A permissive zone for prostitution in the Middle Atlas of Morocco

Muslim women are said to live in a male-dominated society with rigid sexual stratification: the seclusion and control of the sexual practices of a woman increase a man's status and power. This view has become more relevant with the process of Islamization in Morocco, as elsewhere. In reality, among the Berber people of the Middle Atlas, many divorced and widowed women see no economic alternative to becoming a prostitute. Cultural and global conditions have made the area a permissive zone for prostitution because of the local tradition of ritual dances that act as a marriage market, the absence of a focus on virginity, and because retired prostitutes can regain the respect of their community. Since the 1960s, Moroccan migrants returning temporarily home and male tourists from neighboring countries have given the Middle Atlas the reputation of a permissive zone for prostitution. (Berber, Morocco, prostitution, globalization) ********** A common perception is that honor is a critical theme for explaining status, power, and gender in Middle Eastern and North African society. Women especially feel the consequences of this as their reputation is of the utmost importance in upholding family honor. Virginity and chastity are central elements of this honor, so women's behavior is strictly controlled by having them married off early, veiled, and prevented from playing a role in the public domain. The theory is that women have a symbolic function for groups that strive for honor and superiority (Haddad 1998; Abu Lughod 1989; Peristiany 1968, 1966), so the behavior of women is used as an ideological instrument in the concern for status. The seclusion and control of their sexual practices increases a man's prestige: the crucial factor is women's modesty. Women who break the norms for their gender are subjected to social reprobation and occupy a marginal position in society. Women who cross the boundaries by working, remaining single, or entering the public sphere are stigmatized. Sex outside of marriage is condemned because unchecked instincts may lead to fitna (chaos) (Obermeyer 2000:241). This traditional cultural explanation has become more relevant with the process of Islamization in North African societies as elsewhere in the Muslim world. Over the last few decades, many people have adopted a lifestyle based on a more strict and orthodox interpretation of Islam, and women's sexuality is controlled in order to pressure them to become the bearers of constructed group identities (Ilkkaracan 2000:764, 765; Esposito 1998:xvi). The veil is undergoing a remarkable resurgence among Moroccan urban-dwellers (particularly among rich and middle-class families) and political parties have adopted the Sharia as the basis of moral order. Some Muslim populations have a more liberal view of religious praxis. The Berbers of the countryside are virtually pagans, say the orthodox and Arab people of the urban centers in Morocco (NRC Handelsblad 2002; Venema and Bakker 1994:8-10). But stricter practices have even become more common among rural populations. For example, the female dancers and singers among the Berber-speaking Chaouias in Algeria used to be hired by farmers to perform at harvest festivals. Their performance consisted of religious songs interchanged with bawdy love songs that contained suggestive proposals to which the harvesters replied gleefully. The women performed only on a temporary basis and their work was not perceived as indecent. However, since the spread of a more rigid and orthodox version of Islam in Algeria, these groups are no longer able to perform (Encyclopedie Berbere 1991:1223, 1224). The honor/shame complex places men and women in an opposition which may end up as a "harem theory," argues Abu Lughod (1989). In this perspective there is a high degree of gender segregation, with women having a world of their own, and being idle, submissive, and veiled. According to Abu Lughod (1989), this prospect derives from the sexual dichotomies applied to Middle Eastern and North African societies, and such dichotomies as nature/culture and public/private fail to acknowledge the complex mixing that happens in practice. …