It wasn’t just the Muslim world that got more fundamentalist in the 1970’s:
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They aren’t all terrorists. They do have repressive societies. How is that a paradox?
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That’s a “public pool”? I assumed that this was a crappy pool in someone’s back yard.
Assuming they’re a family, the only reason I can think that the woman (presumably Mom) was “beach ball-ized” was not to scandalize the minds of innocent viewers who may find horrible temptation in her exposed skin. Sort of like when similar acts have been performed to fashion magazines for sale with a sharpie. poorly…
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I’m pretty sure it’s damn near zero, as porn is officially banned, and a subscription would probably earn you a visit from the religious police.
I’m going to guess that whoever it is that handles the enforcement of virtuous laws in Saudi Arabia is going to be the arbiter of what is “public” and what isn’t, but I’ll bet it has something to do with “Can you be seen from outside your property, or are you indoors/behind a wall/whatever”.
Of course, to us this is just a hypothetical conversation. To the women involved this is probably an important distinction to know, since deciding your backyard pool was “private” when it wasn’t may well lead to some pretty serious repercussions.
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That’s okay; we seem to have one right here.
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As someone who has lived in Saudi, the pool would be undeniably private.
Like, the very idea of being seen from outside of your property is something from an alien culture. Backyards are heavily walled in as they are part of the home and not a public feature - and homes are fortresses to protect modesty.
The woman would have been removed from the image simply because the packaging is being displayed publicly.
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If your meaning is “you can’t buy booze on Sundays” is pretty much like “women are chattels”, yes, I get it.
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Nope, not my meaning (and I’m not surprised you found a way to read it wrong).
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Wowsers.
Thanks for your perspective!
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That’s not so bad. I first read it as “merkin”*.
* Don’t click through if you don’t want to see a (barely)SFW crotch shot.
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Wow, you are good! 
(I can only criticize spelling errors, and then I have to take a nap.)
I thought immediately of just a picture of the pool itself. If some suggestion of scale is needed (that isn’t a lie), then put it next to a set of patio furniture. But this isn’t what those who modified it thought of or what the culture that led to their orders to change it wanted. Because what is important in that Wahhabist culture is an absence of women from the public space.
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Any Saudi women on this board willing to share your thoughts?
Let’s just establish that we agree. Replacing the woman with a beach ball is absolutely absurd. My personal level of acceptable would have been remove her entirely and show the man and kids in one ad. And then do another ad of her and the kids and remove him. Fair. Balanced. Maybe not up to my sense of personal freedoms and liberties; however, I do not want Saudi Arabia to instill their value system on me anymore than they perhaps want my value system instilled on the them.
As for authoritarian enforcement of clothing options. I am retired military. So I can understand certain clothing restrictions or uniformity enforcement; even if I personally feel Islamic nations take that to an extreme that I find unacceptable.
I guess my personal feelings are in counterbalancing and debating the idea of The Prime Directive here. We as a western nation certainly feel many Muslim/Islamic practices are unacceptable. They certainly feel many of our judeo/Christian practices (even if you are an atheist our culture was born of those value systems regardless) are unacceptable to them. So to that end we either need to find middle ground (which hasn’t been seemingly possible thus far) or I wonder is it a PD methodology? You live how you want. I live how I want. We don’t mess with each other so long as we have sovereign lines.
It’s a debate and argument born long before us and will continue long after us. If not on this topic than on any other.
Ultimately what I find distasteful is when anyone points at something. Scoffs at it as wrong in some fashion and offers no active solution or realistic alternative. Some compromise.
I hope we both agree that acknowledging a problem isn’t the end. We need to solve them too.
Are you saying you’re fine with how Saudi society treats women because you want to respect the country’s social/cultural sovereignty?
I don’t find it at all distasteful to point out that Saudi women have to live extremely harsh, circumscribed lives in an abusively patriarchal culture. As for solutions, i think merely pointing out and publicizing those conditions is a potential one; the more Saudi Arabia realizes that the treatment of women there is abominable in the eyes of most of the world, the more likely it is that change will happen there.
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If the best solution is a PD methodology then yes. If I cannot move a cultures needle towards my values and views I may not be open to moving my needle towards theirs. Compromise means everyone loses in some form. And there are items that I am not willing to budge on. I can only presume other peoples may not be willing to budge on certain things either.
You make an assumption they are willing or open to realizing anything we say to them regarding their cultural practices is wrong or unacceptable.
I watch people like 45 and his ilk who like to scream at the rain and say everything that’s wrong with it. They offer no solutions or compromises beyond “we are right. You are wrong. Now conform to what we want.” And it isn’t an ideology I prefer to champion.
If I point out a problem I am open to discussing it, seeing multiple viewpoints, and providing solutions and compromises.
I’m sure that some are, and some aren’t.
Me neither. I’m not advocating forcing anyone to do anything. I do, however, stand on the side of those in Saudi Arabia who would like women there to have more freedom.
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A merkin is a pubic* wig. The picture on Wikipedia is of somebody at Burning Man wearing a large shocking pink one.
* Note the lack of an ‘L’ in that word.
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