The Saudi absolute monarchy is increasingly relying on an entrenched duality to assert the myth of its progressive role in the kingdom. The image of the reformist old king has so far rested comfortably with that of the conservative bearded cleric. This duality unfolds best in gender matters and serves to perpetuate the myth about progressive royalty against backward Wahhabi-Salafist clerics.

Yet, this myth may not hold for long despite all efforts to keep it intact. Neither the reformist king nor the conservative cleric is truly concerned with changing the status quo in fundamental ways that empower women as equal citizens. In fact, both work in ways that perpetuate masculine domination. Both the king and the clerics endeavor to free women from private patriarchy within the family only to place them under the public authority of the religious scholars and state institutions.

Both Saudis and the international community are regularly reminded of the king’s commitment to women’s empowerment against the wishes of a conservative patriarchal constituency that prefers women to remain in their traditional roles. Like previous Saudi kings, Abdullah capitalized on the gender gap whereby Saudi women lag behind in employment, political participation and legal status. He made promises to increase their employment and appointed hand-picked women to the consultative council — small steps that were magnified in the press to demonstrate his progressive rule. He reinstated the scholarship program and allowed women to seek education abroad, provided they are accompanied by a male guardian. He also forced shops selling women’s lingerie to employ saleswomen to protect customers from the hazards of discussing the size of their bra with foreign male vendors. He also created new all-women universities to teach scientific subjects and home economics. On the subject of lifting the ban on women driving, the king has not dared to alter the situation. The ban remains hotly debated in a divided society.

So far, two failed attempts to break the ban have taken place without success. In 1990, a group of professional women drove their cars in Riyadh and incurred the wrath of the government-backed Committee for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue, better known as a vigilante religious police. The event momentarily distracted Saudi society from a hotter debate concerning the invitation of foreign troops to defend the country against an imminent Iraqi invasion. The women were arrested, then released from prison. The ban on driving was not lifted.