Are You a Girl or a Woman?

Sarah Amer is a first year Peace Corps Volunteer serving in the Meknes-Fes region. Originally from Cleveland, OH, she is a first generation Palestinian American and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. Having done her master's research on women's empowerment, she strives to play an active role in promoting global gender equality in her everyday life. When she isn't busy being the Vice Chair of PC Morocco's GAD Committee, you can find her teaching content-based English and fitness classes.

"Are You a Girl or a Woman?"
By Sarah Amer

Typically, when people think of how women experience oppression or gender inequality in some societies, they equate it to physical facets of life such as domestic violence occurring in the home or prohibition in gaining financial security through employment. Often overlooked is how certain linguistics and aspects of communication come into play. For example, the first time I visited the Nedi Neswi, or women’s organization, to meet and greet the members, I encountered a situation that shed light on this common, yet often overlooked way of lowering the status of women in society through labeling.

That day, after introducing myself to the women at the Nadi Neswi, one woman began a spontaneous discussion regarding the differences between girls and women. Allegedly, a girl is a girl until she gets married. It is only after she is married that she is considered a woman. One by one, this woman went around asking each woman in the room whether she was a “girl” or a “woman.” When she finally reached me and asked the question, I simply replied, “I am a woman.” Her face broke into a smile, and she asked, “Oh, you are married?” That is when I stated, “No, my status isn’t based on a man. I am 28 with a Master’s degree, a job, and I had my own apartment in America for ten years.... I’m a woman.” Her smile disappeared into a look of dismay and, quickly, the subject was changed.

While this incident may seem trivial to some and chalked up to “cultural differences”, the way we as women are labeled and the labels we as women accept play massive roles in our status and advancement in society. To be told that my numerous life accomplishments despite the struggles and obstacles I faced as a female did not grant me the status of a “woman” because I was not married was a blow to the identity I had worked so hard to forge over the years.

It was also a realization that gender equality advancements are not just about changing laws to grant women more rights in the courts or implementing status quo practices to ensure a certain number of women are accepted into universities and male dominated career fields. Until we are able to reshape the way young girls and women think about themselves, legal reforms will continue to be overlooked and underutilized. Likewise, new opportunities for women in career fields once closed to them will continue to see a lack of women in them.

Thus, gender reform starts in the home with changing how girls and women are labeled and defined. It starts by teaching little girls that their ultimate life goal is not limited to securing a husband and being the perfect wife. It starts by acknowledging the accomplishments of women and not invalidating them because they are unwed. Finally, it starts by allowing every person to forge their own path and be acknowledged as the individual that they are and not by the relationships that they have.

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Posted by Katie Bercegeay

Women Only: GAD Work and the Nedi Neswi

In Peace Corps Morocco, some volunteers are specifically assigned to work at Nedi Neswis, or Women's Centers. This is a reflection from a current PCV on her experiences being one of those volunteers.

I am assigned to work in Nedi Neswi, a center for Women and girls. My boss is female, and so is her assistant, my counterpart, and everyone else who belongs to the administration of our center. The few times men enter the building, or even the gates, it’s always a little bit of a shock. Not fear, but surprise, because this isn’t their place. Even the fathers of the children in the preschool hover by the door and wait for their children to be sent out to them. It’s been both wonderful and challenging to have this opportunity to work in a space designated solely for women and run by women.

My center has the following: vocational two year diploma-granting training programs for sewing and cooking, a daycare, classes in crochet, embroidery, and exercise classes. For the majority of my projects, I work with the girls and women in the vocational training programs, a population who (most but not all) have had limited access to formal education beyond elementary school. I also have weekly activities with the preschool students.

Some of the challenges: unlike many Dar Chebabs, the Nedi Neswi is a controlled and closed space. People can’t just come in and sit in on classes, sessions, or activities. They have to be enrolled in one of the programs, and they risk losing their spots if they don’t attend. This makes for a relatively fixed audience for Peace Corps work, which is helpful in creating an intimate and invested group, but frustrating because awareness activities based around certain days/events (like World Aids Day or International Day of the Girl Child) can’t ever include more women and girls than are already at the Nedi. I spent my first several months assigned to the Nedi telling my life story to every single woman, but it paid off and now if I don’t come daily everyone thinks I’m dead, sick or in America.

The perks: I have a consistent attendance to my activities, I have the opportunity to address sensitive topics in a safe space for women, I develop and work with my counterparts knowing that we can address long-term goals, and I get to do all kinds of YD work from 4yr olds to 72yr olds! The Nedi Neswi is a great and safe space to do GAD activities, test out toolkits, and form deep bonds with the attendees. I never planned that my Peace Corps service would take place here - but as a female volunteer in Morocco I have come to cherish the safe space and relief from public life that a women's center offers.