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At a political rally in Agadir on July 5, Abdelilah Benkirane, Secretary General of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), decided to offer young Moroccan women some advice: forget school, forget work. Just get married.
“Girls, stop saying ‘we’ll study, work, and then get married,’” he said from the stage. “You can do all that after marriage. But if you miss the chance to marry, your education won’t matter. You’ll end up like a lonely seagull.”
The comment would be laughable if it weren’t coming from a former Prime Minister, and if it didn’t prove, once again, how far some politicians are willing to go to drag Moroccan women back into submission. The message is beyond clear and implies that ambition is cute when it comes to women, but marriage is your expiry date. Miss it, and you’re doomed.
Seagull status: women’s new normal?
Comparing a woman who prioritizes her education to a “ lonely seagull” is absurd, low, and dehumanizing. A seagull, isolated and aimless in Benkirane’s metaphor, suggests failure, loss, and irrelevance. But what does that say about the thousands of Moroccan women who choose every day to study, work, and live on their own terms?
It is a metaphor drenched in condescension, as if a woman without a husband is a creature to pity and not a human being. Benkirane’s idea is more than just bad rhetoric; it’s a deliberate insult to the countless women who carry this country forward in classrooms, hospitals, farms, houses, offices, and beyond.
The speech went viral within hours, and not because it struck wisdom. Civil society groups, feminist organizations, and ordinary citizens reacted with outrage.
“When triviality controls the thought of a politician, the topics raised become worthless, and with it the essence of real issues is lost,” one Instagram user commented.
Another commenter said, “Let’s hope you apply this to your daughter as well.”
Yet many other comments, mostly by men, agreed with Benkirane’s twisted rhetoric. One of many similar comments outrageously suggested: “This is true religion. Women should, at the end of the day, marry, have a family, and serve their husbands.”
Benkirane’s remarks sparked a fierce polarization that laid bare Morocco’s cultural fault lines. The diverse reactions show how much these issues continue to fracture public discourse, with some defending outdated norms as cultural or religious imperatives, while others demand a break from the past and insist on respecting individual autonomy and equality.
The association Kif Mama Kif Baba also condemned what it called a “retrograde sermon,” pointing out that 97% of girls married before 18 drop out of school permanently.
“While the state pours billions into keeping girls in school,” the association said, “you tell them to walk out and wait for a ring?”
They went further: defending the right to stay single, to build a life on one’s terms, and to refuse the tired narrative that a woman’s worth depends on her marital status.
“Marriage can wait,” they wrote, “but missed education does not return. Every woman has the right to decide how she lives, not just who she marries.”
Marriage as the final exam
As if the daily weight of societal pressure, legal loopholes, and economic inequality weren’t enough, Benkirane has found a way to add more fuel to the fire that has long consumed the dreams and lives of ambitious Moroccan women.
In a country where too many girls still face child marriage, school dropouts, family pressure, and limited job prospects, he casually implies that a woman’s value hinges on how quickly she finds a husband.
Moroccan women already battle a system that polices their choices, questions their independence, and sidelines their voices. Now, they must also endure being told that their ambitions are pointless without a trophy husband.
Benkirane’s comment depicts how out of touch parts of Morocco’s political class remain with the country’s realities. His words reinforce the very structures that keep women confined, judged, and treated as if their freedom were a problem to solve, not a right to defend.
Girls and women today know what they want. And it’s definitely not a lecture from a politician who sees their future as a household chore with a diploma on the side.
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