Mmorocco

The Future of Woman's Clothing in Morocco:

The Future of Woman's Clothing in Morocco:

Morocco is a very progressive Muslim culture, and the way of dress for women and hijab is much less strict than in other Islamic countries. There have even been governmental and cultural movements in Morocco to "modernize" the dress code for women in an effort to seem more open to international appeal. In the 1970's and 80's these movements were very popular with the county's upper classes, but today the steam seem to have worn off a little, as "traditional clothing" seems to be very much in style now.

In an article in the BBC's World News website the headline reads, Morocco Moves to Drop Headscarf, and is about how the Moroccan government is slowly removing some images of women in headscarves from school textbooks. But this movement has not yet gone beyond superficial trimmings, as woman's dress is a major issue in Islamic cultures, and any teetering of this balance could provoke a wide-spread fundamentalist movement to counter any government sanctioned changes to women's clothing. But this effort to Westernize women's dress does not seem to have much of an effect on the youth of Morocco, as young women have found ways of combining hijab with modern fashions. As Pamela Windo wrote in an article for Newsweek:

"Although they [headscarves] are made of colorful fabrics with pretty clips at the back, what most struck me was the blatant dichotomy between the hijab and their other clothes. While a few women wear it with a subdued djellaba, and others with their everyday modern suits, skirts and coats, a startling number of young Moroccan women combine the hijab with figure-revealing blue or black jeans, elaborate glittering belts, modern sexy tops and designer sunglasses. Equally striking is the glossy-magazine-style make-up, heavy on the lipstick and black kohl eye-liner" (Newsweek, Hijabs and High-heels).

This is an interesting phenomenon and is on par with a traditional Islamic revitalization that is taken place throughout the Muslim world. "In more secular Muslim nations, such as Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt, many women are choosing to wear the Hijab, Burqa, Niqab, etc. as an act of defiance against the secularization of society, but also because of the widespread growth of the Islamic revival in those areas[citation needed]. Similarly, increasing numbers of men are abandoning the Western dress of jeans and t-shirts, that dominated places like Egypt 20 to 30 years ago, in favour of more traditional Islamic clothing such as the Galabiyya" (Wikipedia entry on Hijab). Many young people in these regions seem to be going back on the "modernizing" efforts of their parents and are reveling in their Muslim identity, as least as far as in the way they dress. This can be said of Morocco, as the majority of the young women that I observed in the streets seemed to at least referenced traditional Islamic dress in their clothing, even if the look that they portrayed was overwhelmingly modern.

Hijab and its effect on Moroccan women's fashion:

Hijab and its effect on Moroccan women's fashion:

The idea of hijab - to cover or provide privacy - is a central factor in any discussion of Moroccan women's clothing. "In some Arabic-speaking countries and Western countries, the word hijab primarily refers to women's head and body covering, but in Islamic scholarship, hijab is given the wider meaning of modesty, privacy, and morality" (Wikipedia Hijab). Thus being, the essential philosophy behind Moroccan women's clothing is to cover the body with clothing which preserve for the wearer an impression of modesty, piety, and highly reserved sexuality. The Qur'an (24:31) states that:

“And say to the believing women that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts and do not display their ornaments except what appears thereof, and let them wear their head-coverings (khimars) over their bosoms (jaybs), and not display their ornaments except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex . . . "

In practice, hijab means that women must keep the essential forms of their womanhood covered from view with clothing that does not provide much of an indication of the shapes and graces found within when in public or in the company of men that are not of their family. This means that the women of Morocco tend to publicly wear long and loose robes (djellaba), button-up blouses which extend down to the knees or the ankles (kafkan), and headscarves (khimar) which cover most of the hair, the ears and the neck. Young girls in Morocco are except from the practice of hijab until the time of puberty, when they too are required to begin donning the concealing clothing of their mothers.

Although hijab - the wearing of modest clothing - is highly regarded in Morocco it is not compulsory for a woman to dress this way. It is becoming fairly common in Morocco for women to go out in public without wearing headscarves, long sleeves, and in Western style clothing. But for formal occasions, such as weddings or religious festivals, the principles of hijab prevail and women tend to wear traditional style Moroccan clothing (Wikipedia).

morocco culture,moroccan food,morocco food,moroccan cuisine,morocco beaches,moroccan meal,beaches in morocco,moroccan culture,hercules cave,hercules cave morocco

Examples of hijab mandated Muslim women's fashions are below:

Various examples of hijab throughout the Muslim World. Photo courtesy
morocco culture,moroccan food,morocco food,moroccan cuisine,morocco beaches,moroccan meal,beaches in morocco,moroccan culture,hercules cave,hercules cave morocco