dunday sinners international

Saudi Arabia, one the the least democratic nations in the world, has a budding blogsphere. There are over 600 Saudi blogs, a relatively large number in a country where personal freedoms are strictly limited. The blogs are run by both men and women, although women are less likely to publish under their real names. This however does not stop women and men from writing about sex and religion, although often such blogs are blocked. One day, this very blog may be blocked and we'll all be killed by the CIA. Apparently, the Saudi government already had that idea. Recently, bloggers were sent to jail for rumouring that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was dead. They remain in jail. However, I pose this question: How long can even a government silence the youth who are desperate for a voice?

An excerpt from "Rantings of an Arabian Woman" by Saudi blogger Mystique:

I am born - a man chooses my name,
I am taught - to appreciate that he did not bury me alive,
I learn - what he wants me to know,
I marry - who he wants me to marry,
I eat - what he wants me to eat,
If he dies - another man controls my life
A father, a brother, a husband, a son, a man am born - a man chooses my name,
I am taught - to appreciate that he did not bury me alive,
I learn - what he wants me to know,
I marry - who he wants me to marry,
I eat - what he wants me to eat,
If he dies - another man controls my life
A father, a brother, a husband, a son, a man

(http://www.mystiquesa.blogspot.com/)