Women’s gyms lay bare limits of Saudi reforms
NOVANEWS
By James M. Dorsey
A Saudi decision to license within weeks the kingdom’s first women-only gyms constitutes progress in a country in which women’s rights are severely curtailed. It also lays bare the limitations of Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman’s plan for social and economic reforms that would rationalise and diversify the kingdom’s economy.
Restrictions on what activities the gyms will be allowed to offer reflects the power of an ultra-conservative religious establishment and segments of society critical of the long overdue reforms that became inevitable as a result of sharply reduced oil revenues and the need to enhance Saudi competitiveness in a 21st-Century knowledge-driven global economy.
At least two years in the making, the licensing rules announced by Princes...