Those restrictions have been loosened considerably, especially for non-Saudi women, though wearing an abbaya is still wise in order to avoid ogling and sexual harassment. And it’s no longer required for foreign women to cover their hair when in public, or for any women to be escorted by a husband or make relative. MBS regarded the religious police (the wonderfully named Society for Encouraging Virtue and Discouraging Vice) as a competing power center, so since they like keeping their heads attached to their bodies as much as most people, they’re nowhere near as intrusive as they used to be.

It’s still by no means a feminist paradise, of course, but under MBS, Saudi Arabia seems to be shifting from a medieval theocracy to a slightly secular totalitarian state, more like Iraq under Saddam.