By Omar Bihmidine
Morocco World News
Sidi Ifni, Morocco, July 3, 2012
As Moroccans, if we think twice about our thoughts on the issue of sexual freedom that is being widely debated in the press we will find that it is getting more attention than it actually deserves. Morocco needs move to forward regardless of the existence or absence of sexual freedom. With or without this freedom, Moroccan life will go on and as a developing country, Morocco does not have time to waste on this issue when so many other atrocities exist.
In other words, the political establishment wants us to direct our attention towards these silly debates for which we are not yet prepared in order to divert our attention away from the real issues of today, such as housing, education, health, poverty, and illiteracy. Some journalists shed ink so fervently and fight for the freedom of sex as though the Moroccan masses live only on sex.
If only journalists fought for the freedom to live in dignity, the freedom to struggle for a house of one’s own, for a dignified livelihood, and the freedom of expression that sent Rachid Nini to prison! Why have journalists turned a blind eye to the freedoms that would really benefit Moroccans and focused their attention on the freedom about which Moroccans are debating?
It is a real pity we are making much ado about nothing. Irrespective of whether I am for or against sexual freedom, most of us already agree the sexual freedom cannot be attained in its full form at a time when the majority of Moroccans are not familiar with the principles and values of sex education.
Our schools have not yet ushered our children into the culture of sex, and the extreme taboo we Moroccans associate with sex is a proof of the fact that we are not yet prepared or culturally mature enough for sexual freedom. Why haven’t we, for instance, set to combat illiteracy? This is considered a grave social ill that developed countries spend large amounts of money to eradicate.
At the very least, the “intellectuals” who endorse sexual freedom and write in favor of it will be able to approach the educated Moroccans more comprehensibly than illiterate citizens. Isn’t it unnecessary and harmful to spread the campaign for sexual freedom among Moroccans whose dreams are simply to support their children and to see them earn respectable jobs. To put it another way, Moroccans have no time for this freedom for the simple reason that the basic freedoms that they strive for are still not a reality.
I am certain that if intellectuals–in developed countries, regardless of their stance on sexual freedoms–learn about the controversy about sexual freedom here, they will hang their heads in shame in our stead. Morocco has not even provided women in labor with enough hospital rooms where they can give birth safely. Still worse is that some of us are fighting for an open space where anyone who wants to have sex can engage in sexual relations. Why don’t we fight instead for an open space where pregnant women can relax during their hard times?
With these social ills still plaguing Morocco, it would be hypocritical of us to give our youth the right to make love out of wedlock, as there will come a day when they will learn that they do not have certain other freedoms, such as voicing their concerns. Regrettably, we are led to conclude that sexual freedom proponents are poking fun at Moroccans, particularly when sexual freedom isn’t their business for the time being.
From time to time, let us be reminded of Maslow’s hierarchy which states that the hungry cannot discuss sexual freedom persuasively and intellectually until they fill their empty bellies, that the illiterate cannot understand and analyze what is being said until they fill their empty stomachs, that the destitute cannot approach and adopt sexual freedom in their everyday lives when they are still in struggle with the soaring rent prices, and that the impoverished cannot best comprehend what the use of sexual freedom is no matter how hard we try to convince them. It is simply because these poor Moroccans still have miles to go before they sleep and before they endorse or fight against sexual freedom.
Edited by Laura Cooper
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Morocco World News’ editorial policy.
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