ABSTRACT
This chapter starts with an overview of the ethnography of women’s associations in Senegal. It then proceeds to a description and analysis of Moroccan women’s associational patterns through their networks and how these are manifested in different social activities in relation to the great rites de passage such as the marriage and name-giving parties. The chapter mentions women and associating in Africa and compares female organizing in groups in Senegal and Morocco. It refers to traditional and informal female associations or networks which are activated in connection with weddings and name-giving rituals and parties held by members, and ‘habits’ or ‘conventions’ which guide female network members’ behaviour. The moral codes for women are hard to cope with and contribute to keeping women within the family and in the often polygynous household. In Senegal, for the rich ‘upper-class’ or caste-less women or for women with a maraboutic descent, the main forum for realizing themselves may be inside the house.
