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Moroccan culture

Family life is fundamental to Moroccans and is reflected in the national language, Arabic. Arabic contains many different words to denote individual family ties: there are different words for maternal and paternal aunts, for example. Indeed, with vast connections of family relations, explaining how they are related to one another can be a complicated exercise.

One things that foreign women often find challenging is that men are traditionally honoured before women. It's not uncommon that women are completely ignored when out and about with male colleagues.

Most children live at home until they are married, regardless of age. Similarly, a married couple's elderly parents will also live with them, as well as any unmarried brothers or sisters. Like many non-western countries, Moroccan society scorns putting older people in nursing homes.

A fatalistic belief system and a fear of authority have bred a sense of conformity which maintains tradition in Morocco. Like elsewhere, though, the younger generation is increasingly individualistic and it's not uncommon to see young people dressed in western dress or with western habits.

Although traditional dress is still common in Morocco (especially in the countryside), Moroccan dress is hugely diverse, mixing both western and traditional elements. Most people will have a good collection of both.

So while the souqs teem with fake Chanel and Gucci, the gelebeya (a full length smock with a pointed hood) is just as popular. Men wear their white, black or brown, while women often have theirs tailor made – varying from plain fabrics even to lion print, fake fur or plaid.

The home is the realm of the bilga, or backless leather slippers, which come in a varity of shapes and colours. The yellow, pointed toe is a classic. Outside, men tend to prefer clean, well-shined shoes, while under their gelebeyas, Moroccan women often choose to wear heels.

In the north the metal of choice for jewelry is gold, for both men and women as a display of ostentation. In the south, Berbers prefer silver and the souqs of Marrakech teem with it. Tattooing is still popular in the countryside for women – sometimes you might see a woman with the traditional facial marking, a traditional tribal marking. The fact that both gold for men and tattooing is forbidden by traditional islamists is an example of how cultural life and religion have come to co-exist in Morocco.