After watching Little Mosque on the Prairie and it’s portrayal of Muslims in Canada, I began to think about how exposing viewers to a diverse view of Muslims may help break Muslim stereotypes. Sandra Canas acknowledges this by stating that Muslims tend to be stereotyped as violent terrorists. In particular, Muslim women are stereotyped as submissive, oppressed by their religion, and exotic (Canas, 195–196). I started to think about other examples of how Islam and Middle Eastern culture is represented in the media, and realized the harmful stereotypes that are implicit in each. I began to look at portrayals of Islam and Middle Eastern culture in music:
Pop artist Lady Gaga was seen wearing clothing resembling the burqa, a garment typically worn by Muslim women. This was controversial as this depicted the burqa as a type of costume, stripped of its religious significance and used for publicity. In this case, it was suspected that Lady Gaga wore this to create buzz for a single she was to release in the upcoming year:
Aura by Lady Gaga, originally leaked as “Burqa,” features some controversial lyrics:
“I’m not a wandering slave,/I am a woman of choice/My veil is protection for the gorgeousness of my face” ….
“Do you want to see me naked, lover?/Do you want to peek underneath the covers?/Do you wanna see the girl who lives behind the aura” …
“Enigma popstar is fun,/She wear burqa for fashion”
In her article, Sandra Canas argues that Western representations of Muslim women contrast them to Western women, in the sense that Muslim women are traditional and need to be liberated by their modern Western ‘sisters’ (Canas, 196). This may be implied in Lady Gaga’s choice of clothing (as pictured earlier): she takes the idea of the burqa, which “hides” the body, and uses it ironically to display her body. Superficially, this may be a statement to “liberate” women by depicting sexual empowerment. This is seen in her lyrics, in which she calls herself a woman of choice, wearing the burqa to protect her beauty. However, this may reinforce the stereotype that the burqa is oppressive, and by making it see-through, she has become “liberated.”
Lady Gaga can also be critiqued for sexualizing the burqa. Not only does she use it to show her body, but in the lyrics she tempts the audience: “Do you want to peek underneath the covers?” This goes against the idea of the burqa, which is usually worn out of modesty. Finally, Lady Gaga also states that she wore the burqa for fashion. This is also problematic as it depicts the burqa as a costume. Lady Gaga simply wears the burqa to be fashionable, but does not face the prejudice or discrimination that Muslim women face when they wear the burqa. For instance, Lady Gaga is seen as making a fashion statement, whereas Muslim women may be seen as oppressed by their religion.
Canas states that after 9/11, these Orientalist ideas of Islam and stereotypical representations of Muslims were reinforced (Canas, 196). One example that comes to mind is this song:
The Taliban Song by Toby Keith is supposed to depict an Afghan middle-aged man and his struggles with the Taliban. However, these lyrics perpetuate stereotypical ideas of Middle Eastern culture and show clear references to 9/11:
“I’m just a middle-aged, middle-eastern camel herdin’ man”
“Now I ain’t seen my wife’s face … They make her wear a scarf over her head… She loves the desert … Ride Camel Ride … ”
“This is a patriotic love song … Now they attacked New York City”
“…we prayed to Allah with all of our might/Until those big U.S. jets came…/They dropped little bombs all over their holy land”
Not only does this portray Middle Eastern people as “camel herders,” but also depicts Muslim women as oppressed, ignoring the idea that some Muslim women wear the head scarf by choice. Furthermore, it is clear that this song was influenced by 9/11 as this American artist mentions patriotism and the attack on New York City. Lastly, these lyrics also perpetuate stereotypes often found in Orientalism: the idea that Muslims are premodern and inferior and that the West is modern and superior (Canas, 196). This is seen in the lyrics which show the Afghan man praying for help, in which the U.S. comes to save the day.
The stereotype that Muslims are premodern may also be hinted at in this music video:
The music video for Bad Girls shows M.I.A. accompanied by Middle Eastern men and women, who dance and pull driving stunts against a desert landscape. Some of the women are seen in fashionable polka-a-dot and metallic gold hijabs/niqabs and gold chains. In contrast to the Lady Gaga example, the women in this video are not sexualized, are shown together with men, and appear strong (e.g., directly gazing into the camera, performing driving stunts). However, this video can be critiqued as it still depicts the Middle East as premodern and violent. The landscape is desolate except for rubble, broken down buildings, and open fires. Middle Eastern men and women are shown performing dangerous driving stunts and holding guns. They are also depicted like nomads, riding horses or travelling through the streets on foot followed by a progression of cars and trucks.
These examples show that there is still a need for more accurate, complex, and diverse representations of Muslims and Middle Eastern culture. Although Sandra Canas points out some of its limitations, television shows like Little House on the Prairie may be one step closer towards creating these better representations.
