Poetry as a Strategy of Power: The Case of Riffian Berber Women

Although anthropological studies of the Middle East generally acknowledge the low status of Islamic women, the complex "mosaic" of national, ethnic, and tribal social organization makes it difficult to make accurate, significant statements about the area as a whole. Even when focused on a single country, anthropological accounts arrive at conflicting conclusions about the role of women. Ethnographers of Morocco like Westermarck, Coon, Hart, and Gellner have concentrated on the exercise of formal, public power and thus have stressed the hegemony of men over women.1 This notion of monolithic masculine dominance and feminine subjugation has been somewhat modified by recent studies of women's ability to influence male decisions, a "power behind the throne" theory articulated by RogerJoseph.2 Maher and Nelson have also argued that women wield some direct power through female systems of network and alliance. And