When I first heard people mentioning that Anthony Bourdain, who has a travel show called No Reservations, was doing a show in Saudi Arabia, I think I cringed almost instinctively. I mean, non-Muslim American white guy, going where? Eek. I expected all sorts of clichés about oppressed women (living under oppressive clothing and oppressive laws), “fanatical” Muslims (such as the kind that pray five times a day), and so on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gokw7TScjRw&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0
I have to say that upon watching the show (or what I could find of it on YouTube), I was pleasantly surprised. Danya, the woman showing Bourdain around is awesome and friendly, and their excursions include visiting street vendors, the mall, the desert, and Danya’s home, and even going scuba diving. Yes, there are some problems in defining what “essential” or “traditional” Saudi culture is, or in portraying Westernised elements of Saudi culture as “modern,” but all in all, it’s surprisingly not bad. Go check it out.
Something interesting that comes up is that Bourdain’s comments where he brings up what he sees as examples of women’s oppression are often met with nonchalant answers from Danya that casually, but very directly, challenge his assumptions and suggest alternate interpretations of certain practices. Women generally wear black not because the society likes its women to suffer in the heat, but because it’s less see-through. The separation of a men’s section and a family section in a restaurant results in segregation of men, and not of women. This isn’t to say that we have to agree with all of her interpretations, but what is relevant is that she’s able to show that there are more ways than one of understanding a culture, and that it’s possible for a woman to live there without seeing herself as oppressed or segregated.
The producer’s blog about this show is also very much worth checking out. As a woman, she writes about her experience of wearing the abaya while in Saudi. We’re trying for a bit of a moratorium on discussions of Muslim women’s clothing here at MMW, plus I’m getting really tired of it, so I won’t go too far into that part of it. It is definitely interesting though to see her perspective on it, and from the comments at the bottom, it seems that it prompted at least a few people to reconsider their assumptions about abayas. On the other hand, I am a bit concerned about the extent to which she paints Danya as “extraordinary,” since it’s possible that people could read the article and assume that, while Danya’s pretty cool, all the other women in Saudi Arabia still fit into their preconceptions about the country.
What I would have liked to see in this episode, and this is a common motif for many westerners who express surprise that the Middle East isn’t quite the scary world they expect it to be, is a bit more self-examination in terms of how he came to have the expectations he did about Saudi Arabia. (Okay, I’m totally aware that that’s asking for way more than any travel show is ever going to do, but even so…) Bourdain does a good job of admitting that he was wrong in his preconceived ideas about the country, but he could have explored this further. Why exactly did he feel that this destination was “predestined to suck,” as he says in his blog? Yes, he mentions that American news stories about Saudi Arabia contributed to the impression that he had, but every so often I just wish that the person making the “wow, look, those Muslims aren’t as scary as I thought they’d be” comments would focus more on themselves than on the Muslims they’re talking about. (It’s like when people see a Muslim woman speak and then think, wow, she was so articulate and powerful, I wouldn’t have expected that from a Muslim woman! But the focus is on her, rather than on the fact that maybe they need to re-examine why they had those expectations in the first place.) Still, I suppose his admission (several times) that he had misjudged the country before going there is still pretty important, especially for someone with a bit of a cavalier attitude, trying to make himself look like he’s going somewhere really different and scary.
Anyway, go watch the show if you haven’t already, and let me know what you think! I wasn’t able to find the whole thing, start to finish, on youtube, but you’ll get most of it if you watch this, this, this, this, and this. (There are some overlaps in there, but each clip has parts that the others don’t.)
(I will be honest here and admit that I don’t actually own a TV, had never heard of Anthony Bourdain before this episode, and don’t have a clue what his show is normally like. I’m basing my impressions only on what I saw in this episode, and I can’t comment on any other shows about other places that he has visited. I’d be interested to hear if he had similar experiences in other countries though!)
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but…you’re aware that women are forced by law to wear the abaya in saudi arabia while outside foreigner compounds? saudi women DO live under oppressive laws and oppressive clothing. a thousand news stories and laws could tell you that, as you well know. not all the political correctness and tolerance in the world can make that less true. every single woman i know who has ever lived there still recoils when she hears the world. is it so wrong to acknowledge naked inequality?
