Morocco Time

Part of the cosmetics giant L’Oreal has been found guilty of racial discrimination after it sought to exclude non-white women from promoting its shampoo.

In a landmark case, the Garnier division of the beauty empire, along with a recruitment agency it employed, were fined €30,000 ($A50,000) each after they recruited women on the basis of race.

French campaign group SOS Racisme brought the case against L’Oreal, the world’s largest cosmetics company, over the campaign in 2000. Garnier France sought saleswomen to demonstrate the shampoo line Fructis Style in supermarkets outside Paris. They wanted young women to hand out samples and discuss hairstyling with shoppers.

In July 2000, a fax detailing the profile of hostesses sought by L’Oreal stipulated that women should be 18 to 22, size 38-42 (10-14) and “BBR” — the initials for bleu, blanc, rouge, the colours of the French flag.

Prosecutors argued that BBR, a shorthand used by the far right, was also a well-known code among employers to mean “white” French people and not those of North African, African and Asian backgrounds.

Christine Cassan, a former employee at Districom, a communications firm acting for Garnier, told the court her clients demanded white hostesses. She said that when she had presented candidates “of colour”, a superior in her own company had said she had “had enough of Christine and her Arabs“.

One woman working in the recruitment firm involved said foreign-sounding names or photos showing a candidate was of Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian or other African origin would ensure candidates were eliminated. Another said: “I once had a good woman candidate but she was non-white. I had to ask someone to pretend that our list was full. It was hard.”

President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Justice Minister, Rachida Dati, the first woman of North African origin to hold a ministerial post, has ruled that special departments in prosecutors’ offices should be set up to deal with discrimination.

Full article here.

I often get asked, “Will I have to wear a headscarf when I visit/live in Morocco?” No, you don’t…but here’s a few reasons why I wear one from time to time.

1. They’re not kidding when they call it a “cold country with a hot sun.” It turns my hair the color of the copper pots in the Seffarine Square. In the winter, when it’s bone-chilling freezing (I’d like to use more colorful epithets here, but I won’t) the scarf is a lifesaver.

2. If you visit the sandier regions, all that grit flying around in the air will act like sandpaper on your hair. So if you don’t cover, you end up with a frizzy lightened mess.

3. Like it or not, men are more respectful of women with their heads covered. I had to take the bus from Rabat to Tinerhir a few times, and I always got the royal treatment if I wore my scarf. Primo seat at the front, checking on me from time to time (”Sister, are you fine?”), making sure I got something to eat at the rest stops, etc… If I simply let my sexy sexy hair swing freely, as I did on one occasion, I got all sorts of guys trying to chat me up and women looking at me with suspicion.

4. The best reason of all…if you look cute in a headscarf. I do, so I like to wear them, a la the Audrey Hepburn style. Some women do not look good in them, especially in they tie them in a very babushka way, like Nancy Pelosi here :

You also should not wear a scarf if you have an ugly bulldog face like certain other members of our government:

However, as much as I dislike Laura Bush, the woman knows how to rock a scarf.

There were three women who helped me along with the Fulbright, offering advice, revisions, suggestions, and moral support. I came to look upon them as the very best examples for how I’d like to live my life - they’re all generous, kind, intelligent, and strong. One of these women is Maryam, as mentioned before, but the second is Dr. Andrea Kavanaugh of Virginia Tech. Yes, where the shooting was. Yes, Dr. Kavanaugh is an engineer. Yes, I was chewing my nails to stubs over the past two days, wondering if she was OK.

This afternoon, she replied to my frenzied “Please let me know you’re OK” email from the day of the shootings, and I can’t remember when I’ve been so relieved. I don’t know what else to say except to repeat the title of this post, ????? ???.

P.S. I swear, I’m putting the shadda, but the post doesn’t display it!

Maryam has an excellent post up about beauty on the outside vs. real beauty on the inside. It reminded me of my first visit to Morocco, where I experienced the heady glee of suddenly being a goddess - for the first time in my life, pretty much every man within shouting distance swore I was Aphrodite’s reincarnation, and I loved it.

Then I woke up, but not entirely - I realized that while most of these men were after one thing, they were right, in a way - I am beautiful, even though I’m not blonde, my butt is too big, and my features have been likened to those of a kewpie doll. [exaggerated, too big for my face] When I met an Irish girl who had the same complaints about her hair as I do [not straight, not curly, pretty much does whatever it wants], I thought, Thank God, I’m normal. Forget all this straightening/perming/processing, I’m just going to go with it, and get a blowout if I really have to have it straight. I only wish I could make young Moroccan girls realize the same thing - if I see another one whose gorgeous black hair has been streaked with some sort of ashy fake blond, I’m going to have a fit. My sister-in-law wanted to put henna on her hair so she’d “have red in it!” like mine, and I was horrified. I’m not against hair dying by any means, but when you have the most lovely hair ever, is it not the ultimate hubris to try to improve on it? Her hair is the kind that you imagine Scheherazade would have had - like a silky black river, just a little wavy, with a natural shine.

So today, my wish is for all women to recognize their innate beauty. Let’s revel in our uniqueness, not struggle with impossible standards.

My other wish is for Moroccan men to treat all women with respect, as if they were talking to a sister - but I’m not holding my breath.


See that hair? Would YOU try to fight it?

I’d like someone to explain to me how they can possibly be charging £130 for a cotton trenchcoat. I’d also like to know what they’re paying the Moroccan women workers, though I suspect it’s a pittance.

“Word reaches Newconsumer.com of another reason to wait for the spring ethical clothing collections - Amana, a fresh new label promising ‘fabulous ethical fashion’.

The debutant and its 11-strong ladies’ range is due to go on sale 1st March, smack in the middle of Fairtrade Fortnight. Ethical credentials include the use of hemp mixes, organic cotton and the employment of women artisans in Morocco’s Middle Atlas Mountains, though the brand doesn’t boast the official Fairtrade Foundation stamp.

From the two garments I’ve seen photos of, the design ethos looks to be bold and clean with a few touches of flair - a £130 organic cotton trench-coat, for example, swirls round in a full circle skirt at the bottom. Other pieces in the collection include hemp-silk mix trousers and an organic cotton voile blouse, with prices ranging from £15 to £130.

Helen Wood and Erin Tabrar, the St Martins’ fashion grads behind Amana, say ‘our goal is to create fashionable, beautiful garments, which are ethical at every point of supply.’ Sounds like a good mission statement to me.

Amana’s site goes live March 1st.

- by Adam Vaughan at the New Consumer