Saudi Arabia: Female robot treated better than females

Photo: Reuters

Saudi women are jealous of a 'female' robot who doesn't need a 'male' robot guardian or is required to wear a hijab (head covering) when going out in public and has been granted Saudi Arabian citizenship.

Seriously.

The robot, known as Sophia, was unveiled at a technology conference in Riyadh last week. Questions as to whether 'she' will be treated like other women in the Islamic kingdom now that she's a citizen has lit up social media.

"It hit a sore spot that a robot has citizenship and my daughter doesn't," Hadeel Shaikh, a Saudi human woman whose 4-year-old girl with a Lebanese man doesn't have citizenship, but the child, unlike the robot, will be allowed to marry in five years.

Women in Saudi Arabia who are married to foreigners cannot pass on citizenship to their children.  

(Israelis still aren't allowed to enter the orthodox Islamic country while Christians cannot bring in their Bibles, Rosary beads, crosses or other religious articles.)

Last month the Saudi government allowed women to drive and to watch sporting events in all-male stadiums for the first time starting next year. If the male fans are able to keep themselves from raping these women, the practice will continue the following year.

Shaikh hopes the country will reform even more and is worried about her daughter's future as she only holds a residency card.

"I want her to have all the privileges of her mum," Shaikh told the Thomas Reuters Foundation via phone. "I want her to feel welcomed even if I am not here," she said, alluding to the notion that she could be stoned to death for allowing a man to enter her home to repair her broken gristmill.

A question I have about this robot deal is: does the robot have parts made in other countries and if so, why is the robot granted citizenship when the little girl has parts made in Lebanon and is not a Saudi citizen?



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