Islamic Symposium "Shatters the Myth"

Author: Gale Berninghausen

Last weekend's Islamic Society Symposium "Shattering the Myth: Islam, the Media and Orientalist Stereotypes in the American Consciousness," thoughtfully addressed the representation of Muslims and negative stereotypes of the Islamic world. The symposium was organized by students in the Islamic Society and co-sponsored by The Rohatyn Center for International Affairs, the Office for Institutional Diversity, the Chaplain's Office, the sociology department and Wonnacott Commons. The events included three notable speakers and a delectable Middle Eastern feast.
The speakers were Elizabeth Fernea, Jack G. Shaheen and Sarah Eltantawi. They spoke about their work in the areas of film and media. In each of their lectures, the speakers addressed the negative perceptions that Americans have of Muslims and the harmful ways that Muslims are portrayed in film and the media.
The symposium began on Thursday with Fernea's keynote address and a screening of her 1982 documentary film "A Veiled Revolution: The Myth of the Muslim Woman." Fernea has worked as a writer and filmmaker in the Islamic world with her husband for 40 years. She is professor emeritus of English and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Texas at Austin, where she has taught for 25 years. Fernea was also one of the founders of the university's Women's Studies program, and has written extensively on women and family in the Middle East. Her most recent book is entitled "In Search of Islamic Feminism."
Fernea's keynote address began the weekend's discussion of the Western view of Islam and Muslims. She cited a recent Gallup Poll that indicated 42 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of the Muslim world. This, Fernea suggested, is largely based upon stereotypes about Islam and the position of Muslim women. Fernea identified two stereotypes of Muslim women: "The first stereotype is of the exotic, sexy, lounging harem woman with minimal clothing, and the second is the barefoot woman who is a baby-machine, oppressed and abused." Fernea went on to say that many Western males subscribe to the first image of the Muslim woman, while many Western females subscribe to the second image. Fernea said she believes that "these stereotypes come from a historical basis but may not be fixed." Her life's work has revolved around the idea that these stereotypes can be broken down to present the reality of Muslim women.
Fernea's film examined the significance of wearing a veil from the point of view of several Muslim women living in Cairo in the early 1980s. The film interviewed the women — asking about the historical context of the veil and why or why not they chose to wear it — rather than relying on the explanations of men or other figures. Such an approach was considered highly innovative at the time. Fernea was correct in saying that the documentary revealed the women's true thoughts about this complex issue. While Fernea explained that "the Western world sees the veil as a sign of restriction and oppression," her film revealed that many Muslim women choose to wear, or not wear, the veil and "modest clothing that covers the head and body," as a matter of personal, religious and cultural choice.
On Friday, the symposium featured a lecture by Shaheen entitled "Hollywood's Islam: Problems and Prospects." In his lecture, Shaheen spoke at length about the way that Muslims and non-Christian Arabs are portrayed in film. Shaheen identified this type of portrayal as "vilification" and reasoned that this is primarily due to negative stereotypes of Muslims, Arabs and the Islamic world. The media, whether it is film, television or even news, has perpetuated the harmful stereotypes of Muslims and Arabs as either "bumbling sub-servants" or terrorists. Shaheen said he believes that "these images and words teach us who we should love and who we should hate. They are weapons."
Shaheen, whose family is of Arab descent, grew up in Pittsburgh and "always loved film." After graduate school, he taught broadcast journalism and shortly thereafter moved to Beirut. This further sparked his interest in Islamic and Arab culture, and since 1975 Shaheen has fought the movie industry's negative portrayal of Arabs and Arab-Americans. Shaheen is a former CBS News consultant on Middle East affairs and professor emeritus of mass communications at Southern Illinois University. He is the author of "The TV Arab," "Arab and Muslim Stereotyping in Popular Culture" and, most recently, "Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People."
Shaheen described the vilification of Muslims and Arabs in film and media as based upon Hollywood's scheme that "if we humanize the characters in film, we can't vilify them … so they don't have an identity until given the identity of terrorist." Shaheen explained that traditionally Americans have learned about other people through the forums of the religious institution, the school and the home. But with the advent of television, the forum of media was introduced and as Americans, he stated, "We embrace the lessons given to us by the media."
Shaheen reported in his lecture that by the age of 65, Americans will have spent approximately nine years of their lives watching TV. This suggests the vast influence of the media on our perceptions. In research for his latest book "Reel Bad Arabs," Shaheen watched 1,000 films that vilify Arabs and he firmly believes in the importance of maintaining "a lot of decency, faith, good will and sensitivity in not letting a group of people be demeaned so that they suffer."
Eltantawi spoke before the Middle Eastern dinner on Saturday. Eltantawi is the communications director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. She began her job in August 2001 after receiving her master's degree in Middle Eastern studies from Harvard University and first dealt with the effects of Sept. 11 on the Muslim-American community. MPAC was formed in 1988 and deals with the representation of Muslims in the media and the government, and works with a variety of other organizations on Muslim issues and affairs. Eltantawi described this as "a monumental challenge" because there is a "deep incoherence with the media" regarding Muslim-Americans.
Eltantawi explained the stereotype of Muslims in the United States as shaped by "religion; cultural aspects such as the treatment of women, politics, economics and demographics; and political conflicts in the Middle East." As part of her job, Eltantawi tries to counter many skewed perceptions of Muslim-Americans but noted how difficult this is because "mainstream media looks for sensationalism and extremism when it comes to the Muslim community."
Eltantawi answered pointed questions from the audience about the representation of Muslims in the media and described her frustration at the fact that "the think-tank establishments and the administration do not turn to Muslims to ask about Islam."
The delicious feast on Saturday night was catered by Baba's. Slides with images of Muslims around the world were shown to "reinforce the fact that there are Muslims everywhere doing everyday things", said Bilal Habib '04, who worked with other students of the Islamic Society to organize the symposium. Habib was pleased with the symposium and noted, "The speakers were great. We probably couldn't have found better speakers on this topic. And the turnout was great too ... people were interested."