Valentine's Day Massacre

Well, it's Valentine's Day again, and the annual banning for sale of all things red , heart-shaped, or construed in any way to be reflective of the holiday is in full swing here in Saudi Arabia. Red roses? Heart shaped boxes of chocolates? Strawberries? Sexy red lingerie or cute pink teddy bears? Any of these traditional Valentine's Day items are forbidden from being bought or sold in the Kingdom starting the week preceding this special day for lovers. These items are available on the black market during this time at gouged up prices of at least double or more what one would normally pay any other time of the year. The religious police have raided businesses and destroyed or confiscated inventory as well as closing down the guilty shops at a hefty cost to the business owners. On the TV news here today, I even saw a crowd of people, including small children, surrounding a man who was burning red teddy bears and heart-shaped boxes of chocolate. The really funny thing is that these items are available here the rest of the year without incident.

The reason for this prohibition is because the religious leaders in Saudi Arabia only support the celebration of two Islamic holidays in this country and any other holiday is forbidden and discouraged. But the religious police here seem to really step up their game in their fight to obliterate the enjoyment of Valentine's Day from the Saudi population, as opposed to other Western holidays.

Their interpretation of Valentine's Day of course has to do with sex because here in Saudi Arabia, in their minds, anything having to do with morality has to do with sex. The religious police are afraid that everyone, married or not, will be out looking for anyone to have sex with - that this is what happens on this day in the West - and their mission is to prevent this from happening. Which is rather funny in a place where men and women are not allowed to socialize together in mixed company anyway. The good people of Saudi Arabia cannot be trusted to behave themselves with the high moral standards that are drilled into them from childhood. So they need religious police here to keep everyone in line.

One of the reasons for the ban on Valentine's Day is because of its Christian origins. But how many people in the West really know the history of Valentine's Day? The truth is that not that many people know or even care. It's a day when we recognize and honor the people we love or who are special to us. And what's wrong with that? The religious police don't want anybody celebrating Christmas or Mother's Day either, but they don't make a big stink about it like they do for Valentine's Day. I get the feeling that many people here resent being treated like children who can't control themselves without the religious police breathing down their necks. In fact many people just react in defiance because of the absurdity of it all, by wearing red accessories or by purchasing red roses when they normally wouldn't. If the religious police didn't make such a big deal about it by having this publicized annual crackdown, to many people here, it would likely be just another day.

I find it ironic that a good intentioned holiday like Valentine's Day is forbidden in this country, while at the same time the women here are put in the uncomfortable position where they are forced to purchase their bras and panties from strange men in lingerie shops. It doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? The women of Saudi Arabia have now organized a two week boycott coinciding with Valentine's Day - rallying against the ridiculous situation of men selling underwear to women. I hope the boycott is a success and sends the message that these crazy confusing contradictions must come to an end... Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!!!

To read more about Valentine's Day in Saudi Arabia and the boycott against buying women's undergarments going on right now, here are some articles:
Happy Valentine's Day...or Not!
Haia Sees Red Again
Ban Men From Selling Lingerie in KSA by SaudiWoman
Ban the Bra...Salesmen!
Peddling Panties

Happy Valentine's Day ... or NOT !!

Today Valentine’s Day was celebrated in many places around our globe, but here in Arabia, it was actually forbidden. The government evidently comes out every year (for the last 7 years) with an edict forbidding the sale of red flowers, red hearts, red lingerie, red heart shaped boxes of chocolates, red balloons that say “I Love You” and other illicit red lovey-dovey items during Valentine’s week in hopes of discouraging people from celebrating it. Valentine’s Day is viewed as an obscene western holiday that encourages unmarried individuals to engage in “immoral relations.”

When I told my husband that I had read several articles online saying that the Saudi government had taken this action, he - being the pessimist that he is when it comes to believing news reports - reacted by saying that it couldn’t possibly be true. Now mind you, my husband spent the last 30 years in America, so this is his first Valentine’s Day back here in Arabia in that long. So after we dropped our son off at school today, on Valentine’s Day, for his rugby practise, I convinced my husband to stop at a flower shop along the way to disprove the validity of these reports I had read. We walked into the shop and the man behind the counter was putting together a beautiful bouquet - of red roses! There were also several other bouquets on display around the shop boasting red flowers. So seeing all this, my husband confidently steps up to the counter and asks the guy if the government had put out an order against selling red flowers during this time. The guy replied “Yes!” but that they just ignore it and go ahead and sell the stuff anyway.

The Virtue and Vice Squad swoops down on shops and confiscates any Valentine themed items, including teddy bears or other racy symbols of love. What this government action does in reality, however, is to cause the prices for these black market items to skyrocket during Valentine’s week. The V&V Squad cannot possibly hit each and every floral shop in the Kingdom, so just imagine how much of these scandalous products get sold at ridiculously gouged prices during this time. The government is actually helping out the floral shop owners who are able to make a much higher profit on such in-demand contraband!

What I don’t understand is - who in the heck does the Saudi government have doing its Public Relations work? Coming out each year and decrying Valentine’s Day – what purpose does this serve? The government here does this to satisfy the powerful "Muttaween," the controversial religious police who are in charge of imposing strict moral codes onto Arabian society. But the harm it does to Arabia’s image to the rest of the world is very damaging. The thing is, though, that this government is very comfortable in its own skin and it really doesn’t care about its flakey image to the rest of the world. But instead of coming out with rubbish like this each year forbidding this holiday, why not just keep “mum” on the subject (excuse my play on words – I couldn’t resist) and let the holiday slip quietly by without any attention drawn to it?

I don't expect roses or anything like that, but I'd be awfully happy with some dark chocolate when my not-so-romantic husband gets home tonight! Happy Valentine's Day!