Similarities Between 'Looking At Women And Saudis In Bikinis'

Many people contain opinions and convictions on things other groups of people do, and the way women dress is no exception. From the skimpy bathing suits women wear on the American west coast to the long, black abayas women wear in the Middle East, differing cultures will oftentimes have something to say on the way women dress. The articles “Looking at Women” by Scott Russell Sanders and “Saudis in Bikinis” both discuss the subject of how women dress in public, but contain vastly different styles of writing. Sanders’ article “Looking at Women” is structured both like a narrative and a memoir. The article begins with a story from Sanders’ childhood at age eleven when he first lustfully stared at a woman and entered the “force-field of sex” (188). Several other narratives are found throughout the article as well: Sanders’ time spent in college was when he felt dissatisfied

However, unlike Sanders’ article “Saudis in Bikinis” contains narratives not ordered in a chronological fashion, but in a way which is related to each current point in the piece. The article refers to a several situations of Kristof’s time in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in order to introduce the reader to the way women dress and are treated in Saudi Arabia. Once the reader is introduced to the issue, women being “forced” to dress conservatively and receive little education, Kristof utilizes quotes from Saudi doctors Maha Muneef and Hanan Balkhy to support his argument: the tradition of women remaining second-class citizens and needing to cover themselves in the presence of men is an outdated practice in Saudi Arabia, and women should have the right to choose to dress however they want even when most women claim they do not feel repressed. Kristof’s use of narrative at the beginning of the piece effectively introduces the topic while citing doctors to support his argument improves Kristof’s