From Wikipedia:
Contemporary critics universally commended the music video for its themes and production values. The video was both heralded and criticized for confronting women’s rights in Saudi Arabia; the portrayal of women wearing the niqab driving cars is strictly prohibited in Saudi Arabia, while some media outlets accused the video of propagating Arab stereotypes.[30][31] Claire Suddath of Time agreed that at first glance, the video appeared to be a political statement on women drivers in Saudi Arabia and a stylish, aesthetically pleasing piece, stating that the video was fun either way and that audiences could all agree that women and men should be able to “drag race, pop wheelies and drive their cars on two wheels” equally.[32] Dina Dabbous of Jordanian publication Al Bawaba praised M.I.A. for presenting an accurate picture of male customs in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, continuing “if she’s being accused of stereotyping, then she’s turning the oriental fantasy on its head when she has Arabian women dressed in khaki styled, though still Arabian, dress or gear, toting guns and strutting their stuff with a swagger unknown to the conservative female society that has women closed off or ‘haremed’ from the male gaze. M.I.A’s girls are a far-cry from the harem-veiled subversive mysterious women of the oriental fantasy in their floaty feminine veils, if we’re accusing her of feeding stereotypes. She’s toying with the militarized West infiltrating Arabia. Sexing it up a notch to have her ‘bad girls’ taking male guns and aggro”.[30]
