Badria al-Bishr
Badria al-Bishr

Dr. Badria al-Bishr is a multi-award-winning Saudi columnist and novelist. A PhD graduate from the American University of Beirut, and an alumnus of the U.S. State Department International Visitor program. Her columns put emphasis on women and social issues in Saudi Arabia. She currently lectures at King Saud University's Department of Social Studies.

Will Whatsapp live on in Saudi Arabia?

You cannot begin to understand a society unless you live in it. But Saudi Arabia society, like all other conservative societies maintains a protective shell that conceals it from the world. It...

Saudi Arabia now has a new working class

The minute a Saudi citizen wrote on Twitter complaining that "salaries alone are no longer enough" to live off, thousands of tweets and followers came in response. But the continuous...

Is Angela Merkel lost in translation?

No, Germany’s Angela Merkel hasn’t spoken Arabic, at least yet, but it was interesting watching her speaking on an Arab affair in her strong German tones. Merkel said: "Egypt must not...

Are women their own worst enemy?

“Women are their own worst enemy,” is one of the easiest expressions circulated without being looked into. I don’t know why this expression is immediately referred to when two women...

A new Saudi weekend? Why weren’t we consulted?

The feelings of those who are annoyed by change, even if it provides a solution, are almost similar to that joke about the Egyptian Saidi who got lost in the desert with a Briton and an American. The...

If Dubai wins Expo 2020

One of Dubai’s aesthetic qualities is that it leaves you with a certain impression, it always provides you numbers, data and facts to back up that impression. It’s an emotional attraction...

A Saudi version of PRISM?

At a time when PRISM spying claims rage in the U.S. and keep the media and rights organizations busy objecting to the security services’ surveillance of e-mails, web surfing and phone calls, I...

The curious case of a Saudi women’s sports club

Twenty years ago particularly, one of our neighbors in Saudi Arabia decided to build a sports club for women. He didn’t decide to do so out of his love for women but out of his hatred of a huge...