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Arab cultures
Understanding the culture of islam
Understanding the culture of islam
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Ignorance about people on the other side of the world is infectious among humanity. Rather than educating themselves about the characteristics and cultures of the world, society relies on stereotypes. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines a stereotype as an unfair “belief that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same.” The entertainment industry significantly influences the minds of Americans to accept these misconceptions about other nationalities. These nasty generalizations are particularly dangerous and hurtful to Arabs. They are commonly represented as amoral terrorists (bombers), wealthy sheiks (billionaires), and sexy dancers (belly dancers). Arabs commonly refer to this by using the alliteration, “the three B syndrome.”
Through the endless news reports about violence, hijacking, and terrorism over the years, people from Arab countries have come to be America's cultural enemy. As a result, the entertainment industry releases movies and video games featuring Arab terrorist characters. In the 2008 blockbuster film Iron Man, the protagonist, Tony Stark (Iron Man) is the head weaponry manufacturer for the U.S. military. The climax of the movie begins when Stark is kidnapped by an Arab terrorist group “Ten Rings” and forced to make weapons for them. Through the use of violence, the anti-American terrorist group demands power and respect. In later scenes of the movie, Ten Rings is shown demolishing a peaceful village. Without looking to see who the occupants are, they throw grenades and aimlessly shoot at the homes of the village people. They also kill all men in sight and take the women and children as slaves. In Iron Man and movies similar, these negative stereotypes villainies the Arab man. This is e...
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...ing makes arrangements to have sex with Amara. The stereotype of Arab women as belly dancers, positions them as existing only to sexually please men. This is offensive to Arab women, because modesty and conservativeness is central in their life.
Profiling Arab men as murderous terrorists, deceitful sheiks, and women as provocative belly dancers has humiliated the Arab culture. The total absence of knowledge about Arab culture has caused many Americans to accept these lies as truth. However, with precise information and a willingness to listen, that can all be changed. Instead of trusting the media's image of Arabs, sensitivity to the cultural differences will cause stereotyping to diminish. Arabs should expect to be stereotyped because of the negative influences from Western media but, should continue to hold their customs and values as a foundation of their life.
After the tragic events of 9/11 attacks in the United States, there has been over a hundred terrorism-themed films such as Black Hawk Down and American Sniper that portrays a generalization of Muslims with violence, uncivilized, and is described as crude villains (Aguayo, 2009). This has unfortunately affected the way the American public view the Muslims negatively, which in turn leads to discrimination, prejudice, and irrational fear of Muslims (Islamophobia). The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) stated that the American Sniper film has caused a significant rise in violent hate and racist threat targeting the Arab and Muslim-American communities due to the promulgation of anti-Muslim propaganda and bigotry (Khalek, 2015).
Has the New York Times negatively stereotyped Arab Muslims for the past forty years? The goal of this research project is to reveal the negative stereotypes directed towards Arab Muslims in the New York Times. The critical focus of the research is the consistency of the negative stereotypes. The underlying focus is what theoretical and historical effects result from the negative stereotypes.
category ‘Arab–Middle Eastern–Muslim’ enemy and rendered persons associated with this category as embodying a ‘culture’ and/or ‘religion’ th...
All in all, Running into offensive stereotypes is common among Arab Muslims. People will not stop making new stereotypes, and the only way to stop them from being spread is by correcting them. Stereotypes are basically wrong information based on an sophisticated perception. It is critical to deal with these situations with reason and intellectuality. People may have different ways to solve these kinds of problems, but it is important to make sure it is in a healthy and effective manner. Stereotypes are wrong information that needs to be corrected, so it is very important to educate society about the misunderstandings associated with the stereotypes.
