It will be some time before Saudi women TV broadcasters and actresses receive full social recognition and acceptance, said Salwa Shaker in her lecture at the Cairo Book Fair Wednesday night. “Since the start of Saudi TV and Radio in 1963, women have been kept away from the airwaves,” she said, citing Jeddah Radio as an incubator for the dominant male voice. Only a few women joined Jeddah Radio including Aza Shaker, Muna Fouad, and Faten Amin, she said. When she was 13, Salwa Shaker took part in a TV series about Abu Feras Al-Hamadani, an old Arab poet along with many actresses from Lebanon and Egypt. That early participation of Saudi women in radio and TV has not helped increase female participation as there are still not more than 30 Saudi women broadcasters, she said. However, there are signs of improvement with six women broadcasters having been appointed last month, she added.
