'Aslef of Arabia'
A number of readers have been in touch to ask where the 'We the Women' picture came from - to accompany the post about women drivers - dated 27 December 2011.
Well it comes from people campaigning in Saudi Arabia - against the ban on women driving cars and other motor vehicles - public or private.
According to the Saudi authorities it's against Islamic teaching that women should drive cars - never mind trains - it's against the law of the land.
Any women caught doing so - by the religious police - are liable to be severely punished.
But all hope is not lost - because people are fighting back - with courage, wit and humour.
By arguing that it's ridiculous and even anti-Islamic - to suggest that God somehow proclaimed that women can't drive.
'We the Women' is their campaign slogan.
And the campaigners think of all kinds of ways to illustrate how crazy it is - to ordain that women can use washing machines or mobile phone or computers - but not cars (or trains for that matter).
Some women have taken to dressing up in male clothes and wearing false moustaches - to ridicule the authorities - but as the law stand women still need a man to drive them around.
Apparently a father, brother, son - or just about any old male relative will do - which seems bizarre.
Now to look at the statistics on the number of women train drivers in this country - or the number of women members in Aslef - you'd be forgiven for thinking that God had made a similar proclamation in the UK.
But thankfully no one believes that kind of nonsense in this country.
So maybe 'We the Women' will catch on in the UK - maybe even deep in the bowels of the still male dominated parts of the UK trade union movement.
I for one hope so - anyway.
Well it comes from people campaigning in Saudi Arabia - against the ban on women driving cars and other motor vehicles - public or private.
According to the Saudi authorities it's against Islamic teaching that women should drive cars - never mind trains - it's against the law of the land.
Any women caught doing so - by the religious police - are liable to be severely punished.
But all hope is not lost - because people are fighting back - with courage, wit and humour.
By arguing that it's ridiculous and even anti-Islamic - to suggest that God somehow proclaimed that women can't drive.
'We the Women' is their campaign slogan.
And the campaigners think of all kinds of ways to illustrate how crazy it is - to ordain that women can use washing machines or mobile phone or computers - but not cars (or trains for that matter).
Some women have taken to dressing up in male clothes and wearing false moustaches - to ridicule the authorities - but as the law stand women still need a man to drive them around.
Apparently a father, brother, son - or just about any old male relative will do - which seems bizarre.
Now to look at the statistics on the number of women train drivers in this country - or the number of women members in Aslef - you'd be forgiven for thinking that God had made a similar proclamation in the UK.
But thankfully no one believes that kind of nonsense in this country.
So maybe 'We the Women' will catch on in the UK - maybe even deep in the bowels of the still male dominated parts of the UK trade union movement.
I for one hope so - anyway.
