In Saudi Arabia, they always tell us we are queens. We are pistachios. You know the nut? Like something that is protected. So even if you have a very good education, restraints are put on women.
Manal Al-SharifRead
The bicycle freed 19th-century women from their homes and from their dependence on men. I hope that in Saudi Arabia, the car will do the same.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights how bicycles empowered women in the past, suggesting that cars may serve a similar role for women in Saudi Arabia today.
In this quote, Manal Al-Sharif emphasizes the transformative impact of transportation on women's freedom and independence. By referencing the historical significance of bicycles for women in the 19th century, she draws a parallel to contemporary society, expressing hope that the automobile can similarly liberate women in Saudi Arabia from societal restrictions and dependence on men, facilitating greater autonomy and mobility.
Themes
BicycleWomenFreedomIndependenceTransportationSaudi Arabia
In practice
Example use cases
During a women's rights conference, this quote can be used to illustrate the power of mobility for women's liberation.
More from Manal Al-Sharif
All quotes βIn May 2011, I drove a car in the city of Khobar, Saudi Arabia, to protest the kingdom's ban on women driving.
Manal Al-SharifRead
I love my sons, I love my husband, and I love my country. But in kingdoms of men, there are few - if any - choices for women. Or the choices are such that there is no greater pain than having to choose.
Manal Al-SharifRead
Women's rights are nothing but a part of the bigger picture, which is human rights. Women are trusted with the lives of their kids, even serve as teachers and doctors, but they aren't trusted with their own lives.
Manal Al-SharifRead
In the Saudi system, women are considered inferior. No matter our age, we have male guardians. We must get permission from men to attend school, to work, to marry, to travel overseas - even to have basic medical procedures.
Manal Al-SharifRead
For me, driving - or the right to drive - is not only about moving from A to B; it's a way to emancipate women. It gives them so much liberty. It makes them independent.
Manal Al-SharifRead
Similar quotes
Poor people are bonsai people. There is nothing wrong in their seeds. Simply, society never gave them the base to grow on. All it needs to get the poor people out of poverty for us to create an enabling environment for them. Once the poor can unleash their energy and creativity, poverty will disappear very quickly.
Muhammad YunusRead
I call for greater measures to involve more women at higher levels in mine action. Governments should do more to address gender in their mine action programmes and through their implementation of the Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention.
Ban Ki-MoonRead
Change is never easy, and it often creates discord, but when people come together for the good of humanity and the Earth, we can accomplish great things.
David SuzukiRead
It is the nature of a man as he grows older, a small bridge intime, toprotest againstchange, particularlychangefor the better.
John SteinbeckRead
It becomes more necessary to see the truth as it is if you realise that the only vehicle for change are these people who have lost their personality. The first step therefore is to make the black man come to himself; to pump back life into his empty shell; to infuse him with pride and dignity, to remind him of his complicity in the crime of allowing himself to be misused and therefore letting evil reign supreme in the country of his birth.
Steven BikoRead
The world is no longer against us.
Yitzhak RabinRead