Out of the kitchen
24 - 25 May, Ian
Last night we went to a talk by the Moroccan
feminist Fatima Sadiqi; she was kind enough to roll up to the TV lounge at the
ALIF (language institute) residence, where she addressed 9 people (5 of whom
were women) and us. There was ~ 50% overlap with the Gwana music crowd from
last Thursday. Ms Sadiqi's title was "Women and Islam", on which she spoke for
around 90 minutes, including questions; this was a stretch for the girls (though
Heidi read Harry Potter throughout) but very interesting for the grown
ups.
I have a bit of a conflict here for my blog. On the one hand it is serving as my travel diary (and sadly I've just reached the end of the blank notebook that I've been using until now - see the Gear and Products entry - and have no prospect of finding another that I like as much). In this capacity I really should make a reasonably full set of notes here on her talk. But (you'll be pleased to know) I don't want to! So instead of listing her six categories of heterogeneity of (Morrocan) women, her eight factors that determine Moroccan culture, her multi-point deconstruction of Islam and so forth, I'll just note down a few random points that stick in my mind.
The first such point is that Moroccan feminism (I'll skip all of the "according to Ms Sadiqi" type clauses, ok?) embraces Islam. This is, a view of Islam that, insofar as it's concerned with faith (as opposed to culture or politics, say), is personal and enriching, offering a space for spirituality to the rich, a way of managing life for the middle classes and a zone of life that it's not controlled by the State to the poor. All of the aspects of life in which you may think Islam constrains women's life are, they say, the late accretions of jurisprudence and so forth, made by men to women's disadvantage. The true teachings of the prophet don't have this and can be recovered by careful reading of the Koran. Consistent with this approach, modern feminists here increasingly write in standard Arabic (rather than Moroccan Arabic or French) as this is associated with Islam and other sources of authority historically appropriated by men, and so use of this language makes feminists' lives much easier.
And feminists here are strikingly non-confrontational, actively seeking to work with men to make a better society. Ms Sadiqi noted that many of the most progressive voices in this debate are men's, conspicuously including the last three kings, who have been great reformers. This isn't to say that reform isn't needed: it is. Women have precious few freedoms in the public realm, and are heavily constrained in private spaces too. They lack formal authority in the household and have had to fall back upon modes of influence, which they use effectively to gain power at home in a different way from men. Traditionally, these have been lies, gossip and witchcraft (must say this wasn't the list I was expecting!). This is what feminists have to address: to gain acceptance that men and women can make joint rational decisions. So it's easy to see why her top priority is education: it's freely available and the challenge is to persuade people that it's worthwhile, particularly for girls.
But - and here is a key point - reform is not the same as becoming Western. She gave the example of an African American feminist she'd met who had converted to Islam and was an excellent scholar. Using her scholarship skills she had argued cogently that there was no reason why women shouldn't lead prayer for men and women, and she now does this herself in Holland, where she lives. While accepting the rationality for this, it's not where Ms Sadiqi wants to go because it's not Moroccan, and all of her thinking is guided by consideration of what will seem to be the right thing for people in her culture. Core to this is the Family Code, which has been worked out here over the past years/decades.
Her final reflection that's worth noting is that she believes feminists have an easier time in Morocco than in the West. This is because in the West women have become economically powerful by accepting an image of themselves as consumers. Now, to make progress, feminists have to undermine this image, which is tremendously difficult. In contrast, Moroccan feminists can just point to the simple freedoms that they want and are denied - it's an easier fight.
After the talk we had dinner at an Italian in the ville nouvelle with Abdelghrani and talked some more. (Abdelghani, by the way, was not really any more comfortable with an Italian menu than we would be with an Arabic one, even though he could at least read it.) He was very keen for us to understand that even if people did bad things (such as oppressing women) in Islamic countries that doesn't mean that Islam itself is bad. He is, we might think, as conservative as many of this compatriots but in a very gentle way. His sister, for example, has been introduced to at least ten potential husbands but has exercised her freedom to reject them all - in several cases because they smoke! And he is wary of pre-marital relationships because of the pain that they can cause when they end.
This morning we had a more prosaic discussion with Abdelghrani after our lesson - about how to cook a goat's head. If you ever find yourself in a place such as this where they are easily available and you want to try one here's what you do. First burn it so that you can remove all of the hair. Here, they either take the head to the hemman (public baths) and get it done on the furnace that heats the water or make a fire themselves on the roof terrace. Next, you saw it open to get at the brain, tongue and other meat (the eyes are not eaten). This can be either steamed or cooked in a sauce. He advised caution (not to have too much) if we try it, especially the children, because the fats can harbour bacteria that we may not be used to.
