When Will the Revolutions in Syria and Egypt Come to TV Dramas?

September 24, 2012 By

For many of us, television drama can be an enriching part of our living experience, defining many of our day-to-day conversations with family members, co-workers and social network friends.  But what happens if drama series go too far in fantasizing about our life situations by presenting us with unreal representations of events, issues and personalities that we find hard to identify with?

During this past Ramadan, I found two different soap operas tackling stories of Arab women from different perspectives quite misleading. One of them, Banat El ‘Aileh (The Family Girls), a Syrian production, tells the story of seven cousins, and the challenges facing young women at work, at home, and in relationship contexts.

The Family Girls introduces success stories of women who excelled at workplaces and at home alike, turning them into role models for other women in society. For example, Sara, the main character, is a successful radio anchor. She is engaged to a successful businessman, but fails to experience true romance in her life. One of her avid radio show listeners falls in love with her, chasing her wherever she goes. Because it has to end in a happy way, Sara leaves her fiancé for this lover, who believes in her career and success.

The other six cousins have similar stories, but this is not the real issue here. For me personally, watching bloody scenes of civilian killings on television makes it rather agonizing for me to switch the channel to The Family Girls. It is as if I wanted to be cheated into believing the situation in Syria is fine and the drama series was proof of that. One the one hand, it feels good to see women finally becoming walking up the ladder of achievement in society, but it saddens me to see those drama-generated dreams dashed against the bloody conflict in which women and children are the prime victims. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Politics, Television Tagged With: , , , , , ,

“The Light in Her Eyes” Sheds Some Light on the Women of Syria

July 18, 2012 By

We are bombarded with images from Syria every day — flashing across our television screens and updating in our Facebook newsfeeds. They are horrific pictures of the carnage left in the aftermath of massacres. It has been over a year now since the beginning of the Syrian uprising and there seems to be no relief from the continuing assaults on the Syrian people. At a time when we risk becoming desensitized to this ongoing horror, it is important to truly see the people in the images playing out in our living rooms, and  to be reminded that they are not so worlds-apart from us.

This reminder comes in the heartfelt form of a documentary film titled, “The Light in Her Eyes.” I previously posted about this film, which follows the story of Houda al-Habash, the founder and teacher of an all girls’ Qur’an school in Damascus, Syria. Now, as news of Syria grows more desperate by the day, filmmakers Julia Meltzer and Laura Nix give us hope by reminding North American audiences of the aspirations and desires of several inspiring Syrian women.

Set in Damascus, Syria in the summer of 2010, the 58 min film opens with a group of young girls reciting Qur’an and demonstrating their knowledge of Islam. Houda al-Habash is seen teaching these young girls how to memorize Qur’an and overseeing the progress of teachers and students at a number of mosque summer programs across Damascus. This work isn’t new for Houda who, at the age of 17, opened one of the first Qur’an schools for girls in Syria.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Politics, Television Tagged With: , , , , ,

Revolution and Resistance in Egypt and Syria

July 2, 2012 By

Revolution never arrives without its victims. The lives it changes and swallows within its jaws are the same lives who endured decades of violence, decadence, and impoverishment by the very systems that it wishes to replace. The revolutions in the Middle East deeply reflect the contradictions between the joy and pride of toppling a dictatorship and the disheartening emotions of chaos and uncertainty. In the process, deepening class, sexual, ethnic and other social divides can bring a nation to its knees. In a revolution, just as in a society that does not take care of those who are the most vulnerable, everyone suffers, but it is clear that women tend to be given a special type of suffering. A suffering that penetrates their psychological, emotional and physical well-being, the suffering of being forced to endure rape, sexual assault and abuse.

As conflict arises in the Middle East, stories are continuing to be pressed on the escalating amounts of sexual abuse against women. Just recently, another high-profile incident took place, where a white Western journalist, Natasha Smith, was sexually assaulted by a mob of men. Much like the Lara Logan case, Smith’s story was given international news attention. Smith declared that it is not just white Western journalists who are being victimized. [Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Politics Tagged With: , , , ,

The Media’s Chickens Come Home to Roost with the Amina Hoax

June 20, 2011 By

This was written by B.

Full disclosure: Last month I wrote a piece for MMW about the new ‘blog heroine’, Amina Abdullah. The thrust of my piece was my discomfort at her being promoted by the Western media as such a central figure in the Syrian uprising. However, the planned posting date coinciding with Amina’s kidnapping and the story was spiked on grounds of taste.

