The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs recently closed down three female-only gyms. Saudi women and enraged bloggers and columnists have responded with a challenge--their new slogan, "Let her get fat!"
Unfortunately, the battle against the sexist closings is doomed from the get-go. The Saudi government is greatly influenced by clerics and religious tradition.
However, diabetes and bone frailty have seen climbing numbers among Saudi women as a result of a physical education ban in girls' schools and the segregated gyms.
One major concern of the Saudi religious thinkers is the amount of movement and jumping involved in sports. Rigorous movement may cause harm to girls that are still virgins and may cause them to lose their virginity, according to Sheikh Abdullah al-Maneea, member of the official Supreme Court of Religious Scholars.
But while women still are not treated as equals in Saudi Arabia, progress has been made over the past few years.
The government appointed its first woman as deputy minister to run the female education department this year, according to the Guardian. And reports have indicated that Prince Mansour bin Muteb, deputy minister for municipal and rural affairs, suggested that women be allowed to vote.
It's hard to imagine not having the freedom that women in America and many other countries do to even work out by themselves, let alone be out in public unattended. This is another reminder of how much progress is left to be made across the globe and that old prejudices still exist, not only between races, but between sexes.
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