Preeminent scholar Dr. Fatima Sadiqi came to UNH to talk about the women's rights movement in the Islamic country of Morocco. Sadiqi is a native of Fes, Morocco, and led a discussion Monday night in Murkland Hall to educate more people about the women's movement.
Sadiqi said that most Americans seem to stereotype women of Islamic countries as "passive" and "submissive" in their male-dominated cultures. She said that Morocco has actually had a women's movement in progress since the 1940s.
This movement is somewhat outlined by the use of the four major languages in Morocco. There were two "high languages," written Arabic and French, and two "low languages," Berber and Moroccan Arabic. The high languages have written forms and are taught in schools, and the low languages are only spoken and are not taught in schools.
The written Arabic is used in religious practice, law and government, and media. In the past, women have been excluded from the high languages, and therefore left out of many cultural and social experiences. Sadiqi said that Moroccan women missed out on these practices, "not because the scripture required [it], but because their culture does not encourage them to do so."
Sadiqi said that one of the reasons the Moroccan women's movement has gotten positive attention is because the women were able to target the patriarchy without attacking Islam, the main religion.
UNH Women's Studies Professor Betsy Panico compared this aspect of the Moroccan women's movement to the first wave of women's rights movements here in the U.S.
"The women involved had to be very aware of the political and cultural scene in order to reach their goals," Panico said. "It would have been more difficult if [the Moroccan women] had placed blame [on Islam] and inflamed people who might otherwise have supported them."
Women countered this by organizing meetings to discuss the teachings of Islam. These meetings are headed by women and usually held in the home. Women are often the ones to teach children the messages of the Qur'an, a fact that illustrates the injustice of not letting women participate in the community religious practices.
Advancements in the movement thus far include women speaking Arabic and French, Berber being taught in schools, women's ability to be the head of the family along with the men, and protection for children in the event of a divorce.
The women of Morocco have been able to use the many languages of the country to demand equal rights, but other Islamic countries seem "threatened" by multilingualism.
"Diverse linguistics in a community increases the individual's potential for communication and creates a composite identity, which makes individuals more socially confident," said Sadiqi.
There is a possibility that other countries will follow suit.
"Perhaps other countries will be influenced by the Moroccan model," said Panico, "but it will be a long and difficult fight to overturn so many centuries of embedded attitudes."
The internet is introducing a more globalized view of culture for Morocco. English is becoming more popular, especially with internet communication, and is starting to compete with French as a popular spoken language.
Sadiqi has come here from the University of Fes, in Morocco. She is senior professor of linguistics and gender studies there, and has published many works involving these fields, including "Images of Women in Abdullah Bashrahil's Poetry" (2004) and "Women, Gender and Language in Morocco" (2003).
Sadiqi set up the first Centre for Studies and Research on Women and is president of the ISIS Center for Women and Development, both in Fes, Morocco. She was nominated by King Mohamed VI of Morocco to be a board member of the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM) and was recently appointed as a member of the U.N. Economic and Social Council by the U.N. Secretary General.
Sadiqi is currently a research associate and visiting professor at Harvard Divinity School, where she focuses on women's studies in religion and Islamic studies. She is also writing a book about the religious expressions of Amizigh women.
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