Women’s Department Stores: A Solution With Problems: "Most shopowners and salespeople are not overly enthusiastic about establishing shops staffed by Saudi women that sell women’s clothing and personal items. They say the Labor Ministry’s new directive which mandates hiring Saudi saleswomen in women’s shops will create problems rather than bringing about a solution to the cultural issue of making women’s wear the exclusive domain of women — for and by women"...
The labor minister’s announcement caught nearly everybody by surprise. Many shop owners termed this unheard of idea as impractical for both technical and cultural reasons. Even men and women — professionals and nonprofessionals — agreed, saying that in trying to solve one problem, the ministry introduced many new ones.
“Women replacing my salesmen?” exclaimed Saleh Al-Jihaini, manager of Laylaty for Fashion, a women’s clothing store. “Impossible! Such an idea is easy for the minister to expound but is it practical when it comes to carrying it out? It is going to cost us and cause so much trouble. I’ve personally trained the men in my shop. I’ve never dealt with women, let alone having them work for me. What a headache that will be!...
“Why didn’t they let women take part in the elections? Why aren’t they letting them drive?” continued Al-Ghamdi. “Let’s be honest — they didn’t and they don’t because it’s all about Saudi women being out in the open, in public. People don’t want it, the culture won’t accept it so what’s the difference between letting women drive or having them working in shops that are on the public streets?”...
“And what about men who shop with their wives?” asked Suhail Mohammad, Fayez’s brother and business partner. “Not all women shop on their own with drivers, you know. Will women be going into the shops while their husbands wait outside?
(Uh yeah..that's pretty much what happens in the rest of the world..)
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1 comment:
They can make sports bars for the men to wait in and drink their Red Bull!
S.A.
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