Fez- Why are some laws enforced only when the authorities want to enforce them? Recently two women wearing miniskirts were arrested and spent twenty four hours in police custody. Morocco’s Article 483 of the Penal Code states that anyone found guilty of committing an act of “public obscenity through intentional nudity” can be jailed for between a month and two years.
However, nudity is not well explained. If wearing a miniskirt is considered nudity, then why isn’t it considered nudity when men wear shorts? This is a flagrant misuse of power, for certainly there are much more dangerous infringements of laws which occur in public and directly harm our society, but authorities do not react effectively to stop them.
Let’s be honest and ask a question: Are we consistent in our actions? At Moroccan beaches, women wear bikinis, and enjoy swimming, even in mixed crowds. The same scene also occurs at pools where men and women mix, swim, dance and watch each other doing so. Why do police not arrest them? Certainly, the law contains loopholes and must be tailored to fit the Moroccan context.
If the authorities are genuinely worried about women’s chastity, they had better start by saving teens who work in hookah cafes where teenagers and adults use drugs and behave promiscuously. Prostitutes work undercover as waitresses wearing tight clothes to attract clients looking for sex. Music is played loud and the odor of weed overwhelms the place. Hundreds of youth get addicted to drugs and learn the basics of committing crimes in hookah cafes. Is that not atrocious?
To make matters worse, men are allowed to wear shorts, harass girls and show their muscles. Likewise, hundreds of men– many of them married -- frequently attend parties in night clubs, drinking with prostitutes and subsequently having illegal sexual relations with them. The men are above the law simply because of their gender. This contradiction creates a rift between genders and strengthens male hegemony. Men can behave as they wish with impunity since laws are ineffective, and cultural norms are stronger than laws in Morocco.
Actions speak louder than words and wearing a specific type of clothing is a personal decision. If you do not agree, just do not look at people whose dress you do not approve of. Let’s get serious and stop judging people by their clothes and meddling with their private lives.
We have bigger fish to fry; our focus should be directed to pivotal issues that need our full attention. Is wearing or not wearing miniskirts going to eradicate the economic crisis or help find subsidies for products like sugar, wheat and natural gas? The real crimes are those which involve embezzlement and bribes on a large scale in our beloved country. The real scandals are that people do not have access to health care or good education and that workers are in danger of not receiving a pension after retirement. Let’s not throw these endemic problems under the rug and distract people with futile issues.
To sum up, whether a woman wears a miniskirt or is covered from head to toe is not our business. The Moroccan constitution guarantees diversity, which is entrenched in Moroccan society. If we must have laws regarding clothing, then men and women alike should dress according to a code that does not give preference to one over the other.
Having a double standard in enacting penalties does not serve the unity of our country because it creates even greater gaps between people and classes. We either apply the law under all circumstances or modify it to be compatible with the diversity of our society. Failure to do that will only give rise to legal manipulation and increasingly bitter divisions in our society.
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