"Hot Arab Girls" ???

I’m interested in discussing the portrayal of “Arab” and “middle eastern” women in the media. Interestingly (and tellingly), online searches demonstrate a distinct difference between the way “Arab” women and depicted and the way that “middle eastern” women are.

“Arab” women were overwhelmingly connected to erotic images. Searching Youtube for “Arab women,” 9 of the first 20 results are either overtly pornographic or focused on how “sexy” these women are (this eroticism is often connected to dancing, specifically shaking their hips and "asses"). Many of the videos have a hundred thousand views and one has two million. At the top of the page Youtube suggests that we also try searching for “hot Arab.” If you sort the results by view-count, 19 of them are related to sex, and some have over 8 million views. The first site that comes up when you do the same search in Google is for the “100 most beautiful Arab women.” Searches on “middle eastern women,” on the other hand, were focused on the “inferior status” and “abuse” that they face in their home countries.

While the second search may appear to be objective and academic, I would like to discuss the ways that both stereotypes objectify women and present them as figures who are ruled by men and have no agency of their own. Also, it is important to look at what role these images play in American history and ideology. Has America justified interventions and imperialism abroad by citing the “abuse” of “middle eastern” women? Have American attempts to address these “abuses” conflicted with the desires of the women themselves? Why are Americans so drawn to the idea of “exotic” and “erotic” “Arab” women (images which are certainly not inherently connected to these women, and are often created by the Americans themselves)?

Luckily, the searches also produce responses by intelligent middle eastern women. Below are two clips, the first by Jordan’s Queen Raina and the second by Jordan’s queen Noor, both of whom intelligently and articulately discuss the challenges and opportunities facing women in the Middle East.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyCB-ULChV4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBMQ-ZFHJUA
(sorry I don't know how to directly add the movies on a mac)

As a last note, just to tie everything back together, Queen Raina was voted the 3rd most beautiful women in the world in 2005.