Media, advertising, and development in Morocco

The passage below comes my dissertation. The hulking monster is nearly 100,000 words (now that I've cut this passage, it's 98,939 words). I am posting this text, which seems too good to sacrifice completely but not good enough to include in the final version.

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Media and advertising play a role in development around the world, and Morocco is not an exception. Advertising sells everything to everyone without distinction, as if the masses of society were classless.[1] To do this, advertising tries to reflect “an ideal world, sanitized of any tragedy.”[2] Commercial advertising ignores the underdevelopment, poverty, insecurity and exclusion that stem from the hardship that advertising sanitizes away. Commercial advertising never mentions weapons or wars. Commercial advertising presents an innocent, optimistic, and utopian world, full of happiness where there is absolutely no injustice or inequality.[3] Moroccan writer Abdeslam Bouhani asks: In the absence of representations of inequality and injustice, where in commercial advertising is the evidence or representation or validation or testament of the hundreds of millions of excluded people and outcasts, condemned to living their entire lives in abject poverty? How do marginalized people fulfill and perceive the fantasies or illusions of happiness which commercial advertising promises and which almost never come true?

Commercial advertising conveyed via the many types of mass media is targeted, well-defined and precise. For the advertisers, there is no consideration of those who are not a part of the targeted demographic and how they may be negatively affected or suffer harm as a result of consuming commercial advertising intended for a different audience. The individuals and communities not targeted by commercial advertising often comprise an overwhelming majority. Thus, for Bouhani, these audiences consume and process commercial advertising as aborted dreams and unfulfilled longings, accompanied by feelings of deprivation, frustration (especially among the impoverished) or even exclusion and marginalization. Those who are almost always excluded from the target audience demographic include rural residents, the handicapped, ethnic, racial, and religious minorities, overweight people, poor people, and any others who do not assimilate easily into the rosy picture that forms the heart of the image that commercial advertising creates and exploits. In the case of those living in poverty, Bouhani concludes that their exclusion and marginalization inevitably increases their awareness of the horror of the economic injustice and social inequality that they experience as a part of their everyday lives.[4]

In sum, Bouhani considers commercial advertising to be playing a pernicious role in development. Because commercial advertising presents only a fantastical, sanitized, ideal version of life, the images create a world where development is unnecessary because there is no suffering or inequality or poverty. Furthermore, commercial advertising exacerbates the exclusion and marginalization experienced by the poor and other subaltern populations because they consume that which was created for the consumption of others. Because commercial advertising is created for mass consumption by an imagined homogenous, prosperous, dominant population, those outside of that demographic experience exclusion and marginalization as a part of their media consumption.

[1] Ignacio Ramonet, "La fabrique des désirs," Le Monde Diplomatique, Mai 2001. cited in Abdeslam Bouhani, Sauvez la femme sauvez le monde, 1st ed. (Aïn Sebaâ: Les Editions Maghrébines, 2010). 70.

[2] Louis Quesnel, "La publicité et sa "philosophie."," Communications 17(1971). cited in Ramonet, "La fabrique des désirs." cited in Bouhani, Vers le declin de "la machine à vendre"?: 70.

[3] Quesnel, "La publicité et sa "philosophie."." cited in Ramonet, "La fabrique des désirs." cited in Bouhani, Vers le declin de "la machine à vendre"?: 70.

[4] Bouhani, Vers le declin de "la machine à vendre"?: 70-71.

Moroccan women as seen from abroad

I read this article back in 2010 when it was published in Telquel, but I am just now getting to the part of my dissertation where I am able to include it and my thoughts on it.  I thought I'd share those thoughts here, especially in light of the recent article I blogged about yesterday about the Moroccan school girl banned from taking her entrance exam at a prestigious high school in Rabat because she was wearing a hijab.

Anyhow, the Telquel article, in French, is titled "Moroccan women as seen by the Arabs."

