"Women are blogging like never before. However, a common perception is that female bloggers tend to blog more about personal matters while male bloggers write about 'serious' issues like politics and economic."
~Saudi Gazette
"Female bloggers in the Kingdom mostly blog about family matters, abotu how being a woman affects their living in Saudi Arabia, and about the issues that frustrate them."
~Tara Umm Omar, Saudi blogger interviewed by the Saudi Gazette
Visits to female Saudi blogs and email interviews have shown mixed purposes for blogging among Saudi women.
Saudi women view blogging as a:
- Daily journal
- Outlet for personal expression and venting
- Venue for serious discussion of troubling issues
They blog on topics including:
- Literature
- Arts
- Social Issues
- Personal Stories
- Politics - Blogging about politics has started to become more frequent, although such blogs are still in the minority as Saudi women are typically not active in the political sphere.
All of these blogs serve as an outlet for personal expression and as a means to a public voice for women who do not often have one in society.
In one interesting case, a Saudi male wrote a blog called 'Saudi Girl', disguised under the pseudonym Alia. He did thi, he explained in his final post, to fight for the rights of women in Saudi Arabia. His reasoning for not writing as a man about these issues was that he, "thought that it would be more effective (for the cause) if a woman demonstrated the total absence of logic in the argument [that justifies the dearth of women's rights]." More about his explaination.
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