All Women Are Equal But Some Women Are More Equal Than Others: Pseudo-Feminist Orientalism in Film
Description
PURPOSE: Around the First Gulf War, Middle Eastern women went from being seen as exotic and seductive to being the wives of terrorists. Hollywood and its audiences are confused. But whether Middle Eastern women are painted as belly dancers or burqa donners, they are always painted as other and oppressed. This is where Edward Said’s theory of Orientalism and variations of it are at play, such as Joyce Zonana’s Feminist Orientalist theory. This paper looks at Middle Eastern women in film in light of the aforementioned theories. SUBJECTS: The sample is made up of 11 films and TV shows. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The paper demonstrates how Hollywood embodies Feminist Orientalism by performing a qualitative content analysis of The Princess and the Marine and 10 other productions. ANALYSES: A qualitative content analysis of 11 films is performed. RESULTS: The 11 films analyzed are rife with examples of Orientalism and Feminist Orientalism. CONCLUSIONS: The author makes the assertions that Orientalism explains what is happening to Middle Eastern women in the media and that Feminist Orientalism explains why it is happening. She also suggests that the theory of Feminist Orientalism be given a more appropriate name; Pseudo-Feminist Orientalism. Finally, the author names and defines new theories; Reverse Pseudo-Feminist Orientalism, the Orientalist Gender Hierarchy, and the assertion that Pseudo-Feminist Orientalism manifests itself both in the media’s characters and audiences.
All Women Are Equal But Some Women Are More Equal Than Others: Pseudo-Feminist Orientalism in Film
PURPOSE: Around the First Gulf War, Middle Eastern women went from being seen as exotic and seductive to being the wives of terrorists. Hollywood and its audiences are confused. But whether Middle Eastern women are painted as belly dancers or burqa donners, they are always painted as other and oppressed. This is where Edward Said’s theory of Orientalism and variations of it are at play, such as Joyce Zonana’s Feminist Orientalist theory. This paper looks at Middle Eastern women in film in light of the aforementioned theories. SUBJECTS: The sample is made up of 11 films and TV shows. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The paper demonstrates how Hollywood embodies Feminist Orientalism by performing a qualitative content analysis of The Princess and the Marine and 10 other productions. ANALYSES: A qualitative content analysis of 11 films is performed. RESULTS: The 11 films analyzed are rife with examples of Orientalism and Feminist Orientalism. CONCLUSIONS: The author makes the assertions that Orientalism explains what is happening to Middle Eastern women in the media and that Feminist Orientalism explains why it is happening. She also suggests that the theory of Feminist Orientalism be given a more appropriate name; Pseudo-Feminist Orientalism. Finally, the author names and defines new theories; Reverse Pseudo-Feminist Orientalism, the Orientalist Gender Hierarchy, and the assertion that Pseudo-Feminist Orientalism manifests itself both in the media’s characters and audiences.