One of the ways in which you can see a concrete manifestation of the difference between male and female power is to look at domestic architecture: typically houses here have men's and women's zones, with the latter being deeper inside (at the back and away from the front door). Abdelghani tells us approvingly that Dar Bennis is "200% Moroccan" so we have some idea of the basic plan. We saw a couple more houses in the medina this afternoon. Just after lunch David brought an English publisher round to Dar Bennis who is intending to include the Dar in a the second edition of a book about good places to stay in Morocco. After she'd poked around for a while we went, en famille, with her and David to look round his own house, which he's been restoring for five years. It is very much a work in progress with workmen throughout the house demolishing and re-building walls, working towards installing bathrooms and a kitchen (it currently has neither), restoring the cedar work, plaster and zellij, and just about everything else. It is much grander than our Dar and will be terrific when it's completed. One of my favourite features is the big fountain in the central courtyard, which I just can't get any sort of decent snap of at this resolution; I'll probably include one in my Morocco snaps at the end of the month.
When it's finished David may run this dar as a B&B but my sense is that he'd like to rent it out entirely floor by floor or sell it and move on. He also took us to see another place that he's bought, more on the scale of Dar Bennis. This one is done out in gawdy modern tiles that are a pastiche of zellij and the plaster walls have an unpleasant textured sealant on them that I think he'll have a tough time removing.
I noticed in the paper this week that the philosopher Paul Ricoeur has died. I haven't read anything by him but I believe that he would be very sympathetic to Fatima Sadiqi in her quest to find the good way to act in her particular cultural context. I'd like to read one of his books later this trip and would welcome a recommendation if any of you have read any. If anyone wants to be really nice to me, you could have a look in a bookstore or on Amazon, pick one that you think looks interesting, read it and then tell me whether it's worthwhile!
Also in this week's papers I read about the US guy (Pat Tillman) who, following 9/11 gave up a multi-million dollar sports career to train as a marine and fight in Afghanistan. Towards the end of his training he was killed in "friendly fire" (isn't that a grotesque phrase?) in circumstances that were as clear as they were tragic. I read that the Pentagon fabricated a story, which was then actively spread by the Bush administration, that he had died in a brave raid to storm enemy lines. Now before we set out on our travels Paula had promised the girls that she'd take them back to Disneyland one day. Given that we're going to be spending a couple of months in the US I wonder whether this will be necessary when we can just watch CNN instead. What are these guys thinking?? The reaction of normal people to this must go beyond (but include) a demand to have senior figures in the Pentagon and the administration resign in shame and disgrace. As well as cruelly causing even more anguish to the guy's parents this is inevitably counterproductive given that the US has a free press and an educated electorate and that the true facts were know by many. I wonder whether there isn't a cadre of renegade neo-cons somewhere being personally directed by Dr Strangelove. I can see that in a couple of months time I'm going to be facing cultural, almost anthropological, questions that are even more puzzling than those we've encountered on the continent of Africa.
I have a bit of a conflict here for my blog. On the one hand it is serving as my travel diary (and sadly I've just reached the end of the blank notebook that I've been using until now - see the Gear and Products entry - and have no prospect of finding another that I like as much). In this capacity I really should make a reasonably full set of notes here on her talk. But (you'll be pleased to know) I don't want to! So instead of listing her six categories of heterogeneity of (Morrocan) women, her eight factors that determine Moroccan culture, her multi-point deconstruction of Islam and so forth, I'll just note down a few random points that stick in my mind.
The first such point is that Moroccan feminism (I'll skip all of the "according to Ms Sadiqi" type clauses, ok?) embraces Islam. This is, a view of Islam that, insofar as it's concerned with faith (as opposed to culture or politics, say), is personal and enriching, offering a space for spirituality to the rich, a way of managing life for the middle classes and a zone of life that it's not controlled by the State to the poor. All of the aspects of life in which you may think Islam constrains women's life are, they say, the late accretions of jurisprudence and so forth, made by men to women's disadvantage. The true teachings of the prophet don't have this and can be recovered by careful reading of the Koran. Consistent with this approach, modern feminists here increasingly write in standard Arabic (rather than Moroccan Arabic or French) as this is associated with Islam and other sources of authority historically appropriated by men, and so use of this language makes feminists' lives much easier.
And feminists here are strikingly non-confrontational, actively seeking to work with men to make a better society. Ms Sadiqi noted that many of the most progressive voices in this debate are men's, conspicuously including the last three kings, who have been great reformers. This isn't to say that reform isn't needed: it is. Women have precious few freedoms in the public realm, and are heavily constrained in private spaces too. They lack formal authority in the household and have had to fall back upon modes of influence, which they use effectively to gain power at home in a different way from men. Traditionally, these have been lies, gossip and witchcraft (must say this wasn't the list I was expecting!). This is what feminists have to address: to gain acceptance that men and women can make joint rational decisions. So it's easy to see why her top priority is education: it's freely available and the challenge is to persuade people that it's worthwhile, particularly for girls.
