Morocco has been a lot of first times for me. It was my first time of far travelling exclusively for a job that was paid and commissioned. It was my first time in Africa, which turned out to be beautiful, friendly and exciting, but also very, very hot (imagine myself somewhere subsaharan in the summer - I would have melted!). It was my first time in a muslim country, whereas I know Morocco is considered to be quite liberal in that sense. Still, it was a new experience watching people pray on the grass in the middle of rush-hour on a round-about, seeing public life standing still for a while after the call of the Muezzin while everyone was praying in the mosque, hearing everything being excused with the saying "in schā' Allāh" and finding myself in situations where I was the only female human not being covered and veiled. I experienced devout people to be very kind and friendly and was surprised by the willingness of the people to give to and to help each other (because of "in schā' Allāh").
While all this really impressed me and comforted me in a warm and friendly atmosphere, it was also the first time I happened to be so unhappy about the way I was treated as a female. I don't mean the treatment by individuals, who were usually kind and willing to help when approached, but the way I was looked at by the crowd when walking through the markets or streets. Sometimes it was pure curiosity to the blonde girl walking by, too often I was simply reduced to be a woman (or a piece of walking meat) not covered under (and protected by) a head-scarf, which meant I was agressively annoyed and sometimes herassed by male comments, haptics and amusement. Young Moroccan women wearing more casual clothing seem to often have similar problems, while some of them have obviously developed a pretty agressive form of defence (loud screaming, obvious fights on the street with their annoying male counterparts, sometimes even throwing stones (or even rocks) at them). Where as I wasn't willing to do the same, often a loud annoyed comment helped, but often those guys just wouldn't let go. The double moral of these circumstances made me think and even though I do not want to see stereotypes confirmed, I was quite surprised and highly irritated by the behaviour of many Moroccan males. I really hope that this will change on the long run. I guess it's nature that women, no matter how they are dressed and no matter how they behave, get herassed by some males all over the globe, but in Morocco this behaviour often seemed to be more normal than it should have been. I guess part of it is that many foreign females don't dress appropriate and respectful to the culture as well - but believe me, I did.
Of course I did meet numerous exceptions in the form of lovely, kind and very respectful men, especially on my mission for the GIZ, visiting partners, companies, associations and representatives around the country and also in private acquaintances through friends I made here. Though I just couldn't ever ignore the fact that it was usually an imposition walking or driving around by myself. This made me sad and livid, because that's usually what I really enjoy when traveling. And because through accepting this fact I am confirming what men are trying to impose when doing this. I am really confused about this experience, because it is the first time in my life that in a lot of situations I actually really wished to be a guy, because it would have made my life so much easier in Morocco. The reason I took much less close portraits than usually when traveling and the fact why I never really made intimite experiences and took photos with people in their comfort zone - it's due to this. It was just impossible for me to approach people naturally and the silent frustration inside blocked my open-mindedness to a certain extent.
While a lot of Morrocan men had a hard time catching my goodwill due to the often disrespectuful behaviour of some, I was deeply impressed by the women. Though it was hard to capture these moments on photos, I will carry something special home in my heart. While many people think women here are surpressed and weak, I made the most converse experience. Yes, in public, women are often underrepresented and shy, but when entering a home or a place where men are either equal or non-present, they are confident, strong and dominant. The universities and hamams are the best examples for places where women act natural and tend to blow minds due to their humor, force and certainty. Women in Morocco form an impressing community with tolerance and positiveness towards each other, that I have rarely seen elsewhere. When walking through the streets and paying close attention to the women's eyes, I often saw and felt a implicit solidarity, a connection by heart in their glimpse towards me and each other, something between the lines like a courageous spell, which made me strong and brave on my path through the often annoying male crowd.
Although my great experiences here were a bit dulled through this, I feel like change is in the air and I am optimistic that this will improve more and more in the upcoming years. In the past decade I heard, a lot has improved in Morocco in gender related matters. This is just a beginning, but at least it is a topic in public opinion and especially when watching younger people, it seems to be much less of an issue already.
All photos: Carolin Weinkopf
[Photography] [Travel] [Morocco] [Society] [Gender]
