Hello thinkmorocco,
Thank you for your post.
>While your idea to comment on the Moroccan culture is well apprciated, it is not appropriate to stereotype and spread false ideas about a country such as Morocco.
My comments were not intended to be critical and I am sorry if you viewed them that way.
You say that I am spreading false ideas about Morocco? I am not spreading false ideas about Morocco. I live in Morocco and know what I am talking about. The fact that you don't like what I say is something else altogether.
>when a Moroccan or Muslim man marrys a woman, HE DOESN'T MOVE TO LIVE WITH HER. it is rather the opposite, the wife moves in to live with the husband.
Yes, of course, same as in the west, too. My expression of:
>>he picks a Berber girl and then marries and goes to live with her.
is another way of saying that after marriage they then live together, and I am not implying anything nothing more than this, so I don't understand why you chose to pick this comment out???.
The grounds that you mention for a woman not working may be correct, but that still does not change the fact that the majority of Moroccan men do not allow their wives to work and that it is generally seen as socially unacceptable in Morocco for a married woman to go to work, with Tangier being an exception to the rule (just as Tangier is the exception to the rule in just about everything, coming from a long period of International Zone rule.)
As just one *example* - I have a Polish friend who married a Moroccan. He insisted that she could not work and made this a part of their marriage contract. In return for this, he agreed in the contract that if the marriage did not work that she would get custody of the children. This woman is quite wealthy and her husband is content to live off her money, but will not allow her to work. Where I come from, we call this "double standards". Some people who may feel strongly against this kind of behaviour may take it a step further and call it "hypocrisy."
>Islam does'nt force a woman to stay at home.
We're not talking about Islam, we're talking about social custom in Morocco. The two are not the same thing. People may aspire to make them the same, but this is not an automatic procedure for them to be so.
>In addition, the wife in the Muslim society is not a tool to do our laundry or household with. She in indeed highly respected as a valuable woman in the house.
Actually, she is both. Only rich families are in a position to afford home help, so the wife has to fix all of it.
>The man chooses to work out side and bring the money home ...
He has no choice in this matter. He has to go out to work as there is no such thing as social security in Morocco. Unless, of course, he is from a rich family who supports him, or he was lucky enough to marry a rich woman who is prepared to keep him.
>How do you ensure the kids are well taken care of in the daycare? How do you ensure they are raised as you want and not as the baby sitter want??
Answer to both of your questions - you contact an agency and get a childminder who holds a
Diploma in Childcare and Education. That's how you can make sure that the person is up to the job.
Another difference between east and west is that we don't regard our children as our property, like most people in developing countries do. And generally speaking, we don't force any religion on our kids, either. There is no line to tow. We allow them to choose their religion, when they get older. And if we don't like what they choose, then that's just too bad. In the west, this is called "freedom."
Hope this clarifies your objections to my previous post.