Saudi women expresses anger over robot with no hjiab

Saudi women have kicked against the government's decision to grant citizenship to a female robot who, unlike them, doesn't need a male guardian or has to cover her head in public.

The women set social media abuzz with questions about whether the robot, Sophia, who was unveiled at a technology conference in the capital Riyadh last week, will be treated like other women in the conservative kingdom now that she is a citizen.

Sophia, a robot displayed at a technology conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last week.

It hit a sore spot that a robot has citizenship and my daughter doesn't," Hadeel Shaikh, a Saudi woman whose four-year-old child with a Lebanese man does not have citizenship.

Women married to foreigners in the gender-segregated nation cannot pass on citizenship to their children.

A guardianship system in Saudi Arabia also requires a male family member to grant permission for a woman to study abroad, travel and other activities.

I'm wondering if robot Sophia can leave Saudi Arabia without her guardian consent!" tweeted Saudi feminist, Moudi Aljohani, who is based in the United States.

The creation of the world's first cyborg citizen is the latest surprise announcement from the Sunni Muslim kingdom, which granted women the right to drive last month and to watch events in all-male sports stadiums for the first time next year.