The article discusses how across Arab states, the image of the Moroccan woman is anecdotally trademarked, and is associated with being liberated--though interpreting that association is subjective.  While in the West, the quality of being liberated hints at franchise and agency, among Arabs, so-called 'liberated' Moroccan women make ideal prostitutes, resulting in Algerian and Tunisian migrants passing themselves off as Moroccan in order to provide the product their customers are seeking.

Morocco represents the literal and figurative west of the Arab world.  Moroccan women, in the minds of Khaleejis, go out, work, exist, and don't cover themselves from head to toe.  One might mark the historical beginning of women's physical and spatial liberation in 1947.  It was then that Princess Lalla Aicha, paternal aunt of the current king, appeared in 1947 without a veil.

The stereotype of Moroccan women as liberated has led to an ironic reduction of freedom of movement for them. Muslims are required to make a pilgrimage to Mecca if their resources allow it.  There is also a so-called minor pilgrimage that is not required but is recommended for the devout.  As of 2010 (and likely earlier) an unaccompanied Moroccan woman faces additional obstacles to obtaining the necessary permissions to enter Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.  These new obstacles extend beyond the usual labyrinthine bureaucracy, and are rooted in the stereotype that Moroccan women are too liberated.

In other words, while other Arab countries and cultures regard Moroccan women as being liberated, these same entities are party to restricting their freedom--of movement, of employment, of expression.

What is the origin of this stereotype?  Well, according to the Telquel article, it comes in part form the portrayal of Moroccan women in Middle Eastern film.  I discussed the Moroccan-woman-as-prostitute yesterday in reaction to my rage at seeing illiterate women being essentially blamed for exacerbating prostitution.

The article also brings up an interesting point about language, which is of particular interest to me and to my dissertation.  In the final paragraph, the authors point out that most stereotypes of Moroccans come from non-Arab sources.  

However, "la proximité de la langue aidant, les Marocains regardent plus de chaînes arabophones qu’européennes, et sont donc directement touchés par l’image que leur renvoient leurs frères arabes."
With this thought, the authors are either asserting that Moroccan people watch more Arabic language television channels than they do European ones or that Moroccans watch more Arab channels than European channels.  This latter point means that the Moroccans are not just watching Arabic-speaking channels but also Arab channels which may be in other languages.  Textual ambiguity aside, I would love to know upon what the authors are basing this claim.  I am also interested in what the implications are for literacy in Morocco if Moroccans are watching more Arabic-language programming.

According to the authors, because of the Arabic-language affinity between Moroccans and other Arabs, the negative or stereotypical portrayal of Moroccans is more hurtful when it comes from fellow Arabs than when it comes from European programming.

The authors write:
"Preuve en est que l’épisode de la vidéo koweïtienne a égratigné plus de Marocains que foultitude de sketchs français bourrés de clichés sur le Maroc. C’est bien connu, les coups sont plus douloureux quand ils viennent de la famille."

Thus, the portrayal of Moroccans by Kuwaitis caused more outcry than the portrayal of Moroccans in French shows.  This refers to a Kuwaiti program in which Moroccan women were characterized as scheming witches.  For additional reading, especially if you don't feel like sifting through French, the article I blogged about yesterday discusses this issue, and others, in English.

Hijab ban for Moroccan school girl

I was shocked to see in this Alam article that the prestigious French secondary school Lycee Descartes in Rabat refused to allow a school girl to take her entrance exam because she was wearing a head covering.  The private school justified the exclusion based on its deference to French law.  However, Moroccan law does not allow for private schools owned/operated by foreign governments or entities to enforce laws that are at odds with Moroccan law.  It will be interesting to see how the PJD (the Islamist party running Morocco at the moment) will react to this.

I will discuss this story, which though posted in April, has been going on since January at least, in more detail soon.

Feminism fail: Jadaliyya blames illiterates and illiteracy for causing prostitution

In a story called "A Monarchical Affair: From Morocco to the Arabian Peninsula," from 10 April 2012, Samia Errazzouki writing for Jadaliyya discusses the relationship between Morocco and Gulf countries. While her article covers some important and interesting information, she nonetheless falls into the all-too-common 'illiterates are ruining the world' trap. About two thirds through her article, she writes:



"Aside from the lack of legislation that addresses sex trafficking, high illiteracy and poverty rates, especially in rural areas, have turned the sex industry in Morocco into a lucrative market."



