2005: 246)

Another gender discrimination in Saudi society is in the way the people

treat a divorcee. The society always looks down on a divorced women. Totally

different from the way they see a divorced man.

Is divorce a major crime committed by the woman only? Why doesn’t oursociety harass the divorced man the way it crushes the divorced woman ...We should defend Um Nuwayyir and Gamrah and other divorcées.Women like them don’t deserve to be looked down on by society, whichonly condescends from time to time to throw them a few bones andexpects them to be happy with that. Meanwhile, divorced men go on tolive fulfilling lives without any suffering or blame (Al-Sanea, 2005: 172)

A divorced man has more freedom than a divorced woman, they can still live their

life the way it was without feeling guilty or fear of society’s judgement while

women are suffering once they are become a divorcee. They cannot even get

remarried easily as men can. It is easy for a divorced man to remarried even with

a woman who have not been married yet, while a divorced woman cannot easily

find a man who have not been married to marry her.


39So why should I take someone who is divorced when I haven’t ever beenmarried? Even divorced men are looking for girls who haven’t beenmarried, so why would I end up with a woman who has been previouslymarried? (Al-Sanea, 2005-181)

The traditions in Saudi Arabia society have put women in a disadvantage

because it causes many gender discriminations against women. Their movement

and every day mobility is limited by various rules and norms.

2. Domestic Life

Not only in social life, the gender discrimination against women in Saudi

Arabia also occurs in their domestic life. As Kelly stated that Saudi Arabia is an

extreme patriarchal society that it provides privileges to men over women (Kelly,

2010: 427). Women in Saudi Arabia are often seen as inferior as men have a full

control of them, their voice are almost never heard even in their own home. In

Girls of Riyadh, it is revealed that many women experience inequalities in their

own home. Even though they realize that women have their own responsibility as

a wife or a daughter yet they are longing to voice their thought and be heard.

In choosing women as life partner, men in Saudi Arabia tend to choose the

one that in their opinion is a “shut-up” woman. It seems like a tradition that they

are following their ancestor because they see that the marriage of the men before

them always succeeded. In Girls of Riyadh, such a phenomenon is revealed by

Michelle, she explains the way men in the society think, it is the way they

consider women to be their wife.

Those old men are still living with those shut-up women of theirs. Sosomething must have gone right. What they did was successful. It’s got towork because everyone else has done it. So he follows their steps anddoesn’t go against their way of doing things (Al-Sanea 2005: 182).


40Many men in Saudi Society will do what their ancestors have done, they learn

from them so that they will have the same success in their marriage. By having

women who do not “speak much” it will be easier for them. Finally, in marriage

life, women will be inferior, their voices are often ignored. They live their life as

what their husband want. “Every one of them lives huddled in the shadow of a

man, or a wall, or a man who is a wall, or simply stays put in the darkness” (Al-

Sanea 2005: 2)

Not only as a wife, as a daughter, women in Saudi Arabia society also

have limited freedom. Gamrah, who is already divorced with her husband, should

live a miserable life in her own home. Just because she is a divorcee, it seems like

she has no more rights in making decision for her life. She cannot easily get

permission to get out of the house and if she happens to go out, she has to be

accompanied by her brother.

But wasn’t that painful enough without having her freedom so horriblycurtailed? ... Believe it or not, this was the first day that she had beenallowed to leave the house since her return from America three weeksbefore (Al-Sanea, 2005: 123)

Not only the freedom to enjoy the life outside the house, Gamrah’s future

is also decided by the men in the family. In order to protect the whole family from

a bad image in the society, Gamrah is forced to remarried. Yet her opinion is not

even considered, whether she agrees or not. When there is a man who is chosen

by her uncle to marry her, Gamrah feels so inferior as if she does not exist in the

family that she should accept anything said by her uncle and her father.

One day when the man, named Abu Musa’ed who is chosen for Gamrah

comes to see her, all elderly men in the family gathered in a room with him and


41Gamrah, yet her presence was ignored, the men in the family talk about conditions

related to the marriage without asking her opinion even a bit.

