First in my research I found the travel guide article, "Sex and Gender in Morocco". This article told me all about how Morocco is very focused on families and how they should be held to a standard of family based living. Every woman is meant to bare and raise children while every man is expected to provide for the family. This is the case for most cities excluding small Berber villages where women do the work and men take care of the home. This did not surprise me because I know that muslim and arabic cultures tend to be stricter with gender roles and have not progressed since older times before women suffrage.
This to me seemed like most countries over view of how women and men should coexist. But as I read on I was disappointed to learn about the issues with the LGBT community in Morocco. As a proud supporter of this community, its hard to read "With regards to lesbianism in Morocco, it is highly unlikely to encounter a woman who identifies herself as a lesbian." (Sex and Gender in Morocco) I am not homosexual but I have many friends that are and I know how hard it is to be scared to be yourself. Not only are people ashamed to admit who they are to their country but it is actually illegal to be gay in Morocco. Its interesting to learn this because with such movements made in our country in the past twenty years and how far society has come, we forget how behind other countries may be.
I was also bothered by the fact that men are allowed to marry anyone they want and women are stuck to only marry within their religion and are basically mens "pick of the litter" is believed by me to be very wrong. I think its sad that women are not seen at least more equally to the men in their society. Another thing that bothered me was the "Tips for Female Travelers" section of the article. Why would females want to visit your country if they need tips to stay safe and not be harassed or any further action afterwards. This concerns me for how safe this country is and maybe I should not want to visit it as much. We should be teaching men all over the world to treat women right instead of how to not irritate men into doing something bad.
This article written by Moundir Amrani, "Gender Roles in Morocco" gave me some more hope in the well being of women in Morocco. The article was written in 2012 so I can only hope that women's roles have seen more positivity in the three years that have passed since then. This piece discussed the upcoming of Matriarch influenced society as opposed to a Patriarch society.
One paragraph really spoke to me because it stated the exact changes that had been made. "Moroccan society has been subjected to many changes dictated by socioeconomic factors that have redefined gender roles for a long time. Now women rub shoulders with men in many domains and fields that have been until recently male-exclusive." (Amrani 2012) Small things like this happening add up quick and lead to larger impacts that women have been making on society. This made me really proud of all the women in Morocco who are making a difference to beat the sexism and oppression.
I was not surprised to read that "Instead of embracing the new social order, men have found compensation in stepping back. What this means is that instead of bridging the huge gap between them and women, men have chosen to cling to their historical principles and fight for preserving their leading role in society."(Armani 2012) Clearly there are men who are not happy about women having more power and freedom in their culture but what these men should learn is that everyone on this earth deserves equal treatment and opportunities. I guess we will find out how this progresses through recent news and updates.
Travel Exploration, Discover the Best of Morocco "Sex and Gender in Morocco".
Retrieved on 02/24/2015 http://www.travel-exploration.com/page.cfm/Sex_Gender
Amrani, Moundir "Gender Roles in Morocco" Jan. 10th 2012 Retrieved on 02/24/2015
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/01/22310/gender-roles-in-morocco-is-it-the-decline-of-patriarchy-and-the-rise-of-matriarchy/
This to me seemed like most countries over view of how women and men should coexist. But as I read on I was disappointed to learn about the issues with the LGBT community in Morocco. As a proud supporter of this community, its hard to read "With regards to lesbianism in Morocco, it is highly unlikely to encounter a woman who identifies herself as a lesbian." (Sex and Gender in Morocco) I am not homosexual but I have many friends that are and I know how hard it is to be scared to be yourself. Not only are people ashamed to admit who they are to their country but it is actually illegal to be gay in Morocco. Its interesting to learn this because with such movements made in our country in the past twenty years and how far society has come, we forget how behind other countries may be.
I was also bothered by the fact that men are allowed to marry anyone they want and women are stuck to only marry within their religion and are basically mens "pick of the litter" is believed by me to be very wrong. I think its sad that women are not seen at least more equally to the men in their society. Another thing that bothered me was the "Tips for Female Travelers" section of the article. Why would females want to visit your country if they need tips to stay safe and not be harassed or any further action afterwards. This concerns me for how safe this country is and maybe I should not want to visit it as much. We should be teaching men all over the world to treat women right instead of how to not irritate men into doing something bad.
This article written by Moundir Amrani, "Gender Roles in Morocco" gave me some more hope in the well being of women in Morocco. The article was written in 2012 so I can only hope that women's roles have seen more positivity in the three years that have passed since then. This piece discussed the upcoming of Matriarch influenced society as opposed to a Patriarch society.
One paragraph really spoke to me because it stated the exact changes that had been made. "Moroccan society has been subjected to many changes dictated by socioeconomic factors that have redefined gender roles for a long time. Now women rub shoulders with men in many domains and fields that have been until recently male-exclusive." (Amrani 2012) Small things like this happening add up quick and lead to larger impacts that women have been making on society. This made me really proud of all the women in Morocco who are making a difference to beat the sexism and oppression.
I was not surprised to read that "Instead of embracing the new social order, men have found compensation in stepping back. What this means is that instead of bridging the huge gap between them and women, men have chosen to cling to their historical principles and fight for preserving their leading role in society."(Armani 2012) Clearly there are men who are not happy about women having more power and freedom in their culture but what these men should learn is that everyone on this earth deserves equal treatment and opportunities. I guess we will find out how this progresses through recent news and updates.
Travel Exploration, Discover the Best of Morocco "Sex and Gender in Morocco".
Retrieved on 02/24/2015 http://www.travel-exploration.com/page.cfm/Sex_Gender
Amrani, Moundir "Gender Roles in Morocco" Jan. 10th 2012 Retrieved on 02/24/2015
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/01/22310/gender-roles-in-morocco-is-it-the-decline-of-patriarchy-and-the-rise-of-matriarchy/