A quick reading of this sentence might not reveal the offensiveness of her point, so allow me to draw it out for you. First of all, how many times do we need to be reminded that CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION. In other words, high rates of illiteracy correlate with increased lucrativeness in the sex industry, at least according to Errazzouki. Fine. I need to get back to finishing my dissertation, so I am not going to take the time to look that one up. But illiteracy does not CAUSE prostitution or make prostitution a more appealing or make sex work a more lucrative career. In fact, both illiteracy and prostitution are caused by a complex set of structural factors rooted in patriarchy, economic inequality, and poverty. While it is true that there are sex workers who claim that they entered into sex work by choice, there are also sex workers who enter the trade because it pays better than cashiering at Kmart, or in the case of rural Morocco, anything else. Illiteracy doesn't cause women to become prostitutes, and being illiterate certainly doesn't increase a sex worker's earning potential, as Errazzouki's ambiguously worded sentence might suggest. More troubling, claiming that "high illiteracy...[has] turned the sex industry in Morocco into a lucrative market" in Morocco does not go into enough detail about who is profiting and how.



In any case, there is a lot more I could say about this, but I need to get back to my chapter on gender relations in Morocco so I can get my Ph.D. already...

Awesome blog of the day

I came across Eman Al Nafjan's 'Saudiwoman's Weblog' while I was reading about the disappointing turnout in protests in Saudi Arabia over the weekend. The blog looks great. I look forward to reading more of it.

http://saudiwoman.wordpress.com/

Where you can come to hear about how illiterate women are transforming governance!

I will be presenting my dissertation research on the role of illiterate women in political change at the following three conferences.




Virginia Social Science Association Annual Conference
3:15 – 4:45 PM, Saturday 26 March 2011
Potomac River Room, Webb Center, Old Dominion University
Norfolk VA USA


and

1st Annual Intercultural Communication Graduate Research Expo

10am until 5pm, Saturday 9 April 2011--my presentation will be sometime between 1-2:30 (program)

The Commons building

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore MD 21250

and


Women’s Worlds 2011 “Inclusions, exclusions, and seclusions: Living in a globalized world”
3-7 July 2011
co-hosted by the University of Ottawa, and Carleton University
Morning plenary sessions will take place at the Ottawa Convention Centre
Ottawa Canada

From AWID: Female genital mutilation and cosmetic genital surgery: Do they have anything in common?

I've re-posted this from AWID. I have written about FGM before here and here and here.
Source: AWID, 11/02/2011 2:17 am

Credit: BlatantWorld

FRIDAY FILE: At first glance, female genital mutilation and genital surgery carried out for cosmetic purposes might seem intrinsically different. On closer examination, however, they may be more similar than they initially appear.

By Kathambi Kinoti

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is the centuries-old practice of removing part or all of the external genitalia of women. It is predominantly carried out in parts of Africa and the Middle East as a tool to control women’s sexuality. Genital cosmetic surgery is a modern practice that is undertaken, mainly by women, in order to improve the appearance of their genitalia. Although they are practices that have developed from very different premises, they share some commonalities.

Female Genital Mutilation

The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies the different forms of FGM as follows:

1. “Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris (a small, sensitive and erectile part of the female genitals) and, in very rare cases, only the prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris).
2. Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are "the lips" that surround the vagina).
3. Infibulation: narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner, or outer, labia, with or without removal of the clitoris.
4. Other: all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area. “

The harmful effects of FGM are numerous: shock, haemorrhage and sepsis are some of the immediate effects. Some girls and women bleed to death after undergoing the practices. In the long term, women can face infertility, obstructed labour during childbirth, obstetric fistula and other conditions.

