ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Tahar Ben Jelloun's construction of gender and its possible contributions to our understanding of one aspect of youth identities in fictional Moroccan setting. Jelloun situates the story in Morocco. In The Sand Child, Jelloun complicates readers understanding of gender by revealing how socially constructed values and culture contribute to shaping roles we ascribe to both males and females. Throughout the novel, Ahmed Zahra wrestles with her identities as male or female. The chapter focuses on Jelloun's work taken as an invitation to enter into a debate on issues of individual identity and democratic citizenship that requires women's active engagement across the entire spectrum of life issues, that is, in family and society, which we view as a continuum. The patriarchal family confined women's power, reducing the potential for disruption. The pressure that patriarchy imposes on both men and women and how this contributes in shaping youth culture in the continent may also need to be closely examined.
