The phenomenon of marginalizing women in political life can also be seen in Girls of Riyadh, during the time when all the Arab nations were protesting
to support the Palestinian Intifada and the Al-Aqsa Mosque uprising, Sadeem and her friends were prohibited to join the demonstration Al-Sanea, 2005: 65.
Sadeem all of her classmates and everyone at their age were on the margins when it came to political life. They had no role, no importance. If
only she understood politics Al-Sanea, 2005: 65. It can be seen that the basic rights to participate in politics and the rights to
express opinion are taken away from women in Saudi Arabia, their existence seems has no significant at all in the political aspect.
C. The Struggle of Women toward Gender Discrimination
This section shows how the women in the novel are struggling by relating the way they struggle with the characteristics of the characters. The struggle of
women in the novel is revealed through the way they react toward situations that put them in disadvantages. In the previous part, the characteristics of the
characters have been analyzed. Those characteristics have important role for these women in order to struggle towards gender discrimination, every characteristic
determines the way they struggle. There are two kinds of struggle reveals in the novel, the struggle can be seen and through their action trough the speech of the
characters
1. Struggle Shown Through Action
Each character in the novel has different characteristics. Their characteristics influence the way they struggle against the gender discriminations that they
experience. Some of the characters are brave enough to show their resistance through frontal action in order to fight for their rights.
Almost all marriage in Saudi Arabia society is an arranged marriage since men and women are not allowed to have relationship before marriage. Yet there
is a process that has to be done before the marriage ceremony in order to get an agreement from the man and the woman who will be married. The man and
woman will meet each other accompanied by her mahram, the purpose is to get them to know each other. Such a process is suggested by the prophet Muhammad
SAW in order to avoid failure of marriage. Yet, in some cases, the candidates, meaning the man and women are forced to get married even when they do not
like their spouse. And this is what happens to Gamrah. Gamrah whose marriage was arranged, ends up being a divorcee because
her husband divorced her and she has a little son. Her marriage did not succeed because her husband does not love her and he even has a love affair. Before
finally get divorced, Gamrah has tried to fight for her marriage. Since she knows that her husband is cheating on her, she decided to meet the Japanese girl named
Kari who is her husband s affair. With her modest English ability, she bravely meet her who speaks English better than her. Gamrah asks the girl to stop
meeting her husband, she realizes that it is her rights as her wife to fight for her marriage.
Gamrah called Kari at the second number and asked to meet her. She introduced herself first. Kari answered calmly, saying she was willing and
ready to come to Chicago to see her at the next available opportunity Al- Sanea 2005: 80
Gamrah also bravely decided to get pregnant by stops taking pills to prevent pregnancy which is in fact, against her husband s will. Gamrah realizes
that she has the rights for her self and her body, she does not want any body to limit her even though it is her husband.
What? Pregnant? You are pregnant How did that happen? Who gave you permission to get pregnant? You mean you re not taking the pills? ...You
figured you could twist my arm with these filthy tricks Al-Sanea, 2005: 85
Gamrah suffers from the way her husband treats her. Even though her marriage is an arranged marriage, she tries to love her husband faithfully. Yet what she gets in
return is the opposite that her husband does not love her and treated her badly. Her decision to get pregnant is a risky decision because it might get her husband very
mad and Gamrah realize about it. Yet, with her bravery, she still does it even with the consequence of being oppressed by her husband. Once her husband finds out
about what Gamrah has done, he got very mad and oppresses her physically by slapping her.
The second slap came and she fell to the floor, sobbing painfully. Rashid left the apartment to run into the arms of the unworthy one, leaving
Gamrah cursing and slapping her cheeks and spitting at him, in a state of hysteria, close to madness Al-Sanea, 2005: 85.
In Saudi Arabia society, being a divorcee is looked as a disgrace for a family. A divorced woman cannot live her life as free as a divorced man can. This
is exactly what happens in Gamrah s family. Her family feels ashamed because Gamrah is a divorcee. She is expected to get married again so that her family will
not live a life in a disgraceful condition by having a daughter who is a divorcee. Thus, not so long after her divorce with her husband, Gamrah s father and uncle
make a decision and chose a man for Gamrah without considering Gamrah s agreement. As a woman, she is marginalized and it seems like she is insignificant
in the family. Gamrah realizes that she should fight for her rights and she does not want to do the same mistake for the second time. Gamrah bravely objects the
marriage proposal, she stands for her rights even if it is against her father s will. Why? Why do I need a man to shield and protect me? Does your brother
think I m a disgrace, or I cannot protect my own self? You people don t realize that I am a grown woman now and I have a son My word should
count and I should be listened to Al-Sanea, 2005: 192 Gamrah understands her position and her rights, she does not want to be seen as
insignificant, she wants her opinion to be considered, that she has full rights of herself as a grown woman. Gamrah s situation shows how some women in
patriarchal Saudi society become survivor of gender discrimination. As a woman, Gamrah is fundamentally oppressed by men in her family.