FGM is recognized in international law as well as in the laws of several countries as a human rights violation, but it remains deeply entrenched in the cultures in which it is practised.

Labioplasty and other modern cosmetic procedures

In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of women electing to undergo cosmetic surgery on their genitals in order to appear younger or more beautiful in modern youth- and beauty-obsessed cultures. Between 2004 and 2007 the number of labiaplasties in private hospitals the United Kingdom tripled, while there was an increase of almost 70 percent in public hospitals in the country between 2006 and 2008.[i]

Procedures include “reduction of the inner labia (labia minora), vaginal tightening, hymen ‘reconstruction,’ clitoral ‘lifts’ and liposuction of the mons veneris (fatty tissue over the pubic bone, these are performed in order to create a sense of proportion when the inner labia have been shortened) clitoral hood reductions and clitoral repositioning.” [ii]

Viv Groskop [iii] wrote of the rise in the numbers of women seeking cosmetic genital surgery: “In the vast majority of cases, labiaplasty is simply a response to the physical appearance of the labia, a desire for more ‘attractive’ genitalia.” Tracey Plowman, a social psychologist who reviewed the ‘The Perfect Vagina,’ a documentary filmed in the United Kingdom, says: “It is common for youth and beauty to be conflated in the world of cosmetic surgery… [and] female genital cosmetic surgery is no different.][iv]

Different but some commonalities

At a basic level, FGM and cosmetic female genital surgery are similar because they both involve modification to female genitalia and neither of them are performed for medically justifiable reasons (although in rare cases there are medical reasons for genital modification such as when girls are born with labia that have not developed properly). Both are performed based on cultural norms and expectations.

Any surgery or excision to the body comes with risks. These risks are on the whole much higher with FGM, since girls or women undergoing cosmetic genital surgery generally have access to top-notch medical facilities. In some contexts, FGM is now carried out by qualified medical doctors in hospitals, but the ‘medicalisation[v]’ of FGM has been strongly advocated against by international entities such as the World Health Organization and United Nations.

The primary difference between the procedures is consent. While cosmetic genital surgery is carried out on women who agree to the procedure, FGM is largely carried out on young girls who do not have the capacity to consent. There are, however, some women who elect to undergo FGM. But for women who consent to either procedure, their decision may not always be from a position of knowledge or power. What constitutes informed consent? Questions about how the practice of cosmetic surgery is regulated have been raised. Are the risks and possible complications of the surgery explained? Is it the knowledge that the procedure is unnecessary, or that they risk losing their lives from excessive bleeding? Or is it about understanding that human vulvas come in a variety of forms, and there is not an “ideal-looking” form?

The power of social pressure

FGM is a measure to curb women’s sexual desire, even though it is acknowledged that it does not always eliminate this desire. FGM is also a community affair. In many cultures there is a regular circumcision season during which girls who have attained a certain age collectively undergo rituals that “transform them into women.” These rituals involve the physical removal of parts of the genitalia, as well as the impartation of social and cultural mores that prepare them for womanhood in that community. Some societies that practice FGM do not require girls and women to undergo any particular ritual, but their state of being circumcised or uncircumcised is still considered the business of their communities. Not having undergone the cut isolates them and precludes them from marriage. FGM confers social status on many parties: parents, extended families, husbands, circumcisers and of course, women and girls themselves.

On the other hand cosmetic genital surgery is a measure that is regarded as improving women’s desirability. Although the choice to undergo the surgery may be an individual one, the suggestion that it is necessary originates in evolving societal values that define what desirable genitalia look like. The beauty industry, mainstream media and profit-making health care sector all collaborate to exert immense pressure on women to be youthful and beautiful according to rigid standards. Groskop quotes a gynaecologist, Dr Sarah Creighton who says that “women are aiming for a certain genital appearance that used to be an obligation only for some glamour models.” While it can be argued that women have the right to make decisions about their own bodies, the combination of actors influencing any woman’s decision to undergo this surgery makes it difficult to ascertain to what extent her choice is completely informed.