Gamrah was shifting her gaze from her father to her uncle to AbuMusa’ed. It hadn’t occurred to any of these men to consult the person whohad the biggest stake in this, and who happened to be sitting there in frontof them, even if she was as silent and stiff as a wooden plank (Al-Sanea,2005: 191)

In Islam the decision to get married for a divorcee or a widow is in the

hand of the divorcee herself, as suggested by the Prophet Muhammad SAW in a

hadith:

The Prophet, God’s blessings and peace be upon him, said: The virgin’sagreement to a marriage must be sought by her guardian, but the widowor divorcee has more right to her own person than does her guardian- Thehadith collection of Sahih Muslim, verse 3477 (Al-Sanea, 2005: 188)

What happens to Gamrah show that the patriarchal society of Saudi Arabia put

women in a disadvantage and they are seen as inferiors. In making a decision men

in Saudi Arabia usually do not care about the opinion of women, they decide it

themselves. Women should obey what men say, especially their husband or their

father.

Not only in marriage life, another discrimination also occurs every time it

comes to life decision such as choosing a job. Actually it is still very rare to see

women working in Saudi Arabia because most sectors are dominated by men,

women can only work in a very limited sectors.

Michelle who finally move to Dubai UAE has more freedom than when

she lives in Saudi Arabia, since UAE is more liberal country compared to Saudi

Arabia. Yet, Michelle still finds difficulties in deciding her life choice because she

has to get the permission from her father. Even though she can finally works in


42media, it is not easy for her to develop, because all matters should be under the

agreement of her father.

Michelle was officially made a producer of the program. Then she got herown show to produce. They asked her to be the on-air presenter, butMichelle’s father refused to allow her to host a show that would bebroadcast in the homes of his relatives in Saudi Arabia (Al-Sanea, 2005:207)

Even though they are no longer living in Saudi Arabia but the strong patriarchal

system is still influencing their life. She is not allowed to be the on-air presenter

for her own program because the program will be aired in Saudi Arabia. If her

face happens to occur on TV, bad rumors about her will definitely spread.

3. Discrimination in Law

Not only Gamrah and Michelle, one of their friends, Sadeem also

experience a discrimination. On the day of her official marriage ceremony, during

the official proceeding when the marriage contract is about to be signed, Sadeem

can only put her fingerprint on the contract. Even though Sadeem insists to also

put her signature, she is still not allowed. Women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed

to put their signature on any officials letters, it is only men who can have their

signatures on such papers.

During the official proceedings Sadeem pressed her fingerprint onto thepage in the enormous registry book after her protest about not beingallowed to sign her name was dismissed. “My girl,” said her aunt, “juststamp it with your fingerprint and call it a day. The sheikh saysfingerprint, not signature. The men are the only ones who sign theirnames.” (Al-Sanea, 2005: 30)

After Sadeem and Waleed are legally married, another unexpected

problem occurs that really breaks Sadeem’s heart. She is asked to get divorced by

Waleed. In Saudi Arabia tradition, a man and a woman is officially married after


43they sign their marriage contract, yet, they still cannot live together until the

wedding celebration is held. During the time before the wedding celebration is

held, Waleed always comes to visit Sadeem every day, he will come at night or

afternoon and will go home at dawn. One day in his regular visit to Sadeem,

Sadeem decides to give herself to Waleed and they have an intimate relationship

for the first time, despite the fact that their wedding celebration has not been

conducted yet. The next day, Waleed disappears and stop contacting Sadeem. She

is dying to know what happens but all she got in return is a divorce paper.

Sadeem was afloat in a state of bewilderment, waiting for a call or visitfrom Waleed, dreaming that he would come to her on his knees beggingfor forgiveness. But he didn’t visit and he didn’t call. Her father asked herwhat was wrong, but she had no answer for him. An answer did comefrom Waleed three weeks later, though: divorce papers! (Al-Sanea, 2005:34-35).