But - and here is a key point - reform is not the same as becoming Western. She gave the example of an African American feminist she'd met who had converted to Islam and was an excellent scholar. Using her scholarship skills she had argued cogently that there was no reason why women shouldn't lead prayer for men and women, and she now does this herself in Holland, where she lives. While accepting the rationality for this, it's not where Ms Sadiqi wants to go because it's not Moroccan, and all of her thinking is guided by consideration of what will seem to be the right thing for people in her culture. Core to this is the Family Code, which has been worked out here over the past years/decades.
Her final reflection that's worth noting is that she believes feminists have an easier time in Morocco than in the West. This is because in the West women have become economically powerful by accepting an image of themselves as consumers. Now, to make progress, feminists have to undermine this image, which is tremendously difficult. In contrast, Moroccan feminists can just point to the simple freedoms that they want and are denied - it's an easier fight.
After the talk we had dinner at an Italian in the ville nouvelle with Abdelghrani and talked some more. (Abdelghani, by the way, was not really any more comfortable with an Italian menu than we would be with an Arabic one, even though he could at least read it.) He was very keen for us to understand that even if people did bad things (such as oppressing women) in Islamic countries that doesn't mean that Islam itself is bad. He is, we might think, as conservative as many of this compatriots but in a very gentle way. His sister, for example, has been introduced to at least ten potential husbands but has exercised her freedom to reject them all - in several cases because they smoke! And he is wary of pre-marital relationships because of the pain that they can cause when they end.
This morning we had a more prosaic discussion with Abdelghrani after our lesson - about how to cook a goat's head. If you ever find yourself in a place such as this where they are easily available and you want to try one here's what you do. First burn it so that you can remove all of the hair. Here, they either take the head to the hemman (public baths) and get it done on the furnace that heats the water or make a fire themselves on the roof terrace. Next, you saw it open to get at the brain, tongue and other meat (the eyes are not eaten). This can be either steamed or cooked in a sauce. He advised caution (not to have too much) if we try it, especially the children, because the fats can harbour bacteria that we may not be used to.
One of the ways in which you can see a concrete manifestation of the difference between male and female power is to look at domestic architecture: typically houses here have men's and women's zones, with the latter being deeper inside (at the back and away from the front door). Abdelghani tells us approvingly that Dar Bennis is "200% Moroccan" so we have some idea of the basic plan. We saw a couple more houses in the medina this afternoon. Just after lunch David brought an English publisher round to Dar Bennis who is intending to include the Dar in a the second edition of a book about good places to stay in Morocco. After she'd poked around for a while we went, en famille, with her and David to look round his own house, which he's been restoring for five years. It is very much a work in progress with workmen throughout the house demolishing and re-building walls, working towards installing bathrooms and a kitchen (it currently has neither), restoring the cedar work, plaster and zellij, and just about everything else. It is much grander than our Dar and will be terrific when it's completed. One of my favourite features is the big fountain in the central courtyard, which I just can't get any sort of decent snap of at this resolution; I'll probably include one in my Morocco snaps at the end of the month.
When it's finished David may run this dar as a B&B but my sense is that he'd like to rent it out entirely floor by floor or sell it and move on. He also took us to see another place that he's bought, more on the scale of Dar Bennis. This one is done out in gawdy modern tiles that are a pastiche of zellij and the plaster walls have an unpleasant textured sealant on them that I think he'll have a tough time removing.
I noticed in the paper this week that the philosopher Paul Ricoeur has died. I haven't read anything by him but I believe that he would be very sympathetic to Fatima Sadiqi in her quest to find the good way to act in her particular cultural context. I'd like to read one of his books later this trip and would welcome a recommendation if any of you have read any. If anyone wants to be really nice to me, you could have a look in a bookstore or on Amazon, pick one that you think looks interesting, read it and then tell me whether it's worthwhile!
Also in this week's papers I read about the US guy (Pat Tillman) who, following 9/11 gave up a multi-million dollar sports career to train as a marine and fight in Afghanistan. Towards the end of his training he was killed in "friendly fire" (isn't that a grotesque phrase?) in circumstances that were as clear as they were tragic. I read that the Pentagon fabricated a story, which was then actively spread by the Bush administration, that he had died in a brave raid to storm enemy lines. Now before we set out on our travels Paula had promised the girls that she'd take them back to Disneyland one day. Given that we're going to be spending a couple of months in the US I wonder whether this will be necessary when we can just watch CNN instead. What are these guys thinking?? The reaction of normal people to this must go beyond (but include) a demand to have senior figures in the Pentagon and the administration resign in shame and disgrace. As well as cruelly causing even more anguish to the guy's parents this is inevitably counterproductive given that the US has a free press and an educated electorate and that the true facts were know by many. I wonder whether there isn't a cadre of renegade neo-cons somewhere being personally directed by Dr Strangelove. I can see that in a couple of months time I'm going to be facing cultural, almost anthropological, questions that are even more puzzling than those we've encountered on the continent of Africa.
Posted: Thu - May 26, 2005 at 02:19 AM
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Published On: Feb 08, 2006 06:20 PM
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Published On: Feb 08, 2006 06:20 PM