Sexual Orientation or Gender Roles - Layla J.
In Morocco, gender roles are very much still skewed to benefit the male population and a patriarchal society. When I landed in Casablanca, I noticed this with the amount of men outside. In fact, while visiting the Hasan II Mosque at night that day, most of the women and children left the area at sunset, leaving only men outside. For me, this signified the patriarchal nature of Moroccan society. Having had experience with Muslim gender roles in the United States, I had a basic idea of how life at home likely is for women in Morocco. But, I was more interested in whether there has been progress for them, especially in terms of employment and economic growth. According to Lisa Kolovich and Anta Ndoye’s book, Morocco’s Quest for Stronger and Inclusive Growth , there is a much higher unemployment rate for women than for men in Morocco. The book also cites the World Values Survey, which found that a majority of participants agreed with the statement that “Men should have more right to a...