The smoke and mirrors behind the representation of women in Tunisian TV
On the 11th of October 2017, the Tunisian TV show “L’émission” started airing on the Tunisian private television channel “Attessia”. This show is hosted by Amine Gara along with other TV presenters. It has actually become one of the most watched shows in Tunisia as it deals with a variety of controversial issues. However, it continues to depict and portray an untrue negative and vulgar image of women through one particular speaker: Mariem Dabbegh. Ignorance, indifference and fatshaming is what this tv show is promoting through this presenter.
Every Wednesday and Saturday night, the 32-year-old woman makes her appearance in the TV studio and talks about trivial matters such as fashion, money and her taste in men. She tends to avoid talking about politics saying “it does not interest me”. Nevertheless, there is a huge number of women who play a huge role in the political field and strive to make a positive change. For instance, Bochra Belhaj Hmida, rarely appears on tv shows or radio programs, yet a practicing lawyer who never siezes to defend women.
The financial and social situation of Tunisian people do not seem to concern Mariem Dabbegh as well. Indeed, the prices of numerous products, especially food, have skyrocketed and citizens have started complaining about the gravity of the situation. However, on many occasions, the TV presenter has expressed her carelessness toward this inflation and admitted that she actually feeds tomatoes to her dog “Chanou” no matter how expensive it might be. In addition to that, she has conveyed her indifference towards poor people who cannot afford to eat. This is the image of women that this Tunisian TV show is trying to sell, even though it does not represent most Tunisian women.
In fact, there are a lot of female activists who are helping those who are in need and showing them kindness. For example, Lina Ben Mhenni, who passed away on the 27th of January 2020, has collected 45.000 books in a campaign and handed them out to inmates around the country. Now, come to think of it, who is more worthy of showing up on TV shows and talking about their achievements?
By hiring Mariem Dabbegh, “L’émission” shows the image of a woman who keeps disrespecting people and lowering their self esteem. This TV presenter mocks the show’s guests when they are overweight, and expresses her ill-mannered opinion towards them. On the 28th of March 2018, Amira Belhaj, a Tunisian participant in the international singing competition “The Voice” was a guest in L’émission and was criticised by Mariem Dabbegh for the way she looks. In fact, she agreed with Ahlam, the famous Emirati singer who was the reason behind Amira’s disqualification from the competition. Dabbegh specifically said “personally, if I were there, I would’ve chosen a person with a worse voice but with a better physique”. Therefore, she illustrates the fact she would rather choose looks over talent.
It is important to say that Amira Belhaj was not the only victim of fat-shaming by Mariem Dabbegh. As a matter of fact, on the 18th of April 2018, the presenter expressed her disagreement and dislike toward Hanen Karchoudi’s body, an aspiring comedian who was a guest in L’émission. She stated that “a woman should take care of her body”. Such phrases can affect young girls very easily and can even lead them to starve themselves in order to lose weight and achieve the “perfect body” primarily because seeing Mariem Dabbegh on TV twice a week will automatically impact the audience, especially these girls who are still looking for a role model to look up to. In fact, the number of her Instagram followers has increased very rapidly during two years; in 2017 she had 89.000 followers and she reached 1.6 million followers in 2019 and a great number of them are teenage girls. This is how much influence she has on people.
In addition to all of this, this woman is known to be wealthy and fashionable. In every episode of the show, she tends to mention either the brand or the price of a clothing item she had recently bought. For example, she made a purchase of a pair of shoes that costs 7 thousand dinars and her birthday party cost 50 thousand dinars. These claims have a huge impact on children and teenagers who will automatically feel upset with their parents for not being able to provide them with such items. As a matter of fact, a number of girls started refusing to buy clothes from thrift shops and mothers are complaining about this and mainly blaming tv show hosts and social media influencers.
Furthermore, Mariem Dabbegh continues to bring down almost every female guest on L’émission by mentioning her flaws and tearing her spirit down. May 12, 2018 was one of those occasions in which this speaker portrayed her arrogance by addressing Miss Tunisia 2018 “I’m much more beautiful than she is” and later adds that natural beauty does not last and encourages the culture of cosmetic surgery. Such opinions can generate two kinds of feelings; either a very high sense of supremacy or a hatred towards one’s self-image. indeed, this TV presenter does not cease to tear down people in general and people from her own gender specifically. It is important to say that feminism in Tunisia has been spreading more widely and effectively, and the number of feminist activists has grown largely. Their main goal is to empower women. But, they are rarely mentioned or invited to TV shows, among them is Yosra Frawes who is a famous feminist who currently holds the position of the president of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women and fights for women’s rights.
Thus, the image of the hard working, well-educated and empowering Tunisian woman does not lay within Mariem Dabbegh who shows up in every TV show and social media platform, but it lays within women who work day and night behind the scenes to improve their country’s political, economic and social situation, and fight for their right to gender equality.
