Responses to Women’s Rights Under Authoritarianism: Survey Evidence from Morocco

• In Event: Gender and Authoritarian Politics: A Comparative Perspective

Abstract

What are the consequences for social change when states commit to gender equality? Under what conditions do women’s rights reforms generate new political dynamics around gender, alter perceived social norms, or shift attitudes towards women’s roles in society? I argue that investigating these questions requires attention to the relationship between personal attitudes and perceived social norms, the perceived source of advocacy for women’s rights, and individuals’ experiences with implementation of women’s rights policies. Results from a national telephone survey of 1,000 Moroccans provide the first descriptive evidence on the relationship between these factors and individuals’ views on gender roles in the public and private sphere. Evidence from a separate online survey experiment with 1,000 Moroccans tests the hypothesis that the combination of expanded rights for women and benevolent sexist ideas—often used to justify women’s inclusion—can exacerbate backlash against women seen as behaving counter-stereotypically. Together, the findings from these studies contribute to our understanding how gendered norms, attitudes, and behavior evolve amid the rapid social and legal change for women’s rights common in authoritarian regimes in recent decades.

Author

• Carolyn Barnett, Princeton University