Social Norm

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Feminist Protest in Morocco Sparked By Amina's Suicide

Women's subjugation is not directly encouraged by either sex. Instead it is society's expectations that often determine whether women are albe to thrive in their community.

In The Handmaid's Tale, women are instructed to be compliant by Aunts and other heads of a society that believes women are inferior to men. In Jasmine, we compare the contrasting depictions of women's role in India and America. Jyoti, the Indian women is brought up in a patriarchal society, stereotyped daily to believe that men supersede women. While Jane, the Americanised Indian revels in her new found freedom, enjoying her wild, unrestricted free life that would have been impossible in India. The contrast between their predicaments is profound. So great that the author, Bharati Mukherjee deems it necessary to give them different names.

And in today's world, the affect of society on the female status is still plain to see.

Very recently it was widely reported that Amina al-Filali, a 16 year old Moroccan girl, had killed herself after her family forced her to marry a man who had previously raped her. He married her because it is common knowledge that the penal code in many countries (including Morocco), "allows a rapist to stay out of jail if he marries his victim with the consent of her parents" (National Post).

This is not the first time I have heard of such a law, having previously heard about the problem in the book, Half the Sky: How to Change the World. In fact these types of forced marriages are common in many countries. It is only because the girl's suicide sparked a feminist protest that her death was so widely reported.

The man's motive varies but in many cases, if a man's marriage proposal was rejected by the woman he wanted, he would rape her. In certain countries rape is a way of ensuring marriage takes place, since once a woman loses her virginity, she is branded as impure, make it very difficult for her to find another suitor.

Henri Mamarbachi, the author of the article in the National Post supports this by saying, "Families of rape victims who are under 18 often agree to such a union because the loss of a woman’s virginity outside of marriage is considered a dishonour to her family" (National Post).

Amina’s father explained that he had initially opposed the union but his wife insisted. “She said we had to do it so people would stop deriding us, to remove the shame” (National Post).

Society's expectations are the cause of this tragedy. If the belief of man's superiority hadn't existed, this sexist law would have never been passed. Amina would likely have never committed suicide or even raped, since the man would have realised that the risk was too high.

What I want to discover is how the social norm of women's degradation exists. Where it comes from. This is what I hope to confront in one of my following posts.