Muslimah Media Watch thanks Latoya for the tip!
Jezebel does an interesting review of Rajaa AlSanea’s Girls of Riyadh that focuses on the consumptive angle of the book; i.e., how obsessed with luxury goods upper class Saudi women are.
While the review itself wasn’t a revelation (I think that an obsession with luxury goods is a stereotype or symptom of upper classes in many cultures), the comments were. Aside from the outright Islamophobic comments, there seems to be a general consensus among Jezebel’s readers that most Middle Eastern women are vapid label whores:
“I went to school with a large population of Middle Easterners and I will say I’ve never seen nicer bags or shoes in my life. Many of the girls dressed like they were going out to the club right from class, even in the middle of the winter.”
“I don’t think that they’ve acquired their taste for luxury goods from the West; I think it’s been there since Saudi Arabia has existed.”
“Yeap agreeing with everyone above who said that many middle-eastern women are obsessed with designer items, particularly the very flashy and logo-laden items. My Saudi girlfriend explained that since most women can’t be very creative or showy with their clothese, there is a particular emphasis on status shoes, handbags, and sunglasses. Makes sense. Hanging with her friends, I totally see it– even in the US these girls will still be DECKED OUT with the logos and glitz.”
“Honestly, the men were just as bad. I used to sleep with a Saudi guy who had more clothes than any woman I’ve ever met. He also had two watches that were worth more than everything I own combined. The guys were always in the newest sneakers and tight jeans from brands I’d never even heard of. I guess if you have to wear a dress at home, you’re looking for something nice and fitted when you’re in the US!”
“have to concur that there’s nothing “western” about this obsession and the middle east could put america to shame with their label-whoring and general eurotrashiness.”
If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Either we’re all oppressed and can’t have rights we really want, or we don’t give a damn about our rights because we just want pretty handbags and expensive jewelry.
Any time one makes a comment that generalizes about a particular geographical/religious group, s/he falls into stereotype country. Many of those who commented haven’t even read the book; they just wanted to get in on the Middle Eastern women-bashing. But this goes beyond regular old horizontal hostility because these posters are ascribing the negative attribute of “label-whoriness” to a particular ethnic/geographical group. Not to mention the derogatory comments about the dishdasha (or, as the second to last poster put it, “a dress.” Dishdashas are considered professional wear for men in the gulf much like suits in the West, as well as traditional clothing).
Well! This hurts my feelings so much I’m going to put on my nicest pair of heels and go buy myself another designer bag.
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This reminds me of the Jewish American Princess stereotype. No one takes note of a woman in expensive clothes unless she belongs to a marginalized group, and when they do, it becomes a symptom of her flawed identity, a symbol of what’s supposedly wrong with her culture. Really bizarre.
Salaams,”I think that an obsession with luxury goods is a stereotype or symptom of upper classes in many cultures”Exactly.Status consciousness is universal, but I think it takes increasingly visible obvious as you go *down* the socio-economic totem pole. Simply put, poor(er) people/societies have more reasons to want to advertise their material success. And developing societies tend to be so stratified that such visible consumption is a very practical way of safely cordoning off the “rabble” from elites. Everyone does it. Richer people/societies just have the luxury of doing it more subtly. And the consequences of being momentarily taken for somebody of a lower class aren’t as serious.And we won’t even get into colonialism and all the complexes it spawned…
Salaam Alaikum,I do read Jezebel regularly. There are some Muslim commenters there to challenge such views. I’m one of them
How bloody dichotomous is this? What about the other Arab countries who are not, you know, FLOATING ON OIL? What about Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen, Sudan, Iraq, Somalia? Are women there obsessed with label-whoring? No. Why? because they’re much poorer than their Gulfie counterparts. Can this POSSIBLY mean that label-whoring is a universal product of wealth and not ethnicity/religion? Oh, no but that would poke holes in their Orientalist, ethnocentric islamophobic tirade! We can’t have that now, can we? Let’s just all go out and buy some new shuz. Yes, pronounced “shuz” because I’m a frivolous Arab girl who doesn’t care about you know, breaking free of Arab gender stereotypes and going abroad to earn my masters degree. I’m all about the shuz.
“This reminds me of the Jewish American Princess stereotype. No one takes note of a woman in expensive clothes unless she belongs to a marginalized group, and when they do, it becomes a symptom of her flawed identity, a symbol of what’s supposedly wrong with her culture. Really bizarre.“So true! I remember watching the coverage of Hurricane Katrina and some of the commentary focused on black women buying Louis Vitton and Fendi purses with the money they received from the Red Cross. Often poor black women are criticized for being “brand conscious” and buying their children Jordans and buying themselves nice clothes that they “really shouldn’t be buying” (because we should definitely tell people how to spend their money). I always wonder why there is such a focus on this and where this stereotype came from. Another thing that I noticed about the comments and which another commenter has brought up, is that Middle Easterner was automatically equated with the Gulf countries as if there isn’t any diversity in that region. Many women in other countries such as Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, etc. probably aren’t going to roc the latest Vogue fashions because they probably can’t afford too. Also, I’m sure there are plenty of women in Saudi who don’t roc those clothes either. Stereotypes simply serve to homogenize diverse people in order to make someone feel and appeal better (in this case Islamophobic and Orientalist buffoons!).
The odd thing is, I read Girls of Riyadh and I don’t remember there being a whole lot of brand obsession. If any? I just remember it being your usual chick-lit novel, with a heck of a lot of guy obsession. Anyone else notice that?