Reflection
In the beginning I had originally picked a different topic and after conducting research on that topic, I was struggling with finding scholarly sources that satisfied what I wanted to write about. I decided to take a different route because I knew originally that I wanted to research a topic that revolved around the Muslim community. I was able to narrow down my research to Arab and/or Muslim representation in media because it’s something I’m familiar with and see on a daily basis when it comes to watching popular shows/movies. Majority of the movies/shows or even news channels that I’ve watched portray the Arab and/or Muslim community in a negative spotlight. After sticking with this topic, I found it much easier to find sources and my main strategy when it came to connecting my sources was finding sources that discussed the pre and post 9/11. By doing so, I was able to direct my research in a way that discussed a possible root and its role in spreading stereotypes against the Arab and/or community. Since the topic is a heavy topic, I decided to focus directly on the representation and not dive too deep in events before 9/11. Two of the main course learning objectives that I’ve gained more experience in are CLO 4 and 7. When it came to the interview, I’ve gotten better at letting the conversation flow and I’ve realized that allowing interviewees to continue the discussion uninterrupted provides you with more information. Another thing I’ve realized is that interviews allow you to have more types of angles towards the discussion about your own topic. I believe I’ve been able to gain more experience at dissecting sources for what will and won’t work for me.
Abstract
Through a content analysis, I will explore to what extent do media portrayals of Arabs and/or Muslims pre and post 9/11 perpetuate islamophobia and anti-arab sentiment in western societies. In order to do so, I conducted an analysis of peer reviewed sources that revolve around pre and post 9/11 stereotypes and how western representation enforces these stereotypes. To further my analysis, I conducted an interview with an expert in literature and linguistics to get an understanding how these harmful representations are enforced and spread through literature works.
Literature Review
Pre and post 9/11 stereotypes
It is crucial to recognize the significance of the representation of Arab and Muslim women , especially in a world that is gradually becoming more accepting of diversity and inclusivity. The way in which Arab and Muslim women are portrayed in the media has the potential to perpetuate harmful stereotypes and prejudices towards these groups. These stereotypes that exist in today’s society were influenced by events such as the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq and the aftermath of 9/11. It’s important to realize that these stereotypes were also developed on the premise that Arab/Middle Eastern cultures aren’t aligned with those of the west. Hollywood filmmakers typically portrayed Arabs as violent, extremist, uncivilized, and brutal before 9/11, and after 9/11, movies shifted to a war on terror theme, which typically portrayed Arabs as terrorists(Eissa, E. A., Guta, H. A., & Hassan, R. S., 2022). Following the events of 9/11, there was a rise of the “Arab Other” in the media, depicting Arabs as “foreign devils” and perpetuating the stereotype of female terrorists, which became increasingly popular in Hollywood(Eissa, E. A., Guta, H. A., & Hassan, R. S., 2022). The widespread usage of the “Arab Other” in Hollywood strengthens the stereotype of Arabs as brutal and lacking morality, which encourages violence against Arabs. Hollywood then portrays the violence committed against the fictional “Arab terrorists” as heroic.
A common portrayal of Arab and/or Muslim women in Western media involves characterizing them as being oppressed. These women usually fall under the “protection or rescue narrative”, in which the theme revolves around rescuing these “poor” Muslim and Arab women from barbaric Muslim men and how it’s up to the Western societies to “save” these women(Muhtaseb, A., 2020). Following the events of 9/11, this rhetoric spread in US mainstream media. Such a tactic of employing this rhetoric in the media formulates from imperialistic tactics(Muhtaseb, A., 2020). Another angle used by the western media to further the narrative that Muslim women are in need of “saving” is to associate the hijab with a form of control to further marginalize Muslim women. In Susan Muaddi’s article discussing Arab feminism, she points out that many Americans categorize Arab women as “pitiful creatures who follow their husband like a dark shadow, are forced to remain silent and obey her husband at all times, and are granted a body only to deliver more children…”(Darraj, S. M., 2002). These interpretations stem from the demonization of the Middle East into these foreign individuals that aren’t on the same level as the western society.
