Assignment task:
Chapter 9 discusses the role of social media and how it is changing culture. For example, in 2011, the first traffic ticket in Saudi Arabia was issued to a woman who defied the country's driving ban against women. "Saudi religious authorities detained a Saudi woman who had posted a video of herself behind the wheel on Facebook and YouTube, where she hoped to encourage other women to copy her" (p. 279). As the textbook notes, "Saudi women staged demonstrations defying the driving ban. Men argue that allowing women to drive will lead to greater mixing of genders, promote sex, and threaten the tradition of virgin brides" (p. 279).
Article: Saudi Arabia to let women drive at last By Nicole Gaouette and Elise Labott
Video: Could Saudi Women's Driving Protest Usher in Social Reforms? posted at PBS
Because of social media the incident gained the attention of Amnesty International, which issued a statement calling for Saudi Arabia to stop treating women as second-class citizens and allow them to drive. After reading and viewing this information:
Discuss the role of social media in bringing change to the Middle East. Is social media "freeing" the Middle East?