-
The roles of women in are slowly changing. Women are expected to be wives and mothers, but more and more women are also having careers.
-
Girls’ education is a high priority of the current president, so most girls are now enrolled in school. However, is still very much a male-dominated society.
-
In rural areas, women rarely drive, ride a bicycle, or go to groundnut fields. Women do not tell men what to do or defy a man’s instruction. Nonetheless, women’s social circles are vibrant and empowering to an extent. They have vegetable garden cooperatives and grassroots micro credit schemes.
-
Men and women don’t typically socialize outside of their family.
-
Unacceptable behavior for women would involve smoking, drinking, visiting non-relative males alone.
- Foreign women should dress conservatively and avoid very revealing or tight-fitting clothing. It's best to avoid short shorts or skimpy skirts as a woman's thighs are to a Gambian man what the breast is to most westerners.
-
Foreign women are often seen as honorary men. They can eat and socialize with men, unlike Gambian women in rural areas. They can go to a mosque, but not go inside it.
-
Gambian women will often give foreign women a hard time for not knowing how to cook, wash clothes by hand, or fetch water. But, this is part of the intense joking culture that persists here.
-
Women must dress conservatively when outside the resort areas. Gambian women never show from their belly button to below their knees. Foreign women should do the same. Do not wear shorts or short tops, it is very, very rude and culturally insensitive.
|
|