In Saudi Arabia, a man can easily divorce a woman without explanation, but for a

woman, she has to go to court and give the cause of why she asks to get divorce to

the judges. Such discrimination makes women always be in a difficult condition,

because they are seems insignificant.

4. Discrimination in Politics

Women in Saudi Arabia are also discriminated in the political aspect. They

have no rights to join the political life of Saudi Arabia. As a country that uses

monarchy system, political parties are prohibited in Saudi Arabia. The only direct

access to the government is through weekly majlis or a forum held by the king

and government in each province. In majlis, all citizens are allowed to come and

voice their opinion, yet women voice should be written in a petition to be

delivered by their male relatives (Kelly, 2010: 444)


44The phenomenon of marginalizing women in political life can also be

seen in Girls of Riyadh, during the time when all the Arab nations were protesting

to support the Palestinian Intifada and the Al-Aqsa Mosque uprising, Sadeem and

her friends were prohibited to join the demonstration (Al-Sanea, 2005: 65).

Sadeem—all of her classmates and everyone at their age were on themargins when it came to political life. They had no role, no importance. Ifonly she understood politics (Al-Sanea, 2005: 65).

It can be seen that the basic rights to participate in politics and the rights to

express opinion are taken away from women in Saudi Arabia, their existence

seems has no significant at all in the political aspect.

C. The Struggle of Women toward Gender Discrimination

This section shows how the women in the novel are struggling by relating the

way they struggle with the characteristics of the characters. The struggle of

women in the novel is revealed through the way they react toward situations that

put them in disadvantages. In the previous part, the characteristics of the

characters have been analyzed. Those characteristics have important role for these

women in order to struggle towards gender discrimination, every characteristic

determines the way they struggle. There are two kinds of struggle reveals in the

novel, the struggle can be seen and through their action trough the speech of the

characters

1. Struggle Shown Through Action

Each character in the novel has different characteristics. Their characteristics

influence the way they struggle against the gender discriminations that they


45experience. Some of the characters are brave enough to show their resistance

through frontal action in order to fight for their rights.

Almost all marriage in Saudi Arabia society is an arranged marriage since

men and women are not allowed to have relationship before marriage. Yet there

is a process that has to be done before the marriage ceremony in order to get an

agreement from the man and the woman who will be married. The man and

woman will meet each other accompanied by her mahram, the purpose is to get

them to know each other. Such a process is suggested by the prophet Muhammad

SAW in order to avoid failure of marriage. Yet, in some cases, the candidates,

meaning the man and women are forced to get married even when they do not

like their spouse. And this is what happens to Gamrah.

Gamrah whose marriage was arranged, ends up being a divorcee because

her husband divorced her and she has a little son. Her marriage did not succeed

because her husband does not love her and he even has a love affair. Before

finally get divorced, Gamrah has tried to fight for her marriage. Since she knows

that her husband is cheating on her, she decided to meet the Japanese girl named

Kari who is her husband’s affair. With her modest English ability, she bravely

meet her who speaks English better than her. Gamrah asks the girl to stop

meeting her husband, she realizes that it is her rights as her wife to fight for her

marriage.

Gamrah called Kari at the second number and asked to meet her. Sheintroduced herself first. Kari answered calmly, saying she was willing andready to come to Chicago to see her at the next available opportunity (Al-Sanea 2005: 80)


46Gamrah also bravely decided to get pregnant by stops taking pills to

prevent pregnancy which is in fact, against her husband’s will. Gamrah realizes

that she has the rights for her self and her body, she does not want any body to

limit her even though it is her husband.

What? Pregnant? You are pregnant! How did that happen? Who gave youpermission to get pregnant? You mean you’re not taking the pills? ...Youfigured you could twist my arm with these filthy tricks! (Al-Sanea, 2005:85)

Gamrah suffers from the way her husband treats her. Even though her marriage is

an arranged marriage, she tries to love her husband faithfully. Yet what she gets in

return is the opposite that her husband does not love her and treated her badly. Her

decision to get pregnant is a risky decision because it might get her husband very

mad and Gamrah realize about it. Yet, with her bravery, she still does it even with

the consequence of being oppressed by her husband. Once her husband finds out

about what Gamrah has done, he got very mad and oppresses her physically by

slapping her.

