Saudi women can now vote; but cannot change channels

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Sunday granted women the right to vote and even run in the next municipal elections. The bad news is that Saudi women are still light years away from controlling the 'domestic' remote in their homes.

Humor Unplugged’s Saudi correspondent has learnt that the Saudi monarch has clearly said no to a proposal to let women watch channels they want to. Women in Saudi are not allowed to change channels without express permission from a male member of the family. According to our sources, a divided Majlis Al-Shura, (a council that advises the royals on public policy) approached the king with a half-hearted proposal to let women decide what they want to watch. Abdullah however shot the proposal saying he had 345 wives on last count and if each one were to decide what to watch, his home would turn into “Mulayam Singh Yadav’s wrestling ring” – the only difference being that the contestants would be women.

Majlis Al-Shura

“The king (god bless his goats, gophers and goatee) has shot down the ill-fated proposal made by the Shura. Women can vote and even join us in the Shura but changing channels is simply out of question. We have to evolve some more for that to happen and I don’t see things changing in the near future. Besides when I hear what my friends in other parts of the world go through I indeed feel privileged. My friend who is in a live-in relationship in India does not even remember the logo of National Geographic Channel. All he remembers is watching what his partner wants to watch. He has in fact lost certain vital motor functions in his palm needed to change channels. So we don’t want that to happen here in Saudi,” a conservative member of the Shura told Humor Unplugged over a Skype chat.      

Opinion on the streets in Riyadh  is equally reflective of the confusion that exists in the Shura. While a few of the men were open to women controlling their idiotboxes, others dismissed the idea as unrealistic. 


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