Women in Saudi Arabia may not be able to drive, wear what they want, or take decisions about their own lives, but a popular new music video is showing that Saudi women are anything but submissive.
In the viral clip, a group of women dressed in colorful dresses and trendy trainers under their compulsory abayas and niqabs are seen undertaking a variety of activities. The women dance, rollerblade, go bowling and shoot basketball hoops across three joyful minutes.
The track itself is a reworking of a traditional folk song called “Hwages” or “Concerns”, whose chorus repeatedly asserts: "May all men be erased as they've hurt us psychologically."
A remake by Saudi production company 8ies Studios of an amateur video widely shared in 2014, its message is unquestionably one of resistance.
The director Majed Alesa cleverly works irony into the song, as it begins with the female actors piling into the back of a car driven by a young boy, highlighting the hypocrisy of the country’s driving ban for women. Later, the same actors are seen behind the wheel of fairground bumper cars, in an apparent challenge to the same law.
Released on Dec. 23, the defiant video has received two-and-half million views on Youtube, and has been shared widely across social media.
The most high-profile tweet came from the wife of Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, a business magnate who is known for support of women’s rights issues. Ameerah Altaweel tweeted the following on the day after the song was released:
ماجد العيسى - هواجيس | Majedalesa - Hwages https://t.co/GNWoyH1RGf
— أميرة الطويل (@AmeerahAltaweeL) December 24, 2016
The video has received many positive responses, including from within the Kingdom:
ماجد العيسى - هواجيس | Majedalesa - Hwages ههههههههههههههههههههههههه رهيب https://t.co/b2blB4LtMA
— Najlaa ..قمر المراية (@NKvioletta) December 25, 2016
Hahaha, awsome!
SUPER COOL VIDEO ALERT! well done guys @majedalesa & @fidaart1 ماجد العيسى - هواجيس | Majedalesa - Hwages https://t.co/iDUCcnPXy3 @YouTube
— Deema Almashabi (@DeemaAlmashabi) December 25, 2016
And much further afield, including in Sweden:
Go for it girls go! #هواجيس#Saudi #SaudiArabia #Hwages #Majedalesa
— FEMEN Sweden (@FEMENSWE) December 30, 2016
Ny musikvideo i Saudi Arabien orsakar... https://t.co/5rBaikxqmY
And in India:
If you are breaking stereotypes, look cool while doing it.
— Nazia Erum (@nazia_e) January 1, 2017
Yeh saal... Inshaallah. Here's looking at you 2017!https://t.co/oOzBbgrTiY
Women continue to face considerable restrictions to their lives in the ultra-conservative Gulf state. The system of male guardianship requires women to seek permission from a male relative before undertaking the most basic of everyday activities. Strict laws govern women’s clothing and any interaction between men and women. However, there are some signs of change as the hashtag “Saud women demand the end of male guardianship” has been trending on and off since the summer, as activists push for improved women’s rights in the country.
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