Of course, we now know that Amina was now an entirely fictional figure. Opprobrium has been heaped on the perpetrator of the lie, yet I find the media equally culpable.

Firstly, here’s why the media’s positing “Amina” as such a great revolutionary hero was so problematic. While she was a lesbian, she also stated that she was a dual U.S./Syrian national from a moneyed background, making her someone of great class privilege. Making Amina a hero reconfigured an uprising started and largely maintained by the poorest, least privileged members of society to an operation carried out by a hugely privileged, Western-approved figurehead.

Although the internet has proven vital in the ongoing struggle, most Syrians still do not have internet access/ use the internet and what access they do have is state-controlled. Many rely on internet cafes, but as food/oil prices rocket due to the unrest and the streets are seen as unsafe for many due to the government forces, people won’t be able to use them, either. This is not an uprising that was either started by, or is occurring, via the internet.

Likewise, many Syrians, particularly those from poorer areas are not likely to speak English, all of which means it is unlikely that her blog is the rallying point for the uprising as the articles implied. When an article in Jezebel lauded her bravery while simultaneously referring to the slaughter of hundreds and imprisonment of thousands as a “crackdown,” the framing moves from the implausible to the star-seeking and offensive. The Western media deserves criticism for erasing the reality of what is happening in to people Syria to produce a “juicy” story.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Web Tagged With: , , ,

Updates: Amina Abdullah and Eman al-Obeidi

June 10, 2011 By

Two important updates on stories that we have covered over the past couple months!

First, Sara Yasin wrote recently about a blog called “A Gay Girl in Damascus,” where Syrian-American blogger Amina Abdullah Arraf has been writing about the revolution in Syria.  Amina Abdullah Arraf was allegedly abducted on June 6, and has not been heard from.  Many news organizations have since questioned her identity, especially the pictures assumed to be hers were discovered to be of another woman, Jelena Lecic. While we’re all very curious about Amina’s identity, an excellent quote from The Washington Post blog helps keep us on the bigger picture: “Again, people should operate under the assumption that there is a real blogger under detention in Syria. Who they are is another matter.”

Back in April, Tasnim looked at the media coverage of Iman al-Obeidi, a Libyan woman who first made the news in late March, when she told foreign journalists at the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli about her detention and rape by members of Gaddafi’s militias.  After being smuggled out of Libya, taking refuge in Qatar, and recently being expelled from Qatar and sent back to Libya, al-Obeidi is now apparently on her way to the United States.  According to the most recent news, she has arrived in Romania, and may be staying there temporarily.

Of course, despite the attention that these particular stories have received, these women are not alone in the violence that they have experienced.  These updates remind us also of the many others in Syria, Libya and elsewhere who have recently been arrested, imprisoned, tortured, raped, or killed.  Our prayers go out to all of them.

UPDATE (June 12, 2011): Amina was a hoax. At this time, let’s not focus on what an asshole the man behind this is, but on the very real danger that imprisoned journalists and bloggers in Syria and other countries are facing.

Filed Under: News, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Dictatorships Are No Longer in Vogue

March 17, 2011 By

What does one of the world’s premier fashion and culture magazines have in common with one of the world’s most relentlessly brutal dictators?

A love for Asma al-Assad.

In the recent issue of Vogue, writer Joan Juliet Buck profiles Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s charming, educated, eloquent and fashionable wife for her February 2011 piece “Rose in a Desert.” While renowned for exceptional aesthetic preferences, it is apparent that the magazine decided to let good taste take a backseat amidst a period of great tumult and bloodshed in the Middle East.

Asma al Assad

The image of Asma al-Assad from the Vogue article. Photo by James Nachtwey.

During the course of the past two months, a wave of anti-authoritarian uprisings have swept the Arab world, bearing witness to the masses of young Egyptians, Tunisians, Bahrainis, and Libyans risking life and limb for freedom from decades-long tyranny. While significant blows have been delivered to autocratic regimes and police states, revolutionary action has thus far failed to even nudge the Arab Republic of Syria, one of the region’s most repressive police states.

Rather than focusing on Syrian women rightly accorded the attribute of courage, Vogue chooses to gloss over Syrian authoritarianism and human rights abuses while simultaneously normalizing Asma al-Assad as nothing more than an everyday power-woman.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Books/Magazines, News, Politics Tagged With: , , ,
« Older Posts