I admit to having never watched Anthony Bourdain’s shows save for a few episodes (when he visited Hong Kong and Osaka, respectively). But my first introduction to him was his book “A Cook’s Tour,” which is basically a memoir of his experience filming an earlier “No Reservations”-like show for the Food Network. He’s an extremely funny writer, but also extremely self-reflective. And in that book he wrote at length about what it was like being a white American in Cambodia and Vietnam, and having to own up to all of his privilege in that context (even though he never used the word “privilege”). In “A Cook’s Tour” he also visited Morocco, and from the tone of that chapter it sounded like it was very much his first encounter with Muslim culture. Unfortunately it’s been a couple years since I’ve read the book, and I can’t recall what exactly he wrote in that chapter, save for long descriptions of making tea. Now I’m curious to go back and re-read, and see what he actually wrote. (Or if I’m even remembering it correctly.) But “A Cook’s Tour” was written when Bourdain was still new to this whole globetrotting thing. I’m sure that with “No Reservations” he’s had plenty more of the types of experiences that you describe – particularly having his assumptions about each country that he visits challenged. It’s good to hear that the TV episode didn’t turn out nearly as terrible as it could have been.
While positive feedback is important and I liked Danya’s perspective, I would have liked a little more context about Danya’s background and social class; I feel that these things allow her to present KSA a different way, and they should be discusses. Life for Danya is not representative of life for all Saudi women, no matter how refreshingly positive she portrayed the country.
but…you’re aware that women are forced by law to wear the abaya in saudi arabia while outside foreigner compounds? saudi women DO live under oppressive laws and oppressive clothing.I lived in a town where they passed a law making it illegal to be topless in public (if you’re a woman).Oppressive? A few women thought so. Strangely enough most supported the ban. Have they been brainwashed?
My wife and I sat and watched it. My wife is Saudi and actually lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where the show was done. We both thought it rather fair. We werent sure what he’d be like. We watch his regular show and his love of booze and pig is well known. The only thing we noticed was the fact that the show tended to dwell on the “bedu” (nomidic/tribal) aspect a bit too much for a city in Saudi like Jeddah. Jeddah is a really city area, it doesnt have the tribal/bedu background and that is exactly why non of the Saudis he was with knew much about, or had ever eaten, some of the food he was talking about. Had he played up the Bedu/tribal thing and did the show in Riyadh or a place like Qassim he would have been around Saudis who knew and had eaten the tribal foods. Then he would have had to show a different side of Saudi, one that is A LOT more conservative. A show about Jeddah should have covered more about the long standing international flavour of the city, the Indonesian, Pakistan, Indian and other ethnic restaurants that are so popular there.
Hey everyone, thanks for the comments!@ forsoothsayer: Yes, certainly, I’m aware that there is serious inequality and oppression in Saudi Arabia. The point that I was trying to make is not that these things don’t exist, but that there’s more going on than that, that there are more ways of understanding what’s happening, and that people there might have their own interpretations of certain laws and customs that are different from what an outsider might expect. I was surprised that the show actually allowed for some of that complexity. @ nenena: Thanks for that description of the book – it sounds interesting that he’s so self-reflexive!
@ zeynab: Yeah, I had that concern too. Social class was a big issue that totally didn’t get discussed, and it’s true that the show was not especially representative of the majority experience. There definitely is a lot to criticise – I think I’m just still so amazed that the show wasn’t as terrible as it could be, that my usual rip-things-apart critical eye has been temporarily stunned into silence
@ Abu Sinan: Those are really good points, and it’s interesting to hear a perspective from someone with connections to the city. The show did have a vibe of trying to do (or eat) the craziest things possible, even if these were far from typical of the lifestyle of the people he was spending time with. It’s interesting you bring up the international side of Jeddah – in Danya’s video that she originally submitted in the contest to appear on the show, she actually talked a lot about the diversity of Jeddah as a city, and the multiple international influences that it has, so it’s too bad that that side was ultimately overlooked in the show that was produced.
dude:Comparing a ban on toplessness (something which most women do not choose to do) to a law enforcing a woman cover from head to toe (something which many, if not most, women don’t choose), is not at all accurate. The two are worlds apart and not at all comparable.Abu Sinan:”A show about Jeddah should have covered more about the long standing international flavour of the city, the Indonesian, Pakistan, Indian and other ethnic restaurants that are so popular there.”To be fair to these non-Saudis, would he then not have to cover the racism these groups experience from Saudi nationals?
