misunderstandings, modern Morocco

Submitted by Lina (United Kingdom), Nov 1, 2009 at 08:38

And can I just say, no I don't have anything personal at stake. I don't care whether Hisham is Egyptian or not nor whether Simo is Moroccan or from the depths of the Amazon rainforest. I'm neither arab nor muslim, so what do I have to lose? What makes me so defensive on here at times is based on the fact that almost all Lisa/Simo type relationships are dismissed and it gives everyone a bad name. There probably IS a chance that Simo is a bad egg, but there is also a chance that they'll have a long, happy marriage. I'm not being selective because of Simo's heritage, as you said, maybe it's that I haven't read enough evidence on here... who knows? If I was given a full brief like psychologists have lol, then maybe I'd be able to judge.

Scamming and corruption are an everyday thing in Morocco, and some Moroccans are conditioned to think that this is the only option, that it's either that or they stay poor and jobless for the rest of their lives. I know it sounds ridiculous but sometimes even decent people can turn to "scamming" or marriages of convenience, that's what makes it harder to figure them out. It's not like when they're children they say "when I grow up I want to be a scam artist or a prostitute in the UAE". Some choose that life, some don't. Of course you're never going to find true love in "desire situations" between a 60-year-old westerner and a 23-year-old Maghrebian, but there are circumstances where love between these two cultures can happen.

And to clear up the other thing, I meant no offence to Moroccan women, but you can't change reality. This IS a reality, this IS how middle easterners see them, and it's giving decent Moroccan women a bad rep. I don't care how they dress, but don't claim to be a muslim... and walk around with your cleavage showing and sneaking out to meet men at night... When I was in Morocco I saw prostitution almost everywhere... even boys of 18 (perhaps younger) on the streets, and my Moroccan father noticed it also. I saw well-known lawyers hooking up with girls who should still be at school, Gulf arabs prowling around the ghettos for dubious purposes. And no one cares. Drug dealing... paedophilia, everything. There is even a certain cafe where prostitutes solicit and homosexuality is blatant, and I say this because most people act like Morocco is full of saintly, fully-covered women and purity... and that western women are sinful substitutes, but it's really not the case and Moroccans knows this, even they don't know who to trust as a potential wife anymore as virginity is not always present, even in the mountains.

So such relationships are not always due to convenience, that's all I'm trying to say. Some of these scenarios make Moroccan man-western woman relationships look average. On a finishing note: Luigi, it's not advised that Moroccan girls talk to men outside of the family. Lol... just kidding.

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