The second slap came and she fell to the floor, sobbing painfully. Rashidleft the apartment to run into the arms of the “unworthy one,” leavingGamrah cursing and slapping her cheeks and spitting at him, in a state ofhysteria, close to madness (Al-Sanea, 2005: 85).

In Saudi Arabia society, being a divorcee is looked as a disgrace for a

family. A divorced woman cannot live her life as free as a divorced man can. This

is exactly what happens in Gamrah’s family. Her family feels ashamed because

Gamrah is a divorcee. She is expected to get married again so that her family will

not live a life in a disgraceful condition by having a daughter who is a divorcee.

Thus, not so long after her divorce with her husband, Gamrah’s father and uncle


47make a decision and chose a man for Gamrah without considering Gamrah’s

agreement. As a woman, she is marginalized and it seems like she is insignificant

in the family. Gamrah realizes that she should fight for her rights and she does not

want to do the same mistake for the second time. Gamrah bravely objects the

marriage proposal, she stands for her rights even if it is against her father’s will.

Why? Why do I need a man to shield and protect me? Does your brotherthink I’m a disgrace, or I cannot protect my own self? You people don’trealize that I am a grown woman now and I have a son! My word shouldcount and I should be listened to! (Al-Sanea, 2005: 192)

Gamrah understands her position and her rights, she does not want to be seen as

insignificant, she wants her opinion to be considered, that she has full rights of

herself as a grown woman. Gamrah’s situation shows how some women in

patriarchal Saudi society become survivor of gender discrimination.

As a woman, Gamrah is fundamentally oppressed by men in her family.

Such oppression and restriction then underlie another discrimination for her in the

social life. Gamrah realizes her status as a divorcee and she understands that

anything she does might create rumors in the society, yet she also realizes that she

cannot rely on anybody in order to survive and to fulfill her son’s needs that is

why she works hard to show that she is an independent woman regardless her

status as a widow. The striving of a divorcee to get a proper life independently is

revealed through Gamrah’s reactions toward her difficult situation such as being

limited in her everyday mobility by her mother.

Since a divorcee is seen as a disgrace, that is why her mobility is restricted

and limited. Her mother will not allow her to get out of the house without being

accompanied by her male relative. Such limitation is so distressful for her because


48she cannot go anywhere freely. One day when she got a chance to work for

Sadeem who is starting a new business, she uses the opportunity to prove her

ability and to show that even though she is a woman and a divorcee, she can

survive and earn money for herself. Gamrah bravely breaks the limitations that

her mother gives to her, she decides to work even until late at night outside the

house and without the companion of any male relatives. Since Sadeem is running

an event organizer business, Gamrah has the responsibility to shop for certain

things that forces her to mobilize everywhere. By working, Gamrah shows the

resistance for the limitation for a woman to be outside the house in order to work

and without any companion of a male relative.

Gamrah would begin working every night after she performed the eveningRamadan prayers at the huge mosque downtown. Shopping malls rarelyopen in the daytime during Ramadan, but they make up for it at night,opening until three or four in the morning throughout the holy month (Al-Sanea, 2005: 232)

Gamrah wouldn’t get home before two or three in the morning, althoughduring the final third of the month she would return an hour or two earlier,in time to do the Qiyam prayers** at the mosque with her mother andsisters. At first, Gamrah’s mother wouldn’t let her go out on these workmissions alone, but she began going easier on her daughter when shenoticed how seriously Gamrah took it all (Al-Sanea, 2005: 233)

Different from Gamrah, Michelle is struggling against the rules in Saudi

Arabia. Michelle who owns an international driving license, bravely drives a car

and goes to the mall with her friends even though it is forbidden for women to

drive in Saudi Arabia. She is struggling to be able to mobilize everywhere she

likes so she takes the risk to drive. Since she realizes the risk of her action, she

tries to avoid being accused by disguising herself as a man. She just cannot drive

if she does not disguise herself first, even though she is fighting to get the same


49opportunity as what men have, it is still too risky for her to drive as a woman. She

and her friend Lamees, disguise themselves as men by wearing men clothes. It is a

brave initiative and tactic in order to maximize the limited mobility of women.

