Sheikhat and Aita on Screen: Challenging Stigma and Reclaiming Artistry in Everybody Loves Touda

This article studies the representation of the Moroccan sheikhat in the film Everybody Loves Touda (2024), with a particular focus on the protagonist’s resistance to entrenched stereotypes with regard to sheikhat and her reclaiming of the cultural and artistic value of Aita, which is a traditional musical form performed by women. Through the analysis of the film’s narrative, visuals and dialogue, the article examines Touda’s navigation of poverty, gender-based violence and professional marginalisation in her journey to seek recognition both as an artist and as a mother. This article argues that Everybody Loves Touda seeks to challenge and change the common image of sheikhat by presenting them as artists instead of sexualised entertainers. Simultaneously, the film aims to restore Aita as a culturally significant genre by elevating it from commodified performance to a form of historical memory and resistance against power relations. Touda’s journey from exploitation in the bars of the small town where she lives to a conflicted yet prestigious urban stage unearths the continuous objectification of sheikhat across social classes and challenges the enduring conflation of their artistry with immorality. The analysis shows that the film’s portrayal of Touda’s oscillation between victimhood and agency offers a feminist and class-conscious critique of the commodification of women’s voices and bodies even within elite cultural spaces.