Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Culture of Saudi Arabia" in English language version.
Although the official employment rate is around 12 percent, economists estimate only 30–40 percent of working-age Saudis hold jobs or actively seek work. Most Saudis in jobs are employed by the government
"... for decades the sheikhs successfully resisted attempts to add September 23 to the shortlist of official holidays. But with the accession of [King] Abdullah, the battlefield changed. If the king wanted a holiday, the king could grant it, and whatever the clerics might mutter, the people approved. Since 2006 the night of September 23 has become an occasion for national mayhem in Saudi Arabia, the streets blocked with green-flag-waving cars, many of them sprayed with green foam for the night.
thobe wahhabism.
To an outsider, the ability to hold manifestly inconsistent views to cover the picture of a woman but ogle real women sunbathing .... may seem like outright hypocrisy. But Saudi's thinking patterns revolve around a series of rituals, obsessions, and categories that are self-contained. On the one hand devoutly religious and strictly so; on the other, prone to folk beliefs akin to magic and superstition, including which foot to step first into the bathroom with, or urinating on the wheel of a new car to ward off the evil eye. Their behavior does not reach the self-conscious level of hypocrisy, of believing one thing and doing another, for it is a set of dissonant beliefs that they do not even recognize coexist at the same time.
Jeddah ... at first glance, nothing more inspiring than a bland Chicago suburb: so Westernized and modern with its flashing neon lights, its massive shopping malls.
On the surface, the culture of Western consumerism seems alive and well in Saudi Arabia as in most places. People strive to build enormous houses for themselves and their extended families. Young Saudi men drive souped-up cars, patronize fast food outlets and wear designer jeans. Shopping malls offer a global selection of merchandise and trade long into the night. But at a deeper level, Saudi Arabia and the West are poles apart ...
...Their numbers mushroomed during the oil-boom years, and their influence has led to a distancing of parents and children, since the servants were expected to act as surrogate parents. Most of the domestic servants were non-Muslims and non-Arabs, meaning the results have been doubly negative: They lack the authority – and presumably ... the inclination – to discipline those in their care, while being unable to pass down by example the core Islamic values and traditions that have always formed the bedrock of Saudi society...
...Saudi teenagers ... are increasingly not being handed down core Islamic values to begin with during their formative years by their appointed role models.
In Saudi Arabia, the rate of consanguineous marriage (to a close relative, a second cousin or closer, usually a first cousin) is very high, at 57.7% nationally (El-Hamzi et al. 1995); and other studies indicate it is 51.2% in Riyadh (Al Hussain and Al Bunyan 1997) and 52% in Damman (al-Abdulkareem and Ballal 1998).
Most Saudis only two generations ago eked out a subsistence living in rural provinces, but ... urbanization over the past 40 years [so now] .... fully 80% of Saudis now live in one of the country's three major urban centers – Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam.
the prevalence of sedentary lifestyle-related obesity has been escalating among Saudi females
Since 2009 Bangladesh has been sending to Saudi Arabia an average of only 14,500 people... That decline, ... will be worth about $200m a year in remittances alone. ... Bangladesh appears somehow to have fallen out of favour as a source of labour with the Saudis. ... Saudi Arabia silently disapproves of the imminent hangings of the leadership of the Jamaat-e-Islami, the religious party that serves as a standard-bearer for its strand of Islam in Bangladesh.
...There was once a time when we Saudis feared God and understood that we would be held accountable by God on the Day of Judgment for our children's upbringing – after all, they are our responsibility. Now it seems, maids are bringing up our children. How much respect do they receive? Fathers used to set an example to their children and mothers used to be a source of inspiration...
Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15–64) in Saudi Arabia was 18.60 as of 2011. Its highest value over the past 21 years was 19.10 in 2006, while its lowest value was 15.20 in 1991.
the prevalence of sedentary lifestyle-related obesity has been escalating among Saudi females
the prevalence of sedentary lifestyle-related obesity has been escalating among Saudi females
[U.S.] State Department guidelines note, for example, that the religious police can "pressure women to wear" the full-length black covering known as an abaya, "and to cover their heads."
In 2012 Saudi Arabia included women in its Olympic team for the first time, a move that won support from many of its citizens but also prompted some to abuse the morals of the two female athletes, a runner and judoka, on social media.
Article 39 Media ... shall employ civil and polite language, contribute towards the education of the nation and strengthen unity. It is prohibited to commit acts leading to disorder and division, ...
Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15–64) in Saudi Arabia was 18.60 as of 2011. Its highest value over the past 21 years was 19.10 in 2006, while its lowest value was 15.20 in 1991.
Article 39 Media ... shall employ civil and polite language, contribute towards the education of the nation and strengthen unity. It is prohibited to commit acts leading to disorder and division, ...
