Saudi Arabia | Underwear in the window without mentioning Valentine’s Day

(Ryad) In Saudi Arabia, where the religious police once cracked down on sellers of roses and other symbols of Valentine’s Day, red underwear is now displayed in shop windows, but in all discretion , without mentioning the feast of love.

“People used to not celebrate Valentine’s Day, but now many do,” Khouloud, a Saudi saleswoman in Riyadh, who declined to give her full name, told AFP.

“(Underwear) is in high demand, and customers often want red,” adds the 36-year-old, reporting rising profits during this period.

Saudi Arabia has been trying for several years to shed its image of an austere Muslim kingdom, authorizing cinemas and parties while sidelining the morality police who were responsible, until recently, for enforcing a strict application of Islamic law.

But in the rich oil monarchy, where conservatism remains very present, the promotion of Valentine’s Day, associated with the Roman Christian worship of the III^and century, is still prohibited.

“The management asked us to display red underwear […] but without making any mention of Valentine’s Day,” another saleswoman in the Saudi capital told AFP, preferring to remain anonymous.

“We celebrate wisely”

Another shopkeeper, also speaking on condition of anonymity, is delighted to be able to “now easily highlight red underwear, even in the window”.

“We have discounts during this period, but we don’t call them Valentine’s Day offers,” she confirmed to AFP.

Several stores, including cosmetics shops, indeed display reductions of up to 50%, but none makes reference to the feast of love.

Since the appointment of Mohammed bin Salman as crown prince in 2017, and his growing influence within power, social reforms have been carried out, including the authorization for women to drive.

But the image of the kingdom, the world’s largest exporter of crude oil and the Arab world’s biggest economic power, remains tarnished by fierce repression of civil society, from political opponents to feminist activists.

Even discreet, the red madness of Valentine’s Day is not to the taste of the most conservative. “I don’t want to see these things, they bother me,” a Saudi woman in a full black veil told AFP.

“But there are people who like it and it’s their freedom”, recognizes however this woman who requested anonymity.

For Reem al-Qahtani, 22, Valentine’s Day is “gradually” making its way into Saudi society.

“For the moment, we celebrate it wisely in cafes and restaurants, but we hope that it will become more widespread in the years to come,” she told AFP.