No Woman No Drive

 

No Woman No Drive

 



On October 26 2013, social unrest stirred as women across the country within Saudi Arabia collectively protested the ban on female drivers.  Women participating in the protest would make videos of themselves driving to the store or other locations, and then would post them on YouTube as a means of protest. Despite the ban, women that participated within the protest were rarely punished more severely than receiving a warning. Many Saudi's supported the cause, however others were outwardly not as supportive.

Although there were many videos posted that day as a form of protest, one video used within the protest had a completely different approach to this serious political issue: humor. Arab American comedian and actor Hisham Fageeh was responsible for such a video, which was posted on October 26th; the same day as the protest.

 

The video can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZMbTFNp4wI

With 11,000,000+ views, this parodic video of Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry" had become viral globally. However, reactions to the video within the comments section seemed to be mixed. Some people who had watched the video clearly failed to realize that the video was riddled with irony. Albeit Fageeh using his beard as an instrument, his words rang true for the opinions of some prominent men within Saudi Arabia. Not only that, but  those who didn't watch the video completely also seemed to be confused. Luckily, the comments section became a place of clarification and discussion about the video's topic.  


Despite some confusion, however, awareness of the issue had become a global issue rather than simply a Saudi Arabian issue. Using the video as a medium, people from around the world were able to insert their opinions about the subject. Not only that, but women globally were able to state in the comments section that their ovaries, in fact, were not damaged by their position behind the wheel. This video was outrageous enough to maintain people's attention, and light enough to suggest that it is, indeed, an ironic video rather than a serious one.

Through the use of humor, this video effectively garnered global attention for the issue and had a large influence over many people's opinions by ridiculing the undesirable words of those against the issue.