Sara Johnsdotter and Brigitta Essén [vi] argue that “procedures involving genital modifications are intertwined with political considerations; they are never purely about anatomy and physiology but are intrinsically entangled with cultural norms and ideology.” In the context of women’s bodies, these cultural norms and ideology give rise to notions about how women are expected to look. So a woman who elects to undergo cosmetic genital surgery may be unduly influenced to think that she needs to modify her body. In the case of FGM these cultural norms and ideology restrict women’s sexuality.

The harmfulness and pervasiveness of FGM should never be downplayed. Indeed, there is extensive work being done to eliminate FGM, and there has been some success even though the practice persists. It is also important to challenge modern ideologies that influence women to seek to modify their genitalia. Although the two practices may stem from different beliefs and have different effects, they both have roots in societal impositions on women’s bodies.

[i] “A cut too far: the rise in cosmetic surgery on female genitalia.” The Guardian, November 20, 2009. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/nov/20/cosmetic-vulva-surgery. Site accessed on February 7, 2011.

[ii] Johnsdotter, S and Essén, B. 2010: “Genitals and ethnicity: the politics of genital modifications.”Reproductive Health Matters 2010; 18 (35) 29-37.

[iii] See note ii.

[iv] Plowman, T. “The Perfect Vagina.”Reproductive Health Matters 2010; 18(35) 111-114.

[v] FGM provided by medical practitioners in order to make it safe – advocates cite the performance of this needless procedure on children as a violation of medical ethics. (Broken bodies broken dreams, 2005:52)

[vi] See note ii

Where do dissertation topics come from?

This is the story of how my dissertation was born. During my 2nd year (fall 2007) of PhD coursework in the Graduate Program in International Studies at ODU, in Dr. Kurt Taylor-Gaubatz' course on democracy in the international system, a great friend and fellow PhD student Kim passed along a fantastic article from Foreign Affairs. Firstly, Kurt is amazing, and definitely one of the best things about GPIS. Secondly, Kim changed my life with that suggestion. The article led to my paper topic for the course on whether electoral quotas for women enhance democracy.

The research for that paper led me to the amazing organization, IDEA, where I hope to work someday (I finally have a concrete, true, and reasonable answer to inquiries about where I hope to end up!). IDEA's work on parliamentary quotas for women is superlative, and their publications drew my attention to the participation of illiterate women in local councils in Pakistan. That tidbit was the next step in the life change that Kim's suggestion sparked.

That spring (2008) Dr. Jennifer Fish taught Gender and Globalization. Jennifer, like Kurt, is one of the gems of ODU--a real treasure. She is the one that nurtured the the idea into the topic that it is today. And of course, as a work in progress, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the chair of my dissertation committee, Dr. Francis Adams, and my 3rd committee member, Dr. Fran Hassencahl. Dr. Adams has a gift for massaging 'ideas' (by which I mean scatter diagrams, really) into cogent organization. Dr. Hassencahl provided invaluable support at the WOCMES 2010 conference in Barcelona, and is the first professor to witness me present my fieldwork from Morocco.

As of this moment, I am moving forward, fast as I can, to become Dr. Baines. There is a deadline with the end of the world scheduled for 2012 and all.

5th annual Virginia Council of Graduate Schools Graduate Student Research Forum

On Thursday 3 February I presented a poster of my research at the 5th annual Virginia Council of Graduate Schools Graduate Student Research Forum. My university, Old Dominion, chose me to present my Morocco field research via a full color 3' x 4' poster at the Library of Virginia. I was the only student from my department, the Graduate Program in International Studies, to be chosen.

I got some useful feedback. I find, as my research develops, and the more I talk about it with people, that there are 2 frustrating reactions.

Firstly, since the working title is: Women, Illiteracy and Public Participation: Barriers to Transforming Governance in Arab states?, many people make a pensive gesture and mutter something like, "oh, I see, you're educating women." No. Not at all. That is not AT ALL what my research is about. In fact, you might say just the opposite. I am DRAWING ATTENTION TO THE FACT THAT our notion of 'education' is actually not clearly defined. I am refuting the culturally biased assumption that knowledge ipso facto means being literate. What do we mean by education or literacy anyway? What if your native language isn't written? How are you supposed to be literate, and is it really reasonable for the world to assume that you are doomed to be useless or unproductive in this case?

