Tunisia: Understanding Conflict 2012 - Johns Hopkins School of ...

Mr. Hedri showed concern over the loss of values that would occur through Tunisia’s
transition into a more liberal secular state; he wants women to return to their values and
to be rewarded for staying home. According to Mr. Hedri, the problem with birth control
and family planning is that it encourages women to have fewer children and decreases the
number of children per family, which is against Islam (SAIS Group Meeting, 24 January
2012). Zeina, meanwhile, expressed her frustration that progressive laws have not
changed many beliefs about the real roles of men and women. She explains:
Women have rights on paper but not in society. I am allowed to visit the
U.S. but I still must [follow certain societal guidelines] because if I marry
a Tunisian man and I have not [followed these guidelines] there will be
shame on my family…Other women ask their boyfriend or husband before
they hang out with friends, and if he says no the women will stay home….
When women drink and wear whatever they want, they are considered to
be abusing their rights. (28 January 2012)
Societal expectations such as this curtail women’s abilities to achieve the same freedoms
and positions in society as men. While there is certainly reason to believe these norms
will break down over time as some have proven to do already, Mr. Bourial fears that
Ennahdha has propagated a rising conservatism in society:
My deep feeling is that the agenda for movements like Ennahdha could
extend for 30 years …We have more and more kindergartens opening up
on an Islamic basis and opening up with private funds that are sometimes
coming from the East …This is a trend that will probably change the
whole generation and it will be worked out over 25 years …so why create
issues with Europe today? Let’s just have things come naturally. Let’s just
have the shift change slowly… These people do not have a local agenda.
They are in an international view of the Arab World. The whole idea is
that Europe and France left physically, but that Europe is still present
through culture, through the organization of the state, so we have to get rid
of it… And this is the agenda. It is to change culturally the minds of the
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