For decades now, popular culture has been tainted by the perpetual use of racial stereotypes that come to us through music, television, and film. These reactionary stereotypes are often unaddressed and often permeate the minds of those too young to understand what a stereotype is. Therefore the effects of these conventionalized ideas continue to prevail throughout our society as they are repeatedly swept under the rug. However, although seemingly less common, there are also forms of media with goals of bringing attention to toxic stereotypes while still entertaining their audiences. African-Americans, Arabs, and Latin@’s are three of the most prevalent minority groups represented in the media and by analyzing the films Aladdin, Django Unchained, and the television show Devious Maids, one can become much more aware of the racial stereotypes that they are calling attention to.
Sabbagh, S. J., & American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, W. C. (1990). Sex, Lies, & Stereotypes: The Image of Arabs in American Popular Fiction. ADC Issue Paper No. 23. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
The omnipresence of the American and European culture in the countries of the Middle East is a universally recognized phenomenon. The culture, thoughts and status quo of the people have been and continually are being changed and challenged due the mass spread of American goods and ideas. The American national culture largely revolves around the wants, needs and goals of the individual. As the one of the greatest superpowers of the time, its influence on the global community towards the focus on the individual is nothing short of inevitable. The movies, clothing and new age mentality of America are sending all people regardless of age, upbringing and locale, into a grand scale social transition. The Arabs and Muslims beliefs, traditions and entire state of being are no longer as they were 20 or 30 years ago. The women of the novels, Nadia, Fatima, Umm Saad, Maha, Asya, and Su’ad, each living in various Arab countries with unique situations of their own, all are united on the common ground of American introduced idea and concepts of individualism through such venues as feminism, capitalism, sexism and consumerism which adversely affect their society.
To many people today, Arab immigrants are the latest group of a long list that have come to the United States since it’s’ inception. However, people of Arab origin have been immigrating to the United States since before The Declaration of Independence was penned in 1776, and haven’t really stopped since. There were not many Arab immigrants at this time, however. The first notable “wave” of immigrants was not until the late nineteenth century. Since then, there have been multiple distinct waves, but most often they are categorized into two groups: pre-World War 2, and post-World War 2, as the demographics and ideologies are inherently different. As a result, it may seem quite obvious that their presence in American life as well as their identification in such has changed. However, it would be foolish to state that there is no continuity between several aspects of Arab American life then and today. Because both are present in American politics, we can only measure whether there has been a greater degree of continuity or change within past or present-day Arab-American experiences. There are several aspects to both claims. However, after careful analysis it is clear that there has been a greater degree of change amongst Arab Americans because of the change in how they view themselves as a collective entity.
Racial stereotypes specifically function mostly through propaganda of the media, due to the unlikelihood of every man travelling to every country, using the technique of ‘misinformation’ through movies, shows, and news reports. Egyptians have been stereotyped as desert residents for many years regardless of the reality and actual state of Egypt as a country.
Lila Abu-Lughod’s article titled, “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” takes a closer look at the problematic ethnocentric approach many have when trying to gain an understanding of another culture that may be foreign to that individual. In this analytical paper, Lughod looks at women in Islam, specifically the treatment of women and how it might be utilized as a justification for invading into a country and liberating its people. The country Lughod refers to in her article is Afghanistan, and Lughod points out the misunderstanding from the people to the Bush administration like First Lady Laura Bush who believed that intervention was necessary to free women from the captivity of their own homes. It is important to consider the role that different lenses play into all of this, especially when one’s lenses are being shaped by the media. Depictions of covered women secluded from society leave a permanent image in the minds of many, who would then later support the idea of liberation. This paper will discuss that the practice of using propaganda when referring to the lifestyle in the Middle East is not exclusive to the U.S; rather it has been utilized throughout history. Additionally, we will take a closer look on the importance of symbols, such as veils in this case; help to further emphasize the cause to liberate. Finally, we will analyze Lughod’s plea towards cultural relativism and away from liberal imperialism.
