Revised Thesis Statement: The ways Moroccan women move and present themselves in public are results of affluent and religious dependent dynamics between men and women, reinforced by age, class, and region.
Timeline and Plan for Data Collection: Starting with this week I want to try to spend at least 2-3 days a week sitting in different cafes around Rabat, as well as wherever I travel to, and in different parts of each cafe to start to understand what it is like to be alone as a woman in public space. I have been told that being outside versus inside versus upstairs in a cafe holds very different dynamics and want to see for myself what this is like. The feel Rabat has given me so far is very different from the ones in Chefchaouen and Fes, and this is really important. The sheer lack of women day or night in Fes specifically was very jarring and I want to be able to include more data like this. I have also found that the first and only women’s cafe recently opened in Tetouan and I would like to visit most likely next week or the week after. Outside of this there isn’t anywhere else specifically I want to travel because I can do by research anywhere I am in Morocco. I do want to keep experiencing different locations and possibly revisit Fes where it is so uncommon for women to take up space. Recently Bryce met a Canadian man researching the way human and women’s rights play out in Morocco and Bryce, Grace, and I will be meeting him later in the day on Friday. This is a really cool contact and I hope to meet more people, ideally women, like this.
Outline for Observations, Raw Data, Sources, and General Analysis: I want my primary observations to continue to influence my research. I noticed a lot in my first week upon landing and keep picking up on new things the more time I spend in public. As I said in my research outline, I want to be in a cafe at least 2-3 days a week in different neighborhoods around Rabat. I also want to have more casual conversations with women and begin to make friends and learn what space is like from a Moroccan woman’s perspective. I believe talking to women from different areas around Rabat and Morocco in general can help me see how the gender, religious, and economic structures affect their daily life and how they choose to present themselves in public. I do not know yet how exactly I want to tie in conversations with my observations because I haven’t had any yet, but I do know I want to use my written sources as background research to support my findings or speculate deeper into why are things the way they are.
Where the sun sets 