Liberal Feminism Impact on Moroccan Educated Women: Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, FLDM, as a Field Study

Sofian Herouach

doi:10.1515/openps-2019-0014

Abstract

AbstractThe present study is an attempt to investigate students’ attitudes towards the social status of Moroccan women and the variables that may influence the cause of women’s liberation. These variables may include feminism, female activism and international human rights on the one hand. On the other hand, factors such as religion, patriarchy and marriage legislation could stand against the cause of female emancipation. The paper uses a theoretical and practical part. The review of literature is broad and inclusive that it trespasses the national intellectual framework on the issue of women’s liberation to referring to western major feministic movements for women’s emancipation worldwide such as liberal feminism. The field work is conducted through distributing a representative number of questionnaires, 350 questionnaires. Briefly, the findings proved that the majority of respondents, 55% hold the view that religion stands as a primary factor behind conservative gender perception, whereas 49% of the respondents believe that education is the factor behind such perceptions. Furthermore, 40% believed that the patriarchal system is the element behind traditional treatment of gender. Concerning marriage legislation, 55% agree with the reforms in Al Mudawana in 2004. For female activism, 72% believe that women largely contributed in bringing about the changes in the Al Mudawana reforms of 2004. This helped to generate an increasing female participation in politics as proved by 58% of the respondents. Finally, 65% hold the view that women’s social status nowadays is semi-liberal and improving.

Highlights

Liberal feminism emerged as a theoretical background to foster feminism movements
One of the essential intellectual bases of feminism is liberalism, which developed into liberal feminism
Liberal feminism became quasi-universal as its principles were appealing to all humanities under the slogan of universal human rights

Summary

Introduction

Liberal feminism emerged as a theoretical background to foster feminism movements. As a movement, developed various schools of thought and progressed into theories and approaches. Different disciplines such as philosophy, religion, economics and politics..., served as distinctive intellectual backgrounds of feminist thought. Liberal feminism and its emancipating aims caused much polemic within Muslim conservative societies such as Morocco. It expanded and extended to even stubborn patriarchal societies such as Morocco and many other conservative communities. In this regard, liberal feminism became quasi-universal as its principles were appealing to all humanities under the slogan of universal human rights. Liberalism has become an intellectual tool towards freeing humans in all domains of life: in social, political, economic and religious domains

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Conclusion