Blog 3: Sexual Orientation or Gender Roles
For this blog, I wanted to focus on the gender role of men in jobs that women do not participate in. I wanted to focus specifically on the leather tanneries that we visited in Fes. Leather making involves preparing the animal skins by dehairing them (this is where the stench comes from), refining the animal skins in a mixture that removes the flesh and remaining hair, removing the fat, softening the leather by soaking it in tannic acid, skiving (buffing and polishing) the leather, and finally dying it. According to Angela and Graham (2021), writers for Mowgli adventures, there is a hierarchy among those who work in the tannery as a guild, and women are not allowed to work there (it's not just a choice they get to choose against). Bejarano (2021) tells us in his article that leathermaking has been around since the 9th century and most tanners start because their fathers were also in the business (possibly the hierarchy). It's interesting to me that this tradition of men only has stayed since then.
Leadership wise, I don't know if this would be classified as leadership labyrinth (differences in human capital, gender "roles", and prejudice between men and women leaders)(Northouse, 2016). I don't think any woman is complaining too much about not working in the tanneries and I also know there's not a barrier preventing women from participating in the industry as a leader. As many of us on the trip have discussed, in our experience the woman who was the cashier had the last say on the price of the items. I didn't buy anything but I watched countless salesmen walk away literally pouting because the woman had changed the price to a better one for the customer. I believe that's massive leadership and power in that part of the industry because the final sale of their items is what they all do it for.
Personally, again, I don't think any woman is bothered by the fact that they can't work in the tanneries. From what I've experienced, it was extremely hot and the men work long hours in this heat with little pay, continuously bend over to dip the leather, and have to inhale the awful stench throughout the entire workday (without the "luxury" of mint leaves haha). I also learned that they have to put a lot of vaseline on their legs to prevent their legs from being dyed which is one of the major health hazards of working in a leather tannery. I'm sure the men get used to some aspects of their job, but I just know I wouldn't be complaining. I also sensed a notion of proudness from the men (the smiling and laughing amongst each other) which leads me to wonder if a part of their proudness is from the fact that they are the only ones that can do their job or because of what they are able to do with their hands to then produce such nice leather (hopefully of which they are able to see).
https://mowgli-adventures.com/visiting-the-leather-tanneries-of-fes-morocco/
https://www.feelmorocco.travel/destinations/fez/chouara-tannery/
https://www.afar.com/places/chouara-tannery
I was thinking the same thing when you said that women don’t seem too stressed about not working in the tanneries! From a healthcare perspective, I wonder if the process is not just hard on the mens legs, but maybe their lungs too (from breathing in the chemicals)? I did some research and a study in India was done comparing men from similar socioeconomic classes: those who worked in a tannery and those who did not. The findings were, “The findings revealed a significantly higher prevalence of morbidity among the exposed workers in contrast to that observed in the controls (40.1% vs. 19.6%). The respiratory diseases (16.7%)” (Rastogi, Pandey, and Triparhi, 2008).
ReplyDeleteI also noticed that they did not wear much protective gear. The only protection I saw them having was rubber boots and gloves. It was so eye opening to me because in the US safety is the number one priority, whereas here, I have noticed a lot of potentially hazardous situations on a daily basis.
Here is the source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2796741/
ReplyDeleteAmazing post!! It's interesting to talk about the roles of women in the workforce of Morocco, especially as an American woman. It's hard to imagine facing strict restrictions solely because I am not a man. Given the religious context I have learned from Morocco so far, it doesn't surprise me that they aren't allowed to work in tanneries. I agree that the women are probably okay with that rule, however it makes me wonder of all the other occupations they might be prohibited from, or if there are many at all. I read that women only make up 23% of Morocco's labor market (2019 world bank report), and that leads me to think about how the home is the woman's "job", which is probably thought by many.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.usaid.gov/morocco/fact-sheets/closing-moroccos-gender-gap
Great post, I noticed the same thing about how women don’t really care much that they can work with the leather. It is pretty common for certain jobs to be most men and for some to be mostly women. It makes complete sense. It is the same back home in America. I have been working construction for about 5 years now, with a company that has new employees all the time. People come and go. Yet, I have never had a female co-worker. So all in all, i agree and understand why women do not really care that they cannot work in the leather tanneries.
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