As Prince Accelerates Changes for Women, Saudis Adapt at Varied Pace

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Saudi Arabia has long been known as one of the world’s most restrictive environments for women, where they could not travel alone, hold a wide range of jobs, show their hair in public or drive. That is beginning to change.

A series of recent decisions by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s young, de facto ruler, could revolutionize the lives of Saudi women. They will soon be allowed to attend soccer matches at public stadiums. They have been named to prominent positions. In June, they will be allowed to drive cars, even motorcycles, the government says. Women will probably even be able to join the traffic police.

But how much these dizzying decisions will affect individuals will depend on several factors, including where they live, their age, their own beliefs and the willingness of their male relatives to give up the control that many consider a religious prerogative.

While the kingdom’s strict gender rules are often seen as an extension of its deep connection to its ultraconservative interpretation of Islam, they are, in many ways, deeply entrenched cultural norms. And despite the speed with which the official decisions could potentially free up women’s lives, the culture could shift more slowly.

Most public spaces in Saudi Arabia are designed to keep men and women apart. Restaurants have separate entrances for “families,” meaning groups that include women and “single” — which really means “men.”

One mall in Riyadh, the capital, has an entire floor for women only, called “the Ladies Kingdom.” With few exceptions, schools and universities are segregated, and many men and women who do not consider themselves particularly religious still mostly socialize with their own gender.

In conservative circles, men rarely mix with female relatives who are not their mothers, daughters or sisters. Some men live their entire lives without seeing the faces of their brothers’ wives.

But the rules are not as strict as they once were, and in many places, change has already begun. Saudi Arabia has a large youth population. About two-thirds of its 22 million citizens are under 30. Compared with members of older generations, young Saudis have grown up with unprecedented exposure to the rest of the world.

Hundreds of thousands of them have studied abroad, including in the United States. And social media and satellite television have made even those who remain at home familiar with other societies.

Many of the young Saudis have even come up with their own rules. Some young women have turned the abaya, the baggy black gown meant to conceal a woman’s form, into a high-end fashion accessory.

Others have adopted more revealing forms of the hijab, the head scarf that many Muslim women wear, donning it in a way meant to attract, not deflect, male attention.

In public spaces, people tend to follow common rules about modest dress and interactions between unrelated women and men. But in private, Saudis can largely do as they please.

Many young people have used that leeway to carve out spaces where they mix and engage in activities that others in society would object to. They hold concerts in basements for their friends or gather in mixed groups to play board games or to watch uncensored Hollywood movies. Others organize salsa dance classes where women dress in ways they never could on the street.

Changes in women’s status proceeded slowly under previous kings. In the 1960s, King Faisal faced a backlash from conservatives for introducing public education for girls. He appeased critics by telling them it was not mandatory; in a few years, even the most conservative Saudis were sending their daughters to school.

Under the reign of King Abdullah, who died in 2015, women were first allowed to work as sales clerks and in supermarket checkout lines. He also added 30 women to the kingdom’s Shura Council, an appointed body that advises the monarchy. In recent decades, the government has built many women’s universities, and enrollment has soared.

But changes for women have accelerated under Prince Mohammed, 32, who has emerged as the country’s most powerful and dynamic leader since his elderly father became king in 2015.

Young Saudis excited about the changes have described the crown prince as a “hero,” “brave” and a “young champion.”

Last year, he removed from the kingdom’s religious police the power to arrest and pursue subjects. They once had tremendous power to police public behavior, focusing on imposing modest dress on women and preventing the mixing of unrelated women and men.

The government has also begun allowing women into public stadiums for soccer games and appointing women to positions they had not held before.

A princess, Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, accompanied four female Saudi athletes to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and now sits on the government’s sports commission, and the spokesperson for the Saudi Embassy in Washington is a woman, Fatimah Baeshen.

When the government said this year that it would lift the longstanding ban on women driving in June 2018, female activists said the move would have far-reaching implications.

It would make it easier for women to commute to work and take charge of their own movements, they said.

But many restrictions remain. Women’s driving schools have yet to open, and conservative men will likely still be able to prevent their wives and daughters from driving.

Women rights activists say the next frontier in their struggle is against so-called guardianship laws that require all women to have a male guardian, usually a father or husband, and sometimes even a son.

Saudi women still need permission from their male guardians to get a passport, leave the country and to pursue certain kinds of jobs or medical treatments.