Not Every Arab Man is a Terrorist

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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.

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