The hostess greeted them wearing baggy trousers with lots of pockets andan oversized jacket—gear that artfully concealed any sign of femininity—plus a bandanna that hid her hair. To top it all off, she had on a pair ofcolored sunglasses that gave her the appearance of an adolescent boy whohas escaped parental surveillance. Lamees wore a masculine-style flowingwhite thobe with a shimagh draped over her head and kept in place with asnugly fitting black eqal.*With her height and athletic body she really didlook like a guy, and a hand- some one, too (Al-Sanea, 2005: 14-15)

Such effort that is done by Michelle and Lamees shows that women in Saudi

Arabia are struggling to have the same opportunity as what men have. Their hopes

to get equality force them to do so. Their nature as women and as a fundamentally

oppressed class has put them in a lower position compared to men.

Michelle shows how women in Saudi Arabia is struggling because of the

rules of the Kingdom. Michelle whose characteristic is brave, often does things

that is risky. In Saudi Arabia, it is forbidden for women to drive by themselves,

even though there is no legal regulation about the situation, women in Saudi

Arabia are not allowed to own a driving license. Such rule limits the mobility of

women there because they have to depend on their male relatives all the time.

Michelle who has educated characteristic even decided to leave Saudi

Arabia to live in the UAE, with her education she could get a proper job that she

cannot get in Saudi Arabia. In Dubai, UAE, Michelle has more freedom than

when she lives in Saudi Arabia. She just cannot stand the way women are treated

and the very limited freedom women have in her own country. In Dubai, she


50works in the media, it is a contrast to the life in Saudi Arabia where women have

only limited choice of jobs and the way Michelle reacts proves it.

Working in the media opened up new horizons for Michelle, and for thefirst time she felt truly liberated from all the restrictions that had alwaysbeen imposed on her (Al-Sanea, 2005: 207).

Michelle realizes her ability and she does not want to be restricted by the norm in

the patriarchal Saudi society. If she stays in Riyadh, she will never be able to

develop herself because it is impossible to work in the media in Saudi Arabia.

All of the frontal actions that are done by Gamrah and Michelle are the

action or resistance to fight the discrimination and oppression in the patriarchal

society of Saudi Arabia where women only have limited freedom and should live

under the dominance of men.

1. Struggle Shown Through Speech

Not only through frontal action, the resistance of women toward the

gender discrimination in Saudi Arabia that is revealed in the novel also shown

through what the characters say. They talk about their opinion and how they feel

about the discriminations they experience.

Michelle who is the most critical person among all of her friends, often

criticizes the society. She is always aware about the position of women in such a

patriarchal society. She feels so irritated every time she, or her friends is treated

unequally. For example about Gamrah with her arranged marriage or Sadeem that

is divorced without any explanations from her husband. Both Gamrah and Sadeem


51are treated unequally by men in their life. Her very sharp point of view shows that

women in Saudi Arabia are seen as inferior that is lower than man.

You had the right to say no, but you didn’t. So you better drop all this“fate” theory, all this stuff about us not having any hand in any of our lifepaths. We always act the role of the helpless females, completely over-come by circumstances, and as if we don’t have a say in anything oropinions of our own! Utterly passive! How long are we going to keep onbeing such cowards, and not have even the courage to see our choicesthrough, whether they’re right or wrong? (Al-Sanea, 2005: 125)

Through what Michelle says, it can be seen that women are struggling because

their rights are restricted because of their sex. Michelle realizes how Gamrah is

struggling because of Gamrah’s arranged marriage has brought misery to her life

and it is also hard for her to get equal treatment in the family as a woman

especially as a divorcee.“She was continually advising Gamrah to become tougher

and meaner in asserting herself and not to give an inch when it came to defending

her own rights“ (Al-Sanea, 2005: 175).

