SAUDI ARABIA:
According to a report in Al-Arabiya, female television anchors in Saudi Arabia may soon have to follow a uniform conservative dress code, requiring them to cover their heads.
The king’s advisory body, the Shoura Council, is reviewing a proposal from General Commission for Audiovisual Media calling for a conservative dress code for women when appearing in the media.
Ibrahim Abu Abat, one of the men who wrote the proposal, told the Shoura Council that women should wear headscarves to uphold the ‘kingdom’s standards’.
“It is embarrassing to not be the best representation of Islam,” he said.
“Saudi women must appear with their respectable hijab so we can have a Saudi media that truly represents our beliefs and values,” he added.
The head of the council’s media committee Ahmad Al-Zilaie remarked that if the council approves the proposal, the commission will have control over all media channels in Saudi Arabia.
“That may pose as a problem as media must be as diverse as possible and it is a very sensitive matter to have one party direct the media.I personally prefer moderation and don’t really have anything to say about the proposal,” he said.
Last month, a female member of the Shoura Council, Noora Al-Adwan had also brought up this issue regarding the dress code. She claimed the female presenters are harming the country’s reputation by not wearing their national dress and by applying too much makeup. She also proposed fines of SR 10-million to those who do not abide by the rule.
These remarks were rejected by the furious Saudi TV presenters who claimed this to be an intrusion in their personal lives.
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