Secondly, 2 people so far have denied that the stereotype of 'illiterates as obstacles to development' is a common theme throughout development literature. This baffles me, but I have to admit that it merits investigation since more than one person has suggested it. Obviously I will take great pleasure in refuting them. Not only is this stereotype almost universally present, it remains virtually uncontested! This is just one of the treats I will be offering to the world.

Here are the specifics of what I presented in Richmond:

Degree Program: Graduate Program in International Studies (PhD)

Research Working Title: Women, Illiteracy and Public Participation: Barriers to Transforming Governance in Arab states?

Illiteracy is a gendered factor across societies at all levels of development and globalization. Literacy is not simply an indicator of class, social status and educational level, but is assumed to serve as a major barrier to large swathes of society—namely women. Women have marginalized voices, both written and spoken, yet are counted in number in terms of their participation in politics at all levels of governance. "Most women fight wars on two fronts, one for whatever the putative topic is and one simply for the right to speak, to have ideas, to be acknowledged to be in possession of facts and truths, to have value, to be a human being."[1] By investigating the ways in which illiteracy affects women’s agency in terms of obtaining, or desiring to obtain positions of influence and decision-making across all levels of governance, this paper analyzes the capacity of literacy to empower and exclude women from public participation.

The role of illiterates in society is complex and largely defined by agents other than the literates themselves. My dissertation focuses in part on the (non)existence of illiterate women in the literature that considers women’s political capacity. Historically where developing states achieved extensive advances in literacy, an increase in political participation also occurred. In Morocco there is expansion of participation without advances in literacy. If literacy is not necessary to empower women as assumed, how does the traditional focus of foreign aid and development regimes on literacy programs miss the mark in terms of the role that illiterate women play in political transition?

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[1] http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174918

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: WOMEN & NEW MEDIA IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS/ABSTRACTS: ISIS CENTER FOR WOMEN & DEVELOPMENT: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: WOMEN & NEW MEDIA IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION

Source: Isis Center for Women and Development

With the growing dominance of the Internet, blog, chat and mobile telephony, the great "big bang" of the new media has begun. Communication is rapidly changing and becoming mobile, interactive, personalized and multi-channel. This extraordinary revolution is affecting the basic structure of Mediterranean societies, especially those in the south, and is raising various discussions and debates that profoundly impact women: the rapid transformation of the boundaries between the public and the private spaces, the relationship between new technology, orality and women’s literature, changes in the relationship between written and oral languages, the increasing use of mother tongues (mainly oral) in the field of education, and the challenges of new transmissions of women’s knowledges. Deadline for abstracts: March 1, 2011.

These issues are the five main axes of the International Congress Forum on “Women and New Media in the Mediterranean Region”, to be held on June 24, 25 and 26, 2011 at the Palais des Congrès, Fez , Morocco :

1. The transformation of the relationship "gender and public space / private space" in the era of new media

2. New media, orality and literature Women

3.Femmes, written languages and mother tongues

4. The new media and education

5. The challenge of new transmissions of women's knowledge

Papers may be in Arabic, French or English and will last 15-20 minutes.

The deadline for receiving abstracts is March 1, 2011.

The successful participants will be notified by March 31, 2011, and the completed papers need to be emailed send before June 1, 2011.

Participants are responsible for their trip and lodging expenses.