Her opinion also emphasizes that women do not have power to resist the

unequal treatment and oppression to women. The very strong patriarchal system

in the society has got women to be voiceless because men define what it means to

be feminine, thereby devoiced, devalued, and trivialized ( Bressler, 1999:180).

They will threatened themselves if they show their resistance. That is why the talk

and protests towards the unequal treatments cannot be directly said to men. These

women are aware of their situation, they know that their rights has been taken

away but there is nothing they can do yet.Michelle’s friend, Sadeem also add her

opinion during the conversation she had with her friends

I’m sick of how we let everyone else control us and lead us through thislife. We can never do anything without the fear of being judged holding us


52back. Everyone steers us along according to what they want. What kind oflife is that? We don’t have a say about our own lives (Al-Sanea, 2005:178).

The patriarchal system has been rooted in Saudi Arabia society that anything it

become the foundation of all oppression towards women. Women are always

afraid to do something to defense their rights.

Michelle always be critical when she talk “about freedom and women’s

rights, the bonds of religion, conventions imposed by society and her philosophy

on relations between the sexes (Al-Sanea 2005: 175).From Michelle’s protest, it

can also be seen that Saudi Arabia society is a society which is full of

contradictions. Men can do what they like and women are left without power.

a crooked society that raises children on contradictions and doublestandards. A society where one guy divorces his wife because she’s notresponsive enough in bed to arouse him, while the other divorces his wifebecause she doesn’t hide from him how much she likes it! (Al-Sanea,2005: 270)

From the description of Michelle’s thoughts, it can also be seen that she and many

of women in the society are suffering by living in a conservative patriarchal

society of Saudi Arabia. Men can easily divorce his wife just because of

something insignificant like a wife who easily expresses her feeling. Michelle and

her other friends are striving in the patriarchal society in order to get equality.


53

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

This chapter consists of the conclusion of the analysis of the

undergraduate thesis. The thesis focuses on the gender discrimination toward

women in Saudi Arabia as revealed in Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Al-Sanea.

Therefore, there are three problems that must be answer in the thesis. The first

problem is how the major characters are described in the novel. The second

problem is about the gender discriminations that are revealed in the novel. The

last problem is how the struggle of women toward the gender discriminations

revealed in the novel.

There are two major characters that are described in the novel Girls of

Riyadh, they are Gamrah and Michelle. By using Murphy’s theory on character

and characterization, it can be concluded that the Gamrah, as one of the major

characters in the novel, is described as hard working, and brave. Another major

character in the novel is Michelle. Through her reactions toward certain situations,

her speech, and what other characters say about her it can be concluded that she is

tough, brave, critical, and educated.

The second problem that is analyzed in the thesis is about the gender

discrimination in Saudi Arabia. In the analysis, the gender discrimination is

categorized in four categories, they are: Social Life, Domestic Life, Law, and

Politics. Women’s rights is limited due to gender reason, they are full dependant

of their mahram (male relative) that everything they do should be under the

permission of their mahram.


54In social life women’s mobility is limited, first, they should behave

carefully in social gatherings. Secondly, women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed

to drive cars by themselves since women cannot own a driving license. Thirdly,

even though it is not forbidden for women to have a business yet they have to hire

a male manager to take care of any official tasks in official offices. Fourthly,

having a high education is a challenge for women in Saudi Arabia, since it will

affect their opportunity to get married.

In the domestic life, men are also dominating. All decision is in the hand

of men in the family. Just like what happens with Michelle when she is not free to

choose her career. Michelle can finally be free to work in the field she likes after

she moves to Dubai, UAE, yet she is still under the dominance of her father.

In Saudi Arabia, there is also the discrimination in law. Women are not

allowed to put their signature in official documents, only men can put their

signatures. Men in Saudi Arabia can also easily divorce a woman without any

explanation while for women, they need to go to the court and give clear

explanation about the reason why they want to get divorce.

