Gender Roles and Sexuality

 “Incongruent assumptions that undergird peoples’ interpretations of an event or behavior are fertile ground for misperceptions and distortions” (Livers and Solomon, 2010, p. 150). I feel this statement from our Leading Across Differences text is applicable for me on this trip. Traveling to Morocco and talking to locals has been an eye-opening experience. My assumptions were definitely misperceptions. For instance, originally, I thought it was so rude for men to leave their wives at home while they go out for dinner or for a coffee. However, now it seems as though the ladies are the one who tell the husbands to leave so they may enjoy time in their sacred space with their friends. Certainly, this revelation changed my perspective. I no longer think, “how rude to leave your wife behind.” Instead I think, “poor man got booted out for a while.” Ha! Also, to hear a Moroccan woman say, “women come first,” was not something I was expecting. In a way, I respect the way they have gender roles here. It seems as though both genders live “space” for the other to do things which are special to them. We all interpret things so differently, which has been evident in many of our blog posts.  

Even though there are many things I appreciate about the traditional gender roles, I also wish women were more involved in the agricultural aspect. From what we have heard, the Green Generation Plan has an initiative to get ore children and women involved in farming. I have yet to see a woman on a horse in Morocco, although a few riding donkeys. Even in the stable at the farm we visited, only men were interacting with the horses. The King’s Calvary was only men. As an avid horsewoman, I it is disheartening to see so few women present in the equine world. However, there is hope for the sport of Fantasia growing for female equestrians. I have linked a video below that talks a little about that and interviews the woman who got it started. Personally, I think (in general) women have better intuition when it comes to equines and having more women involved could be beneficial to the horse industry in Morocco.

Another point I would like to mention is that of homosexuality. My assumptions were that an Islamic country would be less tolerant than the United States in this regard. However, after discussions with Hamid, I believe Morocco handles it better than our Christian country. Morocco is labeled as a progressive Muslim country. From the dialogue I have shared over the past week, I feel like they are more open minded and accepting in various ways. Privacy, sacred space and non-judgement are more of the values I have witnessed. This mode of thinking is refreshing to me, as my own community at home struggles a lot with homosexuality.

While there may be differences in gender roles and sexuality visible upon first glance in Morocco, I think they will progress faster than the United States did in these areas. We are over a century into women’s rights in the United States and we still have a glass ceiling and labyrinth for women to navigate in the workforce. Morocco seems to be making steps towards reducing the gender inequality gap.

Livers, A. B. & Solomon, R. F., Jr. (2010) Miasma: The dynamics of difference. In K. Hanum, B.B. McFeeters & L. Booysen (Eds.), Leading across differences (p. 147-154). Pfieffer.   

Women's Fantasia Group