Where Have ALL the Girls Gone?

 

As we’ve driven around the countryside we’ve often seen girls and boys, in equal numbers, coming and going to school, the boys dressed mostly in western attire, the girls always covered, and often wearing white hip-length tunics over either western clothes or more traditional robes. In towns, we see people walking along the roads, in the shops, or in the squares. Here we see a mix more along the line of 1/3 women and 2/3 men, but most often with men and women traveling separately.

In most other circumstances, Morocco is at least publicly and visibly a male preserve. Only men are in the cafés and restaurants (day and night); all the shop keepers and service personnel are men. In restaurants, hotels and camps, only men are present. Occasionally we’ve caught a glimpse of a robed and covered figure somewhere in the background, but never as a visible presence or someone to interact with. The books say the women are kept separate to protect them, not control them, but it’s hard for us to accept, and probably the most “foreign” part of our visit.

Interestingly, the Moroccan men seem very comfortable interacting with Western women in a largely Western fashion, and there haven’t been any instances of inappropriate behavior either directly or via catcalls or other objectionable behavior toward Cathryn or Mackenzie. Our guide books have lengthy discussions about the problems women might encounter, but we haven’t experienced it yet.