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192 Deborah Wheeler

because of their gender. Both in the press and in private conversa-
tions, the boundaries of patriarchy are tested by female social cri-
tique. Part of this discursive resistance is stimulated by the fact that
women cannot vote and that women are denied many of the benefits
provided to Kuwaiti men, like government-supported housing. A
Kuwaiti woman is only guaranteed government housing through
marriage to a Kuwaiti male. If she marries a non-Kuwaiti male, or
remains single, she is unable to get government housing benefits. If
she marries a non-Kuwaiti and has children, they are denied
Kuwaiti nationality (and a whole host of government benefits) be-
cause nationality is determined by the husband in a marital rela-
tionship. For example, if a Kuwaiti male marries a non-Kuwaiti, he
inherits all the same government benefits, and so do his male chil-
dren. This arrangement puts pressure on women to get married, and
to marry Kuwaiti men.
One professional, single (by divorce) mother whom I interviewed
stated that even renting an apartment is a problem for unmarried
women. In Kuwait, landlords do not want to establish a rental con-
tract in a woman’s name. This woman, who has a Ph.D. and is a
mother, therefore had to ask her younger brother to sign for her. He
also had to sign the contracts to sponsor a maid to care for her son,
to get a telephone, and to buy a car. Single women who lack male
relatives are severely encumbered. Some Kuwaiti women prefer to
hold even abusive marital relationships together in order to avoid
the social stigma and built-in difficulties of being single and female
in Kuwait. One Kuwaiti woman who has studied gender politics in
Kuwait summarizes the situation in this way:

Women are still being persecuted for committing so-called
“moral crimes.” They have no legal protection against any
form of abuse within marriage and no citizenship rights sim-
ilar to those of Kuwaiti men, and face constant discrimina-
tion at work . . . Given the uncompromising stance of male
society, it is clear that the challenge facing Kuwaiti women
is daunting and changes will be slow to achieve. (al-Mughni
1993, 148)

Women in Kuwait, however, are much better off than women in
many other Middle Eastern societies. In Kuwait, women can drive
and are subject to compulsory public education from grades 1–12.
Women attend universities and are commonly awarded government
scholarships to study abroad. Women make up the majority of stu-