It would appear that there is no such thing as dating in Saudi-Arabia. The countries strict laws on gender segregation make sure all contact between the sexes is minimized. This makes dating in the western sense practically impossible, driving young men and women to meet online in forums where the virtual dating scene is flourishing. Nevertheless young Saudis find ways to go around the rules. Where there is a will there is a way as the saying goes. Sometimes dating and flirting attempts from young Saudi males tend to go a bit overboard though. Here are some examples of my observations of the Saudi ways of dating. She will be donning her flashy abaya and most likely have very strong make-up on. Any interested guys all of them will then have a chance to give her their numbers. This happens by standing close by and repeating the number over and over. She may or may not accept the offer. Some guys think the uninterested girl might not have heard him and keep following her in the store. A couple that takes interest in each other must seem like they are casually picking up groceries while doing this to avoid getting thrown out by the security. Role playing Another tactic is pretending to be husband and wife. The interested guy goes to the girl, grabs the cart and starts walking next to her as they were a couple. They can chat freely while pretending to shop together. The guy will pay for the groceries. This happened to me once, a guy just came and grabbed my cart and started pulling it from me despite my protests. We were yanking the cart back and forth for a while. First I imagined he thought that it was his but when I pulled out my mobile to call my husband the guy went nuts. He started frantically repeating his number to me while still hanging onto my cart. By the time he realized that I was in fact calling my husband and not eager to hear his phone number he ran like the wind out of the store! Women or families are not allowed to sit outside, they are all male-only singles sections. The boys will have their toys parked on the street waiting to attract the girls attention. This street gets very congested with traffic in the evenings, especially on weekends. Some girls go driving around with their drivers putting their Bluetooth on looking for guys with nice cars. Sometimes the guys can be seen hanging out of car windows waving papers with their numbers on the. Mall madness Another popular place for meeting people are the shopping malls, particularly Kingdom and Faisaliah mall. But there is an easy way around it. Either the men take their sisters or try to enter with a group of unknown girls as fake brothers. Some women are known to take advantage of the guys desperation and will walk in with the guy for a charge. The napkin technique Group of two or more guys stroll around the mall searching for girls they like all of them. They make sure to have their expensive watches and phones on display. If a girl sees a guy she is interested in, she will walk past and subtly drop a napkin with her name and number on it. The guys then rush to pick it up. They can continue strolling the mall and Bluetoothing or chatting on their Blackberries while flirting with each other from afar. Desperate loosers Some guys are so desperate they even resort to calling random mobile numbers hoping for a girl to pick up. When they do reach a young female, the game is on. The calls will keep coming constantly, usually in the middle of the night. Shouting, name calling and slamming the phone on them will only make the guy more enthusiastic. Fair game Naturally not all Saudi girls are looking for a date or to have some fun flirting with guys. But whether the girl is in a grocery store, a shopping mall or happens to be in a car on Tahlia street they seem to be viewed as prey to some men. The certain type of Saudi male views all girls in any of these places as fair game. This can lead to a lot of annoyance and even dangerous situations like guys chasing girls in their cars, speeding and violating traffic rules. Perhaps all the strict separation of genders and preventing normal human interactions is what makes many Saudi males so aggressive in their attempts to talk to women. Having visited all corners of the Kingdom with over a decade of experience, I have a vast knowledge base about travel and tourism in Saudi Arabia. They seem to be such an important tool to get in touch with the opposite sex now. And another thing, I wonder is what are the consequences if a boy and a girl get caught pretending to be husband and wife in a shop or even leaving in the same car? Since there are such strict laws on gender segregation, I assume there is a consequence. But its risky because if the muttawa gets suspicious and stops them they will be in alot of trouble. In Europe bad things happen too of course, but I have a feeling the men here are more able to control themselves when they see a strange girl on the street. We kind of have the same things going on here in terms of how guys hit on women. Of course here it is more open, but I think that just allows for more opportunities for the guys to approach us! I don't live in the big cities Dubai or Abu Dhabi , but I live in a smaller city Al Ain. It is more conservative, and lots of locals here. And besides my own personal experience, I have never heard of any case with that scenario. My parents are Pakistani, and the saddest thing they said is that they feel Ok with me going out in America, but not in any Muslim country. I lived in the kingdom for 9 years 77-86 and was a journalist for Arab News. Your blog helps me keep up with the changes—important for me as I frequently speak on the kingdom. Can anyone help me with info about untraditional veils and women not veiling in public? I want to be accurate. Once again, so many thanks for your blog. I assume dating leads to other immoral activities. It must be easy for any woman to cheat, all they have to do is walk outside. I hope at least some of the women respect their families and husbands. Let them out and they will dishonor there families and husband. I mean lets not only force them to wear a bag but let put gps systems on them or how about electric collars on them so they can't get past their prison walls…oh home. If you don't like it, don't go there. Western civilization is very, very far from perfect yet Europeans and Americans feel the need to tell everyone else what to do. I grew up and lived in Saudi Arabia till 1992 in Jeddah and Yanbu, teenagers back then had the similar issues, girls or guys. Girls wanted attention and guys were just deprived. I am sure technology made it easier. I have to say women in KSA are equally active in getting attention and hook up with guys, they are just afraid of strict laws, these are the same women and guys that end up doing these things in neighboring countries more openly. I have to say I have seen with my own eyes how men were involved with their maids and mothers of the house and their wives were fine with it. Your way of writing is so comical, I love it. I never would have guessed this is what goes on in Saudi Arabia. I guess even with all the strictness in the law, there will always be rebels. And the influences of the West will reach there in some ways unfortunately. Anyway, thank you again for this insightful and extremely funny post. Your way of writing is so comical, I love it. I never would have guessed this is what goes on in Saudi Arabia. I guess even with all the strictness in the law, there will always be rebels. And the influences of the West will reach there in some ways unfortunately. Anyway, thank you again for this insightful and extremely funny post. They just like foreign women because is something different and exotic to them! Also some of them are pathological cheaters! I imagine his poor wife wiping at home,depressed,while he is outthere trying to get him some date! Some of them abuse persciption medications in attempt to self medicate their depression! It has sparked some curiosity in me about the country and culture. Your website is very interesting. But I feel I need to address some comments about here about the west. Yes rape happen to some women here but it also happens everywhere including in Saudi Arabia. Rape comes in many forms including domestic violence in the home! Also, I can meet guys loads of different ways without using technology. A lot of my friends have boyfriends whom they have met at school, college or at equestrian clubs, and things like that. My family is 100% Saudi and they allow a relationship before marriage. Thanks for the comments Dalal! Is your family from the Riyadh area?
