The Post "Women & 'gendercide'" comes to me in the form of an email.
I receive these emails every other day from a wonderful source, an acquaintance whom I will call 'Sitalbanat' or 'S' as that is where the emails come from. She's an interesting sweet sensitive Saudi girl living in Dubai who first introduced me to the book "The Girls of Riyadh" and other interesting reads.
As a person, she reflects the quiet feminine confidence that I'm used to and link directly to Dynamic Educated Arab Women. As well, she is cultured and exudes a certain 'je ne sais quoi' that may confuse some but is a welcome breath of freshness to others.
She and the other Saudi girls that I first met in October, have come as a breath of fresh air! For the only Saudi women that I'd encountered, were the average abaya clad mothers of four or more during the Dubai Shopping Festival.
Though I'd heard of & encountered a few of the elite Saudi's I vaguely remember them from Cannes.
That's were you'd be in the summer of '84 or any other year of the eighties (every decade has its favourite city/country - the 80's were Spain & France, the 70's England rather London and the 90's was Germany/Holland and then of course there's the usual side dish of south east asia for the Arab men or the chosen honey moon place for conservative moslim couples!)
But I digress! These lovely ladies of Jeddah & Medina - KSA not USA - Have left a great impression on me, though we now meet rarely, we did meet more often during Ramadan. I'd even been invited to the Birthday of 'Sitalbanat' a.k.a. 'S' even though we'd just met. That was an elegant gesture which I would not forget.
The other ladies were just as generous and perhaps quite funny, especially 'N'! She's a ball of laughter and fun and she's not fat! (I used to be obese and people thought me funny so there had always been a reflected relation between Fat & Funny)
She's petite, Pretty and with a sultry natural bronze complexion that screams femininity. N is witty and sweet, she would revel us with her antics and stories of past experiences that somehow made one laugh despite the stories being at times somewhat serious subjects.
As for 'R', well at first I couldn't figure her out. Was she a tom boy or was it just a facade to protect herself. She's Intelligent with bright greyish brown eyes and soft dirty blonde brown waves of a crown, a pout that would cause jealousy for some and a personality that would do the same to many.
R had the dry wit that hits when you least know it. She's strong in charachter and exudes a self confidence that would leave many a moustache shaken, yet at the same time she has a gentleness that would astound the softest heart.
When 'H' invited us to her house, I was shy and honoured to be invited because of our short aquaintance. When I arrived, I discovered that it is only natural to be shy in front of such generosity and hospitality. as a mother of two, she personifies the woman that most of us as women would hope to be once married. Beautiful, adept, intelligent, a great cook, a fun & loving mom and a wonderful wife. (Ma Sha' allah - May God Almighty protect them all from the evil-eye!)
H made an amazing filo pastry pie filled with an assortement of cheeses & sweetcorn, Saudi Kabsa and I can't remember the rest. the desert table overflowed into two and the Ramadan drinks variety ranged from teas & coffees to juices and drinks. H had a big beautiful home and a bigger heart.
I actually enjoy the company of these ladies altogether, you get a wonderful variety of what makes women so special and the object of many an amourous poem throughout history. They are all intelligent & dynamic women whose busy lives only adds yet another fascinating facet to their characters which seems more like the colours reflected by the sun through a window of memories from a lazy afternoon as a child.
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