Gender discrimination also occurs in political life in Saudi Arabia. Women

have no rights when it comes to political aspect. When there was a demonstration

to support the Palestinian Intifada, Sadeem and her friends are not allowed to join.

Anything related to politics is forbidden for women.

The last problem that is analyzed in the thesis is the struggle of women

toward gender discrimination. The struggles are categorized into two category,

they are the struggles that are seen through action and the struggles that are seen


55through speech. Michelle and Sadeem experience both kind of struggle while

Gamrah only show her struggle through action.

Gamrah has the courage to object the forces against her in order to defend

her rights. Gamrah bravely initiate to stop taking pills and get pregnant, even

though it is against her husband will. She also meets her husband’s girlfriend and

asks her to stop meeting her husband again. What Gamrah has done show how

brave she is to give frontal action in order to struggle. Another frontal action that

Gamrah does to defend her rights is when she is forced to get married again by her

father and uncle. Thus, Gamrah finally resist frontally by saying that she does not

want to get married again. She is not allowed to get outside her house without the

companion of her brother, yet, she proves that even though she is a widow, she

can be independent woman by working outside the house without any companion

by her mahram.

On the other hand, Michelle shows how women in Saudi Arabia is

struggling because of the unfair rule in the country. Michelle is bravely enough to

drive a car since she has an international driving license. As a way to avoid being

arrested, she disguises herself as a man. Another struggle that can be seen through

Michelle’s action is the difficulties in deciding her own career.

Not only through action, the struggle of women can also be seen through

the speech. After seeing and experiencing the unequal treatment that she and her

friends get, Michelle is always questioning why women has many limitation, and

has no rights just to show their opinion and decide something in their life. Her

critical thoughts shows that many women in Saudi Arabia experience


56discriminations such ash, a forced arranged marriage, the limited choice of jobs,

the rights for men to divorce his wife without explanation and many other

discriminations. Not only Michelle, Sadeem also criticizes the society, she just

cannot stand the way women are treated, in her opinion, women cannot even have

a say for their own life, what they do should depend on others especially men, she

wants to have liberation and not being controlled or steered by others in deciding

anything in her life which is quite hard in such patriarchal society of Saudi

Arabia.

Girls of Riyadh portrays the life of women through the young generation.

It tries to deliver the voice of the insignificant others who are women. Gamrah

and her friends really understand their roles as women yet as human beings they

want to have the same rights with men. They struggle in order to prove that they

also have capabilities in many things and they do not want to be seen as

insignificant other. Even though they are hoping for a reform, they are still

preserving their religious and cultural values.


57

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. New York: Holt, Rineheart andWinston, 2009.

Al-Ghadeer, Moneera. “Girls of Riyadh: A New Technology Writing or Chick LitDefiance Banat al-Riyaḍ [Girls of Riyadh] by Raja'al-Sani”. Journal ofArabic Literature, Vol. 37, No. 2 (2006), pp. 296-302.(http://www.jstor.org/stable/4183570). May 11, 2014.

Al-Sanea, Rajaa. Girls of Riyadh. New York: The Penguin Press, 2007.

Bressler, E. Charles. Literary Criticism, an Introduction to Theory and Practice.New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.

Discrimination. Eurofond. September 21, 2011.(http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/areas/industrialrelations/dictionary/definitions/discrimination.htm). October 1, 2014.

Freeman, Jo. Women, A Feminist Perspective. Mountain View: MayfieldPublishing Company, 1984.

Gender Discrimination and Inequalities Across Regions. Unicef.org. April 16,2010.(http//www.unicef.org/sowc07/docs/sowc07_panel_1_2.pdf)sowc07_panel_1_2). May 19, 2014.

Hamdan, Amani. “Women and education in Saudi Arabia: Challenges andachievements”. International Education Journal. Vol. 6, No. (2005): pp.42-64. Shannon Research Press.(files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ854954.pdf). April 6,2014.

Humm, Maggie. Feminism: A Reader. Trowbridge: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1992.

