Are Saudi Women Lazy?

WordWeb Pro defines the word lazy as, "Disinclined to work or exertion". Sometimes I ask myself whether qualifying someone or a group or persons as being "lazy" is not a subjective issue.  Maybe each society has a definition for a "lazy woman". One society might consider a woman who is incapable of properly doing household work as being lazy. Others might generalise this to include both her performance or attitude at her workplace vis-à-vis her work and the way she manages her household. So a woman who is very active at work, but not good at taking care of her household might be considered by some as lazy, as opposed to some who might say the contrary and give an explanation for the woman's incapacity to perform her duties as a housewife. So what do you call women who are fabulous at handling both? Superwomen?


Saudis are generally known to be lazy, either at work or at home. I have never met an expat who said the opposite. Not even my Saudi acquaintances dared say the opposite, except for one who said she was always busy at home, even though she had 2 maids who did all the housework. I have also met a few Saudi women who claimed they didn't know how to cook, and it wasn't their fault because they have always had maids who did the job. Who did the laundry? Their maids. Who took the children to school? Their drivers and/or maids or in some cases their husbands. So what did they do in 24 hours? Many things. What kind of things? If the answer was not "studying", then it was "shopping or meeting friends at cafes or women's clubs". One article recently published, blamed Saudi women for the high divorce rates in the Kingdom. They said women spent more time with their friends and went shopping for beauty products instead of spending time taking care of their homes and families.   


I come from a tribe where the women are known to be the laziest in the whole country, in addition to being champions in divorcing. In my country, a woman is supposed to be all-round. No one cares whether you are a working housewife or not. If you are too tired to do both, quit your job and take care of your home and let your husband be the breadwinner.


Here in Saudi Arabia, I work an average 18 hours a day, and I am proud to run my household. I do have a maid who stays with my son when I am at work, but basic things like cooking and shopping for groceries should be done by me. Normal. I believe each woman should be proud to cook for her husband. In my hometown, I would be called a lazy person because I do not know how to farm and easily get tired whenever I try this activity. Basically, I would be considered as a woman who can't even till the soil to provide food for her family but would rather sit in an office and claim that she is a housewife. 


So what do you think? Am I lazy? Don't you think expats, and maybe a few open-minded Saudi men, judge Saudi women a lot? Don't you think these women only need a change of attitude because they use their energy to do the wrong things instead of concentrating on their household and marriages? By the way, what does it really mean to be a lazy person?