Defining a “Good” Western Representation of Arabs and Muslims
As the Western society continues to brand itself as more inclusive, it is essential to examine whether the portrayals of Arabs and/or Muslims in the media will actually promote the acceptance of diverse cultures among Americans or instead alienate them by selectively choosing what to portray. Ahlam Muhtaseb discusses in her article a term called “media-darling” and how these representations were considered good only when they fit a “media-darling” narrative which is defined as Western-educated Arab or Muslim women or those who looked and acted similar to western women(Muhtaseb, A., 2020). Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a well-known woman who denounced Islam and continued to spread her strongly anti-muslim views, is one of the prominent women who frequently appear in the media as a representation for Muslim women. She celebrates western culture while denouncing muslims and furthering the stereotypes that already exist. It’s ironic that she is considered a “good” representation of Arab and/or muslim women although she no longer practices the religion or connected in any way to the Middle East. Ahlam Muhtaseb also discusses how these “media-darlings” such as Irshad Manji and Mona Eltahaway are critical of Islam as a religion and the Islamic world. When it comes to Irshad Manji, she advocated for a niqab ban around the world and wrote about this narrative of how muslim men hate women(Muhtaseb, A., 2020). Although many Muslim women voiced their criticism of this work, their opinions were not given adequate attention in mainstream media(Muhtaseb, A., 2020). Despite being viewed as prominent advocates for the rights of Muslim and/or Arab women, all three women collectively perpetuate harmful stereotypes that many Muslim women seek to avoid. This suggests that they were chosen not for their inclusivity of Muslim women, but rather because they reinforce the idea that Western society is the only correct way of living and should be an example for others like those residing in the Middle East.
Wasil Ali Alhwayan and Nasaybah Awajan conducted a study comparing how a Western author and an Arab author wrote novels revolving around Muslim terrorists. They highlight how many Arab and/or Muslims are exposed to these stereotypes constantly. Their emphasis is on the trend in literature, wherein authors defend these stereotypes while spreading them in their writing solely to increase sales(Alhwayan, W. A., & Awajan, N. W., 2023). It demonstrates how many individuals are unwilling to consider different perspectives and would prefer to maintain their ignorance of what they perceive to be true about another group of people. “Good” representations of Arab and/or muslims is considered good only when it depicts the Western image of the Middle East. This path only leads to the further isolation of the Middle East while silencing the voices of the very people whom Westerners claim to be “saving”.
When it comes to the Hollywood film industry, Linnea Hussein discusses in her article how Hollywood “injects evil Arabs and slurs demeaning them in films that have nothing to do with the Middle East”(Hussein, L. J., 2010). This correlates with the same tactics Ahlam Muhtaseb was discussing when it came to “media darlings” and how a woman who built her platform on anti-Islam was one of the popular Muslim women representation in media. By inserting these narratives into these films, it sets the standard that this is the normal for the Middle East. In her article titled, “Reel Bad Arabs – How Hollywood vilifies a people”, Linnea states, “cinema, as a vehicle which fosters the stereotype of the evil Arab, is fueled by the exhausting repetition of the same images on screen”. She sheds light on why it’s so difficult to get rid of these stereotypes in Western Society because Western media benefits from continuously sharing this narrative against Muslims. This puts Western society in a repetitive cycle of what is and isn’t true outside of the Western “bubble”. This makes it even more challenging to introduce the Middle East and muslims in a positive light because it goes against what has been systemized in Western society.
Insights from an English Teacher
To further my understanding, I conducted an interview with an educator named Mrs. Anthony who’s accredited with a Masters of Arts in English and African American literature along with a Masters of Fine Arts in creative nonfiction writing. By doing so, we’re able to get the perspective of an expert when it comes to literature and the representation shown in all types of media/works. In order to see her familiarity with the topic, the first question asked was “In your opinion, what are common stereotypes that you believe are incorporated in western society about Arabs and/or muslims or the muslim community in general?”. After introducing herself, Mrs. Anthony responded by stating, “my experience both as a person that has been born and raised in the South and then transplanted to New York in the last 12 years is coming from two different perspectives, one is the typical media representations of Muslims and the whole narrative, even before 9/1, the pre and post narrative that all Muslims were Jihadists, anti-American and anti-Christian. The narrative that “Allah” was not truly God and that there was a whole system of deceit regarding scriptures and what was sacred and what was true. There was this huge incompatibility, a stereotype that to be Muslim, to be Arab was to be less than, to be other”. Her first response opened up a discussion that wasn’t discussed in this analysis which was the discussion of pinning religions against each other in a way to belittle one under the other or push people into defense. This type of tactic leads people blindly into believing that they are defending their own religion by going against a certain group of people. It could also represent how mainstream media uses this tactic to gain more supporters.