Contact Information:

Fatima Sadiqi - sadiqi_fatima@yahoo.fr

Senior Professor of Linguistics and Gender Studies (MA, PhD)

Co-Founder of International Institute for Languages & Cultures (INLAC )

Director of the Isis Center for Women and Development - Fez, Morocco

http://www.isiscenter.com/Presentation.php

Boys' literacy

While spending this year in Morocco (September 2009 to September 2010), part of my time here is dedicated to working on my dissertation. I am rounding up the 4th year of the International Studies doctoral program at Old Dominion University. This fourth year is also a first year of sorts. On 16 September 2009 I successfully defended my PhD comprehensive exams, a brutal 2-day (8 hours per day) writing exam (without notes or resources other than what I’ve learned and prepared between the 3-year period between matriculation and satisfying class/lecture requirements) followed by an oral defense. I am now ABD—all but dissertation—and dissertating full time instead of attending lectures full time. As an ABD, my dissertation is on my mind at all times, even when I am relaxing, which for me often includes reading or watching something inextricably connected to my research interests.

My dissertation topic is the role of illiterate women in political change. I am specifically looking and illiterate women’s agency in developing states, and Morocco is one of my chosen country studies. When my thoughtful aunt forwarded me the most recent issues of my favorite women’s magazine—Bitch—I read them with interest, finding particular inspiration from an article about boys’ literacy. I offer up here some [superficial but thoughtful] insights and critical commentary.

Jeffrey Wilhelm, coauthor of the male literacy study Reading Don’t Fix No Chevys: Literacy in the Lives of Young Men, declares that, “[i]t’s understood that boys, in general, struggle with literacy.” I wonder, is this universally true? Or only true in the US/North America/developed countries? Is there an implication for Morocco?

Later the author concludes that, “boys aren’t (as is sometimes claimed) reading worse than before, but they are reading consistently worse than girls.” In Morocco, where women’s illiteracy is consistently much higher than men’s (except in Western Sahara…but that point deserves its own special focus), what can we learn from the case of Morocco from how/what boys read compared to girls, including how boys and girls are taught differently about literacy, its function in their lives, and how they perceive literacy as benefiting or fitting into their lives as citizens, activists, and everyday folks?

According to Jon Scieszka, founder of Guys Read, a literacy program for boys, “there [is] hardly any research on the connection between gender and reading.” This is my chance to fill that gap, while integrating an international perspective, an Arab perspective, an African perspective, and perhaps even an Islamic perspective.

“Scieszka’s theory is that because boys develop at a different rate than girls, many of them simply aren’t ready for reading—‘the very abstract task of learning to make literary sense of combinations of 26 different squiggles on a page’—when it’s first taught in school.” In the case of Morocco, public primary and elementary education is lamentable, and thus an issue that requires analysis and deconstruction in its own right. Nonetheless, this hypothesis (not so much a theory), inspires critical analysis of the pedagogical approach to boys’ and girls’ education in Morocco. Is it a given in Morocco that boys develop at a different rate than girls? What are the value judgments assigned to or accompanying perceptions about differential rates of learning between the sexes? Or does a separate understanding altogether exist in the Moroccan approach to pedagogy and sex? Is there a particular approach anyhow?

The author asserts that reading preferences are largely socialized, a point that seems fairly obvious, certainly to anyone who would be reading Bitch magazine.

More insightfully, the author declares that feminists should be at the forefront of [innovative] literacy approaches, especially prepared to approach them critically. “After all, if boys are having problems with reading, that negatively affects how the men they become see both themselves and women. When we read, we see from other perspectives—including other perspectives on gender.”

Is this true? Or is this simply reinforcing the status quo notion that readers are more intellectually adept or are intellectually superior to non-readers…where do language, diglossia, linguistic prestige, etc. fit in?

The author continues that, “[t]he uncommonly honest accounts of men’s and women’s experiences that can be found in literature make the gender construct seem a cartoon of human experience, and offer boys the chance to transcend simplistic, dehumanizing notions of masculinity and femininity. For boys to access these accounts, though, they first have to want to—they first have to make sense of those squiggles on the page.”

This is laying a LOT of responsibility on literacy, not to mention assuming that literacy sine qua non provides enlightenment. I am not convinced. What do you think?

Jonathan Frochtwajg. “Paper Boys.” Bitch Magazine. Winter 2009. Issue no. 45. Page 11.