Perhaps I was too harsh in the last post. To be fair, there are committed and sincere Saudi liberals/reformists, even in the royal family. The problem is they have both hands tied behind there backs. They do not want to provoke the ire of the religious establishment for the legitimacy of the state rests upon it. Already, many hardliners have been criticizing the royal family on a variety of things and the latter does not want to upset the not-so-hardlined, who never the less are quite conservative and adamant on moral issues. In the case of women, many reformers realize that a healthy economy and social life depends on easing restrictions and want to do so. Of course, many of the fatwas, male-female segregation being one of them, were given by state patronized clerics. The contradictions in the relationship are now coming back to haunt many. Can economic change and the imposition of such social norms be balanced? It seems to me, that the growing middle class in Saudi Arabia will and already has begun clamoring for more rights and reforms. Indeed, further integration of women and the autonomy of civic organizations is a sign of a healthy middle class. In the end though, the recent case of the woman being lashed should provoke moral outrage. There is a saying of "blaming the victims", in this case the victim was punished.