In order to get Mrs. Anthony to elaborate more on her response to the first question, the second question asked was, “can you describe some of the common representations of Arabs and/or Muslims that you’ve seen in the media? This can include movies, tv shows, literature works, news outlets, etc. Mrs. Anthony then stated, “typically the Arab or the Muslim character is sinister, considered evil, a thug, and a terrorist. You find those over again in crime shows, movies, you know almost from the credits rolling at the beginning in the titles who’s going to be the good guy or the bad guy. Even in journalism, I remember even as a young person coming up that any images of Palestinian leaders or politics, even the famous handshake between the Israeli and Palestine leaders with Jimmy Carter, there was something suspicious in that representation, there was always a negative or not to be trusted figure”. With that response, Mrs. Anthony was able to confirm the common stereotypes mentioned in the articles used in the analysis and how they didn’t necessarily formulate post 9/11 considering that they were implemented strongly before those events happened. During my third question,which is “have you noticed any changes in media representation of Arabs and/or Muslims in recent years?”, Mrs. Anthony states, “I don’t think so, I think the post 9/11 world was just as bad as the one of my generation coming up”. This triangulates back to the question of where these stereotypes emerged from to be able to still be in effect to this day.
One of the segments that caught my attention during the interview was when Mrs.Anthony continued the conversation from the third question stating, “I think there’s more awareness that there is a single narrative. Before we would have just assumed and lived with the idea that it was all bad. I’m thinking about Qatar and the world cup this year and the double standards that were ever present and so clear that there was so much worry about the human rights violations in Qatar and then there was almost no conversation about what was going on with the chinese government. These were things that were actually being discussed on MSNBC or CNN, this disconnect about why we were not interrogating other countries for their civil rights violations but we were stuck on this ‘Qatar was inherently worse’”. She was able to highlight recent events that I was also able to connect with considering how the World Cup was broadcasted all over the world on almost every media outlet. She points out the double standards on what people choose to “speak up” on while als connecting with the discussion of what makes “good” representation and how the media selectively chooses what to broadcast and what to keep out based on the message it sends.
In order to break the cycle of these harmful representations and stereotypes, we need to break the norms spread to western societies about the Arab and/or Muslim community by allowing more diverse representation that doesn’t focus on the negativity. In order to do so, we as a community have to address and condemn the type of harm and hate these messages spread in order to open the door for many who are willing to learn about groups of people, they aren’t necessarily familiar with.
References
Eissa, E. A., Guta, H. A., & Hassan, R. S. (2022). Representations of Arab Women in Hollywood Pre- and Post- 9/11. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 24(5), 1t+. https://link-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A716528903/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=21de551b
Muhtaseb, A. (2020). US MEDIA DARLINGS: ARAB AND MUSLIM WOMEN ACTIVISTS, EXCEPTIONALISM AND THE “RESCUE NARRATIVE”. Arab Studies Quarterly, 7+. https://link-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A642011241/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=877c3a4a
Darraj, S. M. (2002, March). Understanding the other sister: The case of Arab feminism. Monthly Review, 53(10), 15+. https://link-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A84184713/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=acf6cdf6
Alhwayan, W. A., & Awajan, N. W. (2023). The Adaptation of the Western Perspective (Don DeLillo) on Terrorism in Fadia Faqir’s Willow Trees Don’t Weep. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 14(1), 181+. https://link-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A733629966/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=b3471d99
Hussein, L. J. (2010). Reel Bad Arabs–How Hollywood Vilifies a People. Film & History, 40(1), 118+. https://link-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A308598877/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=d5dbaa2b
