Saudi Arabian Women Against Oprah's Comment

We, as Saudi Arabian women, are indignant towards your episode that portrayed us as battered, oppressed and dependent women. We are educated, ambitious and successful within our own realm of morality. We are writers, poets, designers, artists, teachers, pundits, tycoons, doctors, directors and U.N. representatives; not to mention we get equal pay to men and yet enjoy maternity leave without the fear of being paid less. We may not vote or drive, but Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will Saudi Arabia. It took America 200 years to allow women to vote and it took Switzerland until 1988 thus Saudi Arabia should be allocated its time. We have progressed more in 73 years than most countries.

Furthermore, many Saudi women's lives are centered outside the home. We are social, we have many outlets for amusement and we invest in self-entertainment. We have malls, restaurants, theme parks, spas and museums. We have many facilities to help us indulge and cater to our needs and desires.

Conclusively, the veil is never a hindrance and not everyone veils. Your show highlights those who face perils from the men in their lives on a daily basis so oppression and abuse come from the hands of men and not just Saudi Arabian men. When watching your show, we felt marginalized and unjustly singled out. Oprah, you have a huge fan base here, please don't lose it by gratuitous remarks and unwarranted accusations. We appreciate your concern, but thorough research needs to be done before rendering an opinion on our condition. Visit Saudi Arabia before ignorantly judging it.