yeah, the issue of class was hugely lacking in the segment embedded in this post. and class issues are intricately tied also to this notion of Jeddah as a diverse city. while Jeddah is certainly a city with a lot of international influences, that internationalism is a direct result of its labour relations with other countries. so passing off its cosmopolitanism as an unabashedly positive thing is problematic because it denies the deeply entrenched nature of Saudi racism and the fact that immigrant/expatriate labour is hugely exploited in Saudi Arabia (and, to be fair, much of the Middle East) – while this labour force is simultaneously integral to how functioning of the nation. for one (by no means isolated) example, see this Arab News’ article on Indonesian Embassy concerned over surge in maid abuse cases
I watch No Reservations regularly. It is probably one of the most intelligent travel shows on tv. I watched the Saudi episode, it was good, but definitely not as good as other episodes. He had recently been to Uzbekistan where he participated(or rather sat quietly and listened to) friday prayers. He said it was one of the most spiritual and peaceful experiences of his life. I think that might have been his first in depth exposure to Muslim life other than what he’d seen. If you watch the beginning of the Saudi episode, he says he chose Danya because he wanted to see what kind of country would produce the hijackers from 9/11. All in all, I think he left with a broader sense of what it means to be Muslim than he had before.
@ fathima: Thanks for bringing that up. Obviously I don’t have much (any) knowledge about social issues in Jeddah (and this show clearly didn’t do much to fix that!), so I appreciate you mentioning those social dynamics.@ maheen: I’ll have to check out that Uzbekistan episode. I thought that his positive reaction to the prayer in the Saudi episode was also refreshing. (On the other hand, there was a point where it seemed almost like he was giving his approval – like “don’t worry folks, these prayers are actually pretty peaceful!” – which obviously isn’t what’s needed. But it was cool to see that he was moved by the prayer.)
Comparing a ban on toplessness (something which most women do not choose to do) to a law enforcing a woman cover from head to toe (something which many, if not most, women don’t choose), is not at all accurate. The two are worlds apart and not at all comparable.They really are not all that far apart. The point is that the government does have the right to dictate such things to a degree. Certainly, Saudi Arabia goes too far with it, but then again (at least in Jeddah – where I’ve lived), this is also mostly a non-issue. Go to any popular supermarket and you’ll see plenty of people not fully covered up. Nothing happens to them.To be fair to these non-Saudis, would he then not have to cover the racism these groups experience from Saudi nationals?Yes, he certainly could have. I don’t watch the show, so I don’t know what his usual routine is (i.e. if he ever shows such things for other places). At the end, there is only so much one can squeeze in. Would you demand a similar show about some place in the US focus on the drug wars and the high incarceration rate (the US is, BTW, the most imprisoned nation on the Earth)? Or demand that they point out class issues in the US w.r.t. health coverage? Or the impact of the market on your average Wal-Mart worker? And speaking of racism, how about the racism in the US? Particularly against illegal immigrants. Jeddah, like the US, has a huge illegal immigrant problem. People come for Hajj and just don’t leave. They’re everywhere: Cleaning up cars, selling foods, etc.
“Would you demand a similar show about some place in the US focus on the drug wars and the high incarceration rate (the US is, BTW, the most imprisoned nation on the Earth)? Or demand that they point out class issues in the US w.r.t. health coverage? Or the impact of the market on your average Wal-Mart worker?”Most definitely I would! Neglecting these issues, especially when the extravagance, success, and/luxury we speak of is due to the labour of these groups, is racist/classist itself and inaccurate. It also negates the human-ness of the people upon whose labour the country was built. For instance, when we speak of the affluence and success of the US we should be acknowledging that the reason they are so rich and successful is because they subjugated, controlled and indeed terrorized Black people – their slaves. Taken from an anti-racist perspective these issues are necessary to point out regardless of where they occur otherwise we risk implying that a certain group of people do not exist.
fathima and Abu Sinan (‘dude’ as well) are all speaking about the class issues there, and fathima and ‘dude’ have lived there – as have I. I did find it strange that they didn’t mention that Danya was from the wealthy class (as she said “We eat and shop”) while showing shots of workers bringing food and transiting over faces from abroad. I do think having interviews there would have been difficult, as there is much suspicion from foreign workers of western (white) people – I would pray in a mosque, wear a thowb or kufi, and still get asked whether I was a muslim, missionary, or face open suspicion that I was a spy… logic was often lacking.And it probably should be examined how class and power relate in Saudi, but I rarely see that examined in travel shows, because the purpose (in general, if not in this particular episode) is to advertise a new travel destination for young travel addicts. (‘Lonely Planet’ comes to mind) All in all, I think this program did pretty well at covering the de rigeur topics of women and religion in Saudi, if only superficially – but I didn’t expect much in the first place.
Good insight for someone making their first visit to Saudi. Thanks for all your comments. The No Reservations Jeddah edition shows how food can open the doors between cultures and ignorance.