Oppression of Women in Morocco
EWS 380
Fall 2013
Research Paper Women in Morocco have been oppressed for a great period of time and are only recently starting to make strides in becoming an equal gender. Women have always been restricted in what they can do, or how they do things. They have been constricted by patriarchy. Space, language, and education have all been used against women to keep them from progressing as a gender, and as they have stayed in place, men have furthered their gap by keeping high powered, political based positions out of women’s grasp. Not until recently was it that women were allowed seats in political councils and allowed to participate in what used to be a male dominated society. Throughout the years women, with the help of men, have made small persistent strides in gaining their rights in Morocco. One thing that has held women in oppression is the use of language in Morocco. The four languages each have either a feminine or masculine tone to them. The masculine languages of Morocco are Standard Arabic and French, while the feminine languages are Moroccan Arabic and Berber. Just the fact that each language has a feminine or masculine name to it oppresses women, but each language has its own way of keeping power from women. Standard Arabic is the authoritative language of the country. It is used in high-powered positions, such as politics, and even used to call for prayer at the Mosque. The main component of Standard Arabic that oppresses women is the fact that women are frowned upon for even using the language. The use of Standard Arabic by a woman would threaten the status quo of male positions in Morocco. Since it is frowned upon that women even used Standard Arabic, most women do not even study how to write or read it. This is a big problem, seeing as how the law and other important documents are scribed in Standard Arabic. This keeps women from even understanding the law of the land. The other masculine language is French. French does not have such a tight
Fall 2013
Research Paper Women in Morocco have been oppressed for a great period of time and are only recently starting to make strides in becoming an equal gender. Women have always been restricted in what they can do, or how they do things. They have been constricted by patriarchy. Space, language, and education have all been used against women to keep them from progressing as a gender, and as they have stayed in place, men have furthered their gap by keeping high powered, political based positions out of women’s grasp. Not until recently was it that women were allowed seats in political councils and allowed to participate in what used to be a male dominated society. Throughout the years women, with the help of men, have made small persistent strides in gaining their rights in Morocco. One thing that has held women in oppression is the use of language in Morocco. The four languages each have either a feminine or masculine tone to them. The masculine languages of Morocco are Standard Arabic and French, while the feminine languages are Moroccan Arabic and Berber. Just the fact that each language has a feminine or masculine name to it oppresses women, but each language has its own way of keeping power from women. Standard Arabic is the authoritative language of the country. It is used in high-powered positions, such as politics, and even used to call for prayer at the Mosque. The main component of Standard Arabic that oppresses women is the fact that women are frowned upon for even using the language. The use of Standard Arabic by a woman would threaten the status quo of male positions in Morocco. Since it is frowned upon that women even used Standard Arabic, most women do not even study how to write or read it. This is a big problem, seeing as how the law and other important documents are scribed in Standard Arabic. This keeps women from even understanding the law of the land. The other masculine language is French. French does not have such a tight
Cited: Moghadam, Valentine, and Fatima Sadiqi. "Feminization of Public Space: Women’s Activism, the Family Law, and Social Change in Morocco." Journal of Middle East Women 's Studies (n.d.): 1-37. Web. 5 Dec. 2013. Sadiqi, Fatima. "Language, Gender, and Power in Morocco." (n.d.): 1-18. Web. 7 Dec. 2013. Thys-Senocak, Lucienne. "The Gendered City." (n.d.): 1-9. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.