blog 3: gender roles

Before this trip, I had a preconceived notion of how women were treated in this country, and I must

admit that my assumptions have proved to be very wrong. Reality seems to be closer to the opposite.

I assumed that women were deliberately treated unfairly and poorly by their male counterparts,

and that they lacked rights that many women in America don’t even think twice about.

I have since come to realize that is not the case, and I’ve learned so much in regards to the roles and

relationships of men and women here. 

When I first noticed that men were predominantly the ones out on the sidewalks and sitting

outside of cafes, I perceived that negatively. I assumed that was unfair for the women, and I

saw the men in a bad light. I thought the men wanted them to stay cooped up in the house.

My western way of thinking was quick to jump to sexism and deliberate inequality, but I now

know those things aren't the case. I learned that the home is considered to be the woman's

sacred place, called Harem, in Islamic faith. Everything in the house is hers, and everything

outside the house is the husband’s. Because the house is her sacred place, she has the right

to tell her husband to leave whenever she wants. Before understanding the context,

my western way of thinking was quick to jump to sexism and deliberate inequality, but I now

know those things aren't the case. I think these thoughts were also based on a generalized

assumption I had of men and women living in Arab countries. The reality is because in the

dominant religion (Islam), the roles of men and women are just different than what I’m used

to, and that’s just part of the culture and way of life here, which I find fascinating! In the old Moroccan

religion, a man could not be in the presence of a woman whom he did not know. Men and women were

not allowed to be strangers amongst each other. Now days, even with the strong existence of tradition, that

rule has begun to be obsolete (Huraizi).

Based on my past knowledge of Islamic nations, and comparison of where I’m from, I placed Morocco in an identity group completely different from reality. I thought the social values were in disregard to gender equality. Social Identity theory says that humans classify themselves and others in social categories, and history of the relationship between social identity groups in society at large within past conflict plays a role (Leading Across Differences).

Schwartz, S. (2010) Cultural values. In K. Hanum, B.B. McFeeters & L. Booysen (Eds.), Leading across differences (p. 115-123). Pfieffer.

https://www.quora.com/Why-are-there-only-men-at-the-coffee-shops-in-Morocco