(9 of 10)
Even in the most advanced areas, Moslem woman's emancipation is not yet complete. Moslem husbands are still reluctant to send their wives to male doctors, and Moslem women are reluctant to go. Though girls have increasing voice in their choice of husbands, most defer to their father's wishes. Even the most progressive Moslem men seldom invite even close friends to meet their wives, particularly non-Moslem friends. At the American University of Beirut and Beirut College for Women, modern young Moslem girl students wear blue jeans, go water skiing, do the rock 'n' roll, and behave just like U.S. coeds. But the past is still with them. Their fellow male students complain that they cannot get dates. "I just want somebody to take to the movies," said one student last week. "Would you marry a woman who had been to the movies with someone else?" asked a friend. The boy thought for a moment, and then replied: "Well, no. I guess I wouldn't."
By Consent. "After Morocco became independent," said one Western diplomat, "the enthusiasm of the women was almost frightening. They tore off their veils, shouted themselves hoarse, whenever Laila Aisha appeared. Now they seem to be nearing the middle way."
Princess Aisha prefers the middle way. Like most of her counterparts in other Moslem nations, she preaches and practices evolution, not revolution. In a recent, speech Aisha said: "To emancipate herself, woman must first of all know herself well. Her evolution, however rapid one might want it to be, must not be a brutal surgical operation, a rupture with the past. The emancipation of woman must be done by her consent, not by her submission." Aiming for that middle way, Aisha and her co-feminists are pushing adult education. "We fear the development of conflict between mother and daughter if the daughter faces West and the mother faces toward the old way of life," explains one, citing the Arab proverb: "Educate a man, and you educate a single individual. Educate a woman, and you educate a family."
Morocco's Ministry of Justice is working on the draft of a new divorce law that will strip Moroccan men of the right to shed their spouses simply by repeating "I divorce thee" three times, and bring the law more nearly into accord with Western-type procedures. Polygamy, a delicate subject since the King himself has two wives, will probably be so ringed with further restrictions that it will become for all practical purposes impossible.
Four Women, Two Veils. In the office of Radio Morocco, the country's government-run station, four young Moslem women sat at their desks one day last week. All wore skirts, high heels and jangly jewelry. When the office closed at 6:30 p.m., two of them powdered their noses and left for home without more ado. But the two others swathed themselves dutifully in djellabah and veil; they were bound for families which did not object to their leaving the house, but demanded adherence at home to the customs of old. Says Princess Aisha: "The veil itself is not important. What is important is that a woman has the right to wear it or not, as she chooses."