Once again, contradictions? No. As usual, contradictions.

Interesting little tidbit from our local paper - which we refer to as "The Green Truth," due to the fact that the front and back pages are printed on pale green newsprint. The article, Our Contradictions, asks why it is that a Saudi man is allowed to marry non-Saudi woman but that a non-Saudi man is NOT allowed to marry a Saudi woman. The answer really isn't given, insofar as a clear reason why this is allowed for Saudi men and not for Saudi women. And, I think, knowing how women in this male-oriented-dominated society are regarded, no answer as to why is going to be given that would make even the remotest bit of sense to any reasonable mind. But that's not why I'm pointing this article out. Here is why I'm pointing the article out, and boy, is this rich:

"Usually, women who marry non-Saudis don’t really have a choice. I mean she didn’t marry the man because he’s good looking or rich, but because her chances of getting married had decreased and her desire to be a mother was the driving force in this decision."

Wow. Really. So this is the reason. Well. Now that we've got our answer...

Damn! You can't be serious, right? This is so far from the truth as I, personally, have observed the situation, and I am of the opinion - and this is MY opinion only - that quite the opposite is in fact true. The couple of American women I know here in our little community that are married to Saudi men "didn't marry the man because he's good looking or rich, but because her chances of getting had decreased." I suppose, if one were to base this assumption purely on physical and mental attributes, of each of these women, you could probably say, "But she has a great personality." You know the type I mean.

Contrarily, the Arab women [which, by the way, are not Saudi but from Egypt or Lebanon or Jordan] that I know that are married to American or Western men are stunningly beautiful. One of them always looks as though she just walked straight off the pages of a fashion magazine - she is absolutely drop-dead gorgeous, and she's got a brain, too! Surely her chances of marrying a man from her country could not possibly have been due to the lack of potential suitors - but instead had to do with choice - she had one, and that certainly is not something that is afforded to many Saudi women and Arab women, alike, whose marriages are arranged for them, often at a very, very young age and frequently to a family or clan member.

I'd be hard-pressed to believe that the only reason Saudi women choose to marry non-Saudi men has to do with the fact that her chances otherwise are nil. I'd be more inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that it has to do with choice - and the choice to someday actually be treated as a woman and not as a mere object or some sort of chattel. And, as for the Saudi men who choose to marry non-Saudi women, and especially American women? Hmmph! The answer to that question is short and simple: green card.