In the essay, the writer acknowledges the misunderstandings that come from media images by explaining the contrasts between these images and the teachings of the faith to support her claim that fear is the reason for this misconception. The conception that many people have of Muslims is that they are terrorists, anti-Semites, and fanatics. This conception exsists because television news and newspapers support that stereotype. The broadcast of such stereotypes encourages fear and accusations of the Islamic relegion's teachings. The writer explains that Islam teaches peace, tolerance, and equality. She further states that Muslims shown in the media have violated these teachings ...
While watching movies, have you ever noticed that the villains in almost every single Hollywood film are of Middle Eastern or European descent? In a reoccurring theme of Hollywood, the villains in these films are almost always foreigners or people of color. This is a stereotype. On the other side of the spectrum, we often see that the heroes of these films are most often than not white males. This is another stereotype. Within the last few years, we’ve seen actors such as Will Smith, Morgan Freeman, and Zoe Saldana take the lead roles, so it can’t be said that there are no non-white heroes, but there certainly isn’t many. Hollywood action movies, moreover than other genres, are typically loaded with an abundance of stereotypes. The way these movies are composed and structured can tell us a great deal about the views held within the American psyche and who holds the social power. The harsh reality is that the media ultimately sets the tone for societal standards, moralities, and images of our culture. Many consumers of media have never encountered some of the minorities or people of color shown on screen, so they subsequently depend on the media and wholeheartedly believe that the degrading stereotypes represented on the big screen are based on fact and not fiction. Mary Beltran said it best when she stated in her “Fast and Bilingual: Fast & Furious and the Latinization of Racelessness” article, “ultimately, Fast & Furious mobilizes notions of race in contradictory ways. It reinforces Hollywood traditions of white centrism, reinforcing notions of white male master while also dramatizing the figurative borders crossed daily by culturally competent global youth – both Latino and non-Latino” (77). This paper will specifically look...
After 9/11 has induced negative attitudes towards Muslim peoples who tend to be strongly associated with any act of terrorism. The media has played a colossal role in developing such negative association wherein it constantly portrays Muslim people in combination with violent terrorist acts. It does so in a way that they both go hand-and-hand. In other words, it has made it as though the Islamic religion is synonymous with terrorism. The media has perpetuated Muslim stereotypes over the years that followed the 9/11 incident. Because of this, society has developed, and still has developed, this prejudiced mindset about the Islamic religion and the Muslim communities around the world. People immediately assume that any violent act being depicted through the media is the direct result of Muslims. They automatically generate this idea that the act was performed by a Muslim terrorist even when they were not involved whatsoever. Regardless of whether it was true or not, Islamic religion and its Muslim adherents are at the top of societies’ agenda just waiting for the evidence to be generated so that they can then safely blame them for such world affairs. Again, this has led to the attack on the Islamic religion itself wherein people have come to postulate Islam as an act of oppression, violence and hatred towards non-Muslims. Anti-Muslim sentiments and campaigns have resulted from such misinformation the media has been generating and feeding its viewers.
September 11, 2001 forever changed the landscape of the generalized view of the Muslim community in the United States; these acts created a defining stereotypical image that all Muslim’s are extreme terrorists, or condone such behavior. Although this view of the Muslim community was not necessarily new, it was not widely acknowledged in America until the events of September 11th as it was continually thrust upon the public by print and news media. This study will discuss the dichotomy between representations of the Muslim community held by many in the Western culture as well as the psychological cause and effect of such depictions. The sociological “norms” as determined by popular American culture, the development of “terrorist” stereotypes through modern media, and the cause and effect postcolonial literature has had on the subject are all topics that will be evaluated. The objective of this research is to provide enhanced comprehension of the situational attitudes held by Muslims and Americans alike. Also, this will offer an educated understanding of the gap between what is believed and what is factual, in hopes of creating emphasis for the need of a new approach in creating a discrimination free partnership with the Muslim community while maintaining awareness and security.
Stereotypes are common everywhere, but they are at their peaks in the West and the Middle East. These two regions are constantly and perpetually making judgments about one another, and this leads to many regional political crises and misunderstandings. These opinions and views lead to false images and perceptions leading to hate crime and cyber