Listen guys we seem to be going a bit of topic. I do not want this to seem like a one off. We all recognise that we have good and bad in all countries. the point to note I think here is that Saudi society seems to be riddled with racism and discrimination and that applies to women etc. I mean even Wikipedia has a whole section on this so it is something that Saudis are becoming infamous for:
Saudi Arabia
Racism against foreigners "Non-citizens"
Racism in Saudi Arabia is
mainly against labor workers who are foreigners, mostly from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Philippines, and other poor countries. There can also be discriminatory attitudes towards foreigners from poor Arab countries, like Egypt or Yemen
Discrimination against the historically urbanized Saudi citizens of non-tribalist,
non-Bedouin origins or "Hadar" lit "civil"
There can be a lot of discrimination towards the Saudi citizens of non-Bedouin origins or "Hadar" lit "civil or urban", such as people from Jeddah, Mecca, Medina, Yanbu and Taif", generally the Hijaz area" where people are more mixed and have a multi-ethnic makeup, this was due to the area being the only in the peninsula which had open trade and connections with the outside world. The tribal Saudi Bedouins discriminate against the Saudis of non-Bedouin origins "Hadar" by calling them (tarsh bahar) literally meaning (sea-vomit), a term which dates back to the fall of the kingdom of Hejaz into Saudi hands, the Hijazies or "Hadar" who are known for their distinctive Hijazi Arabic dialect, considered themselves to be much more sophisticated and civilized, while the Bedouin conquerors saw themselves as being more racially pure and thus responded by calling them (tarsh bahar).[citation needed] Hijzies sometimes answer back by simply calling Bedouins "bedouins" or sometimes "Soroob" a slang term for bedouin, backward or savage. T
he Saudis of non-Bedouin origins are not usually allowed into the military services which might be for historical reasons, there are, however, many exceptions. There are no laws instated against racism in Saudi Arabia, and since the government is of a tribalist Bedouin background, one can safely say that discrimination and racism is sometimes institutionalized in Saudi Arabia.
Religious or sectarian forms of discrimination
Discrimination fueled by religious sentiment is quite common in Saudi Arabia. The most prominent is the discrimination against the Shia sect of Islam minority in the Eastern and southern regions of Saudi. The Shia are disenfranchised by not being allowed into the military, and forbidden to hold key positions in government as well, this is in contrast with Hijazies who have a long tradition of holding key positions in the government which dates back to the early days of the Saudi conquest of the Kingdom of Hejaz. The Sufi sects of Sunni Islam which are present in Hijaz are also not exempt from harassment from the strict main stream Wahabbi sect. One need not stress that there is a discrimination against non-Muslims "usually western foreigners" in general, this usually goes unnoticed as their numbers are quite negligible in comparison to other minorities.
Tribalism or "tribe vs tribe"
Another form of discrimination
is tribalism "tribe against tribe", or favoritism of one's own tribe to others. This happens among Saudies of Bedouin tribalist background, this form of discrimination has roots in the vicious tribal wars and conflicts which predated Saudi Arabia.
Social opposition to discrimination/racism in Saudi Arabia
All these forms of racism and discrimination are in a sense accepted socially speaking "meaning there is no vocal or serious social opposition to it", with the opposition to it being essentially non-vocal if existent. A person who opposes any form of racism in Saudi is considered too nice and/or too polite, many do so from a religious stand point,so, they could also be considered too religious. In other words, in Saudi Arabia racism is not endorsed socially and/or legally but it is not a taboo by any means, as it is treated in the West.
Racism in the Middle East - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There is no room imo in the 21st centuary for these abuses to be so openly practiced
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