Gender Equality and Citizenship: Perceptions, Experiences and Performances among Socially Engaged People in Rabat.

Abstract

In a time of internationally as well as locally increased attention to issues of gender equality, historically longstanding feminist traditions in Morocco have brought about significant changes in Morocco's political and social climate in recent years. An increasing number of social organizations and civic initiatives has taken up the task of defending gender equality and women s safety. Aiming to uncover the cultural construction of gender equality and citizenship, transcend orientalist ideas about (in)equality in non-western societies, and shed light on underrepresented male perspectives in literature on gender equality, a qualitative research was carried out during a 10-week fieldwork period in Rabat, Morocco. Ethnographic methods, such as hanging out, participant observation and in-depth interviewing, were used to find out how socially engaged people in Rabat perceive, experience and perform gender relations and gender equality in the public, private and virtual spheres as well as how these experiences are linked to lived experiences of citizenship. Socially engaged people in Rabat perceive gender equality and gender equity as ideal situations and would therefore like to change the experienced inequality in the public, private and virtual spheres. By performing in gender non-conforming ways and performing other acts of resistance, they strive to change the meaning given to gender and gender relations and the related experience of lived citizenship.