Jamjoom, Mohammed. “Inside the Middle East”. CNN.com. October 25, 2013.(http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/25/world/meast/saudi-women-drivers-jamjoom/). July 7, 2014.

Jawad, Haifaa A. The Rights of Women in Islam. London: Macmillan Press Ltd.,1998.

Kelly, Julia Breslin. ed. Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa.New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2010.


58Madsen, Deborah L. Feminist Theory & Literary Practice. London: Pluto Press.

2000

Murphy, M. J. Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and theEnglish Novel Overseas Students. London: George Allen and UnwinLtd., 1972.

Nelson, Todd D. Handbook of Prejudice, Stereotyping, and Discrimination. NewYork: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, 2009.

Palupi, Eska Dwi. “The Roles of Family and Women on Saudi Arabia Traditionof Marriage as Revealed in Rajaa Al-Sanena’s Girls of Riyadh.Undergraduate Thesis. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University, 2010.

Pilcher, Jane and Imelda Whelehan. Fifty Keys Concepts in Gender Studies.Trowbridge: The Cromwell Press. Ltd, 2004.

Scheinkman, Jos’e A. Social Interactions. Pricenton.edu. March 12, 2012.(www.princeton.edu/~joses/wp/socialinteractions.pdf). July 21, 2013.

The Encyclopedia Americana. Connecticut: Americana Corporation InternationalHeadquarters, 1978.

Wallace, Elizabeth Kowaleski. ed. Encyclopedia of Feminist Literary Theory.London: Routledge, 2009.

Wellek, Rene and Austin Warren. Theory of Literature. New York: Harcourt,Brace, and World Inc., 1956.

Whitley Jr, Mary E. Kite The Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination. NewYork: Wadsworth, 2010.

Why Can’t Women Drive in Saudi Arabia. BBC. October 27, 2013.(www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/24691034). July 7, 2014.


59

APPENDIX

SUMMARY OF GIRLS OF RIYADH BY RAJAA AL-SANEA

Girsl of Riyadh tells about four young women, Gamrah, Michelle, Sadeem

and Lamees who live in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. These women live in a high class

society if Riyadh. All of them are dreaming of having a true love in a society

where the relationship of men and women are forbidden unless they are married

or mahram. Each woman has their own story. Gamrah should accept the arranged

married and live in a misery because her husband does not love her and cheat on

her. She ends up being a divorcee and has a son. Gamrah experiences some

discrimination as a woman and a divorcee. She is not free to give her opinion

whether she accept the arranged marriage or not. She also lives in isolation after

being a widow. Yet, she is able to fight for her rights and prove that she can be an

independent woman whose voice should be heard.

Michelle as an Arab American woman is the most critical among all of her

friends, she always questioning the discrimination against women in Saudi

Arabia. Michelle’s love story also does not end up well. The conservative society

of Saudi Arabia really concern about family background and status. She cannot be

with her love because she is not a pure Arabian and her family is not a well-

known family even though she comes from a rich family. In her domestic life, she

experiences discrimination in education and choosing her career since everything

should be under the agreement of her father.

Just like Gamrah and Michelle, Sadeem also has problem with her love life.

She is divorced by her husband Waleed, even before the wedding celebration is


60held. Her decision to give Waleed the chance to sleep with her before she

officially moves in with him has made Waleed stop contacting her and end up

divorcing her. Her second love also brings misery to her life. Firas, her boyfriend

ends up marrying another girl because his marriage is already arranged by his

family. Sadeem finally married her cousin who already love her since they were

children, even though she does not love him but she gives it a try and eventually

happy with him.

Lamees is the only one whose love story ends up well. She marries the one

that she love, Nizar. Her life is smooth withouth any significant problem. All the

four women is trying to live in modern life by still preserving their culture and

religious values. They are craving to reform and fight for their rights as women.


PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI · Nama : Putri Riskya Iriani Nomor Mahasiswa : 104214015...

Documents

Transcript of PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI · Nama : Putri Riskya Iriani Nomor Mahasiswa : 104214015...