A woman’s work is never done…

Posted by on 1, May 2015 in 2015 - Iberia and Morocco, EuroAsia, Morocco, North Africa, Taffy, Turkey

 ‎It certainly seems that way here! When we open our blinds in the morning the women are already out gathering cattle feed from the ditches and loading it onto their backs, or if they’re lucky (or possibly widowed, as if you see a man going this work he invariably has a donkey) onto their donkey. They’ve already made the 9 loaves in the outdoor wood oven, fed their families and have the washing to look forward to when they get back down at the local steam with all the other women. Later on they’ll get to cut the corn by hand and make flour before making tea for all. All this whilst raising a half a dozen kids.

 Of course it’s not all one sided, the men have important tasks too, such as keeping the chair and coffee industry healthy by sitting all day in cafes watching the premier league and driving cars and taxis filled with other men going to cafes to watch the premier league somewhere else. In fact most work that involves sitting down, talking, drinking coffee and sitting down a bit more is man’s work, though we did see one women bus driver.  Thin end of the wedge I’d say. ‎

Obviously we don’t get to see  all the work but it certainly seems that men do little while women -particularly in the countryside – slave their guts out. 

As a westerner it’s hard to watch this apparent imbalance and not feel it’s unfair, but the women seem very happy all the time, they wave, greet us with huge genuine smiles perhaps because they are away from their husbands! 

 But there are signs of change‎. Women police officers, the bus driver, the call to prayer sung by a woman, the news read on the TV by the stereotyped western female presenter dressed in western clothes and billboards often have pictures of western dressed women. The large Supermarkets are staffed by men and women alike and most wear western clothing and no head covering though some do. The clash between the old school male only Maroc Telecom shop where you took a ticket, saw a man who took some details, sent you to another desk and then you got your SIM card and the INWI telecom shop staffed by young ladies and one man sums up the clash of cultures here. The North and cities have strong evidence of western attitudes creeping in, the south and rural areas are still a time warp of life how it’s been for millenia.

I wonder how quickly Morocco will change.‎


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