Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening
Summary:
Manal al-Sharif’s memoir is a beautiful story of a modern Saudi woman’s awakening, her transformation from a zealous religious radical to a free woman.
She grew up in Mecca, in the family of a taxi driver and a devout housewife. Her life seemed destined for her – graduating from high school, getting married, having children. However, it turns out that the young girl’s destiny will go far beyond the cliché of an typical Saudi wife. Manal will also change the lives and worldview of other women in Saudi Arabia – a country that severely restricts women’s rights. The long list of prohibitions includes communicating with men outside the family circle, access to certain medical and cosmetic procedures, and the right to drive.
In 2011, Manal was arrested on charges of “driving while being a woman.” But even this could not stop her desire to change the established order.
She organized numerous events and campaigns. Thanks to her efforts and with the support of like-minded people, the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia has been removed.
Edited by: Regional Public Library "Petko Rachev Slaveikov" (Bulgaria)
Comment:
Dare to Drive is the harrowing autobiographical story of a modern Saudi woman born in the very cradle of Islam – the holy Mecca. In fact, it is a journey through time – from the medieval rules of the girls’ school, the ritual tours of the sacred Kaaba and the torture of female circumcision by the neighborhood Berber to modern science; from the cells and dungeons of the inquisitors over a rebellious spirit to liberation and world fame, albeit in exile. “Dare to Drive” is the story of a modern feat, but its central episode and motif – the fact that a woman ignores the ban, gets behind the wheel of a car and drives it through the streets of the city of Dhahran – is only the most famous and visible part of the story.