Kultūra ir visuomenė: socialinių tyrimų žurnalas 2018, nr. 9(1)

This paper rereads Moroccan feminism within a nascent methodological interpretive framework dubbed “Muslima theology”. Examining the work of Moroccan Muslim feminists Asma Lamrabet and Khadija al-Battar, it addresses the social and political implications of the emerging critical engagement of Muslima theologians with the old-anchored male hermeneutic tradition of the Sacred Texts. It puts into question the ideological basis of the principle of the “closure of the gate of ijtihad” by revealing how the interpretive tradition is heterogeneous and has been over history subject to religious considerations as well as political and patriarchal changing realities. Focus on the contribution of “Muslima theologians” aims at tracing, recouping some aspects of the systematically foreclosed female interpretive narrative, and subverting the exclusive male norms of interpretation conducive to the formation of a socio-cultural reality that validates in the name of Islam the low status of woman. Enlightened gender-inclusive interpretation of the Sacred Texts allows for alternative histories and agencies bringing to the surface new articulations based on particularities, gender, specific temporalities, contexts, and circumstances. The paper concludes that without Muslima theology as a liberating sub-branch of Islamic feminism, feminism in its activist form would fall short of achieving its objectives, for the traditionalist and literalist exclusive interventions will continue to shape cultural politics at an elitist and grassroots levels.

The paper seeks to investigate the extent to which the reproduction of gender inequalities in educational institutions shapes Moroccan students’ identities through the intersection between gender stereotypes in the textbooks, manuals and media and the reproduction of traditional gender roles within family and society as a whole. By so doing, the paper argues that despite the fact that Moroccan universities have made good initiatives as far as the culture of gender equality is concerned by introducing gender studies course at the university level, the traditional gender roles seem to be still reproduced. The study particularly explains why a radical change from the pre-schooling to the schooling and the family institution to the higher education is important in shaping gender identities of Moroccan university students. It demonstrates that to promote the gender equality culture among students all stakeholders (policy makers, the family, media, educational institutions, etc.) should collaborate in order to reform the curriculum so as to deconstruct the stereotypes generated in the media and textbooks.

Domestic violence is a universal social phenomenon. It plagues all societies worldwide. Undoubtedly, Morocco is no exception. This phenomenon is becoming more and more epidemic; it seriously threatens and dramatically affects the very fabric of Moroccan society. Although a considerable research has been devoted to domestic violence, less attention has been paid to its repercussions and the approaches that would help to eliminate it. In Morocco, violence is overlooked rather than being acknowledged and acted against. This paper focuses on the gender dimension of domestic violence in Morocco. It underlines the blindness of the existing studies to the complex causes and effects of domestic violence in the country. The paper departs from a conviction that domestic violence is a merely criminal act that should be questioned and corrected by promoting and empowering the status of women in Moroccan society. It approaches this phenomenon from its multi-dimensional perspective in order to underline its social, cultural, legal and economic aspects and implications.

Throughout our experience as teachers, we feel intrigued by the observation of changes that have occurred in relation to gender in terms of number and performance. However, this observation needs to be confirmed by studies and scientific results in order to avoid prejudice. This paper investigates the number of girls enrolled in the School of Agriculture compared with the number of boys since the establishment of the school. The study also explores gender differences in their academic achievement. The data used include exam scores of students at the National School of Agriculture in Meknes from 2008 to 2015. The scores will be considered according to the independent variables, namely subjects, the graduating classes and gender. Subjects are classified into three main categories: scientific subjects (mathematics and statistics), technical subjects (agronomy and animal care), and language subjects (English and French). The analysis results showed a noticeable increase in the number of girls compared to boys. Moreover, girls proved to be more likely to perform better than boys in different subjects.

Entrepreneurial orientation (EO), a popular concept in science works and management theories, is also often used to advance the company in terms of performance. Recently, many scholars analyzed the relationship between EO and performance. However, the reading and analysis of this relationship by gender remains limited. In the earlier studies, theorists agree that women entrepreneurs are less successful than their male colleagues with lower levels of EO. This study seeks to examine whether gender differences persist in the study of the relationship between EO and performance. Interestingly, the results indicate that gender difference does not moderate the relationship between OE and performance.

In recent years, researchers have become increasingly interested in gender portrayal and gender bias in media studies in general and newscast in particular. This paper develops a comprehensive account of the distribution of males and females in the news broadcast on 2M, a Moroccan public channel, at the peak viewing time during a two-week period. It investigates one main prime time newscast, namely Almasa’iya, to identify the role and frequency of male/ female personnel and the news content they cover. The findings of this analysis reveal that males dominate in all aspects of the news content. Males seem to be associated more with hard and soft news than their female counterparts. In addition, both male and female reporters rely on male sources to comment on the news content they report.

Le présent article s’intéresse au vécu de jeunes femmes tunisiennes qui se disent lesbiennes. Il tente d’éclairer le rapport social à l’altérité à travers les formes d’expression des normes de genre liées à une sexualité dite atypique. Selon une approche socio-anthropologique, l’étude repose sur une enquête par entretien semi-directif avec trois jeunes femmes qui affichent leur orientation sexuelle marginale. L’analyse de type qualitatif révèle que l’apparence corporelle et les usages vestimentaires constituent un fort enjeu des négociations du genre. En effet, la tendance masculine des jeunes lesbiennes interrogées fait qu’elles sèment le doute concernant leur identité de genre et cessent même d’être considérées comme des femmes. Une telle réalité les confronte à différents types de violence dans l’espace public, allant de l’injure jusqu’à la violence physique. Cependant, si la féminité des femmes interrogées est souvent contestée, leurs logiques d’action visent à affirmer une identité de « femme ». Elles souhaitent ainsi à inciter au changement des regards sur le modèle canonique de la féminité, voire même à l’acceptation de différents types d’être femme.