Morocco - Culture Smart! by Jillian C. York

Author:Jillian C. York
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kuperard
Published: 2022-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

DAILY LIFE

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

The importance of family in Moroccan life is evident in the language. Arabic contains different sets of words to describe specific family members. For example, the word for maternal aunt (khala) is different from paternal aunt (‘ama) and explaining one’s distant relatives can be quite complicated.

Traditionally, men are honored before women; this can be frustrating for foreign women who find, when out and about with male friends, that they are often completely ignored.

Family takes precedence at all times. Most Moroccans would never dream of marrying without their parents’ permission (though legally they can do so at eighteen) and young people do not aspire to move out of the family home until they are married. A typical household consists of a married couple, their children, and their elderly parents or unwed brothers and sisters. Moroccans look down on societies that abandon the aged in nursing homes.

Individualism is only now becoming prevalent among the youngest generation, as is apparent in their clothing and sometimes their attitudes. Older Moroccans tend to conform; whether due to the prevailing sense of fatalism or a fear of authority, the majority would never dream of straying from the fold.

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