Qatar To Open First Women-Only Movie Theater

As Saudi women fight for the right to drive so they can move independently, Qatar seems to be going the opposite direction in terms of its opinion of women’s status.

On Thursday, the first women only cinema in the Middle East will open in Doha, in the Aspire Zone Foundation Ladies Club, a government-backed sports complex reserved for women’s events.

Every weekend, it will show the latest releases showing in other theaters of the city, with an an extra film Saturdays for children accompanied by a female relative.

This kind of venture reinforces the traditional gender separation of the area and translates how desperately private companies want to get business running in this extremely rich area of the world.

For example, in Dubai, the state-run taxi company provides women-only cabs with female drivers and its metro rail system includes women-only cars. Private investors needn’t cater to that kind of segregation.

These women may have access to the same services in these women-only spaces but that doesn’t mean the separation can be overlooked. Separate but equal isn’t actually equal.

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