Such oppression and restriction then underlie another discrimination for her in the social life. Gamrah realizes her status as a divorcee and she understands that
anything she does might create rumors in the society, yet she also realizes that she cannot rely on anybody in order to survive and to fulfill her son s needs that is
why she works hard to show that she is an independent woman regardless her status as a widow. The striving of a divorcee to get a proper life independently is
revealed through Gamrah s reactions toward her difficult situation such as being limited in her everyday mobility by her mother.
Since a divorcee is seen as a disgrace, that is why her mobility is restricted and limited. Her mother will not allow her to get out of the house without being
accompanied by her male relative. Such limitation is so distressful for her because
she cannot go anywhere freely. One day when she got a chance to work for Sadeem who is starting a new business, she uses the opportunity to prove her
ability and to show that even though she is a woman and a divorcee, she can survive and earn money for herself. Gamrah bravely breaks the limitations that
her mother gives to her, she decides to work even until late at night outside the house and without the companion of any male relatives. Since Sadeem is running
an event organizer business, Gamrah has the responsibility to shop for certain things that forces her to mobilize everywhere. By working, Gamrah shows the
resistance for the limitation for a woman to be outside the house in order to work and without any companion of a male relative.
Gamrah would begin working every night after she performed the evening Ramadan prayers at the huge mosque downtown. Shopping malls rarely
open in the daytime during Ramadan, but they make up for it at night, opening until three or four in the morning throughout the holy month Al-
Sanea, 2005: 232 Gamrah wouldn t get home before two or three in the morning, although
during the final third of the month she would return an hour or two earlier, in time to do the Qiyam prayers at the mosque with her mother and
sisters. At first, Gamrah s mother wouldn t let her go out on these work missions alone, but she began going easier on her daughter when she
noticed how seriously Gamrah took it all Al-Sanea, 2005: 233 Different from Gamrah, Michelle is struggling against the rules in Saudi
Arabia. Michelle who owns an international driving license, bravely drives a car and goes to the mall with her friends even though it is forbidden for women to
drive in Saudi Arabia. She is struggling to be able to mobilize everywhere she likes so she takes the risk to drive. Since she realizes the risk of her action, she
tries to avoid being accused by disguising herself as a man. She just cannot drive if she does not disguise herself first, even though she is fighting to get the same
opportunity as what men have, it is still too risky for her to drive as a woman. She and her friend Lamees, disguise themselves as men by wearing men clothes. It is a
brave initiative and tactic in order to maximize the limited mobility of women. The hostess greeted them wearing baggy trousers with lots of pockets and
an oversized jacket gear that artfully concealed any sign of femininity plus a bandanna that hid her hair. To top it all off, she had on a pair of
colored sunglasses that gave her the appearance of an adolescent boy who has escaped parental surveillance. Lamees wore a masculine-style flowing
white thobe with a shimagh draped over her head and kept in place with a snugly fitting black eqal.With her height and athletic body she really did
look like a guy, and a hand- some one, too Al-Sanea, 2005: 14-15 Such effort that is done by Michelle and Lamees shows that women in Saudi
Arabia are struggling to have the same opportunity as what men have. Their hopes to get equality force them to do so. Their nature as women and as a fundamentally
oppressed class has put them in a lower position compared to men. Michelle shows how women in Saudi Arabia is struggling because of the
rules of the Kingdom. Michelle whose characteristic is brave, often does things that is risky. In Saudi Arabia, it is forbidden for women to drive by themselves,
even though there is no legal regulation about the situation, women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to own a driving license. Such rule limits the mobility of
women there because they have to depend on their male relatives all the time. Michelle who has educated characteristic even decided to leave Saudi
Arabia to live in the UAE, with her education she could get a proper job that she cannot get in Saudi Arabia. In Dubai, UAE, Michelle has more freedom than
when she lives in Saudi Arabia. She just cannot stand the way women are treated and the very limited freedom women have in her own country. In Dubai, she
works in the media, it is a contrast to the life in Saudi Arabia where women have only limited choice of jobs and the way Michelle reacts proves it.
Working in the media opened up new horizons for Michelle, and for the first time she felt truly liberated from all the restrictions that had always
been imposed on her Al-Sanea, 2005: 207. Michelle realizes her ability and she does not want to be restricted by the norm in
the patriarchal Saudi society. If she stays in Riyadh, she will never be able to develop herself because it is impossible to work in the media in Saudi Arabia.
All of the frontal actions that are done by Gamrah and Michelle are the action or resistance to fight the discrimination and oppression in the patriarchal
society of Saudi Arabia where women only have limited freedom and should live under the dominance of men.
1. Struggle Shown Through Speech
