With the technological revolution we can no longer be oblivious to the world because the world is no longer oblivious to us. Western media channels have for the last few decades controlled the way the world sees Muslims, often resorting to stereotypes and at times distorting the history and culture of a diverse Muslim people.
Fifteen years ago many people feared the affect of globalization on cultural and national identity, especially in the Gulf region. The fear was mainly for a new generation that was overexposed to a homogenous, imported American culture and knew little about their own culture and worse still, little of their own “mother tongue”, Arabic. There was also concern over the loss of religion, ethics, values and tradition; in a nutshell, it was fear over the Arab people’s lack of attachment or loyalty to their culture.
To some the equation of globalization with the loss of cultural identity is the familiar dichotomy between the old and the new way of life. The “old way of life” is meant to signify authenticity, which the new is destroying by luring the population into the urban centers from the village, thereby spelling the end for small communities that are seen as the only site and preservers of cultural authenticity, be it embodied in the language, regional dialect or long-held rituals and customs. Others see globalization as a necessary or inevitable modernizing process that is allowing for a proliferation of identities. In “Globalization and Cultural Identity”, John Tomlinson argues that “globalization is the globalization of modernity, and modernity is the harbinger of identity.” Many people would agree, therefore, that conflicts and divergence within different cultures is in reality enriching the modern human experience.
Manuel Castels in “The Information Age” (Volume II) observes that “Our world and our lives are being shaped by the conflicting trends.” These conflicting trends are globalization and the solidifying of national identities. The conflict with globalization has proved to be beneficial in so far as many Third-World institutions believe that it’s an indirect attack on their civilization and culture, which they have sought to defend themselves against by creating a milieu for dialogue among their people, whilst playing at times a substantial role in modernizing their countries.
It would not be alarmist to say that people should be equally fearful of a culture that is growing in force and which is dominating, manipulating and politicizing the discourse on modernity, and in particular the issue of women’s rights.
Satellite channels are playing a considerable role in raising the issue of and challenging harmful social practices, and criticizing conformist ways of thinking, whilst deepening attachments to a given culture. The abundance of productions, whether of high or low-quality should on the whole be credited for their attempts to instill modern ideals in people. Tash ma Tash, produced by MBC and Alfereej by Dubai TV are just two examples. Alfereej is an animated sitcom that successfully holds up a mirror to Gulf society. The interaction between a program and viewers consolidates regional characteristics, history and tradition, engendering a feeling of solidarity among the new generation while offering a nostalgic journey to others.
These programs are not meant solely to entertain audiences, but to question ubiquitous and counterproductive social realities such as religious extremism, unequal job opportunities or wasta, corruption in the judicial system and leniency in governmental quarters. By throwing light on the ugly flaws in a social fabric they help viewers differentiate between harmful customs they would be better off without, and cultural traditions they want to see preserved from the “onslaught” of modernity.
Globalization, be it in the form of multimedia, the opening up of an economy or a changing political scene, has had a huge affect on the people of the Gulf states. With the technological revolution we can no longer be oblivious to the world because the world is no longer oblivious to us. Western media channels have for the last few decades controlled the way the world sees Muslims, often resorting to stereotypes and at times distorting the history and culture of a diverse Muslim people. Misconceptions and stereotyping have presented a ferocious challenge to those of us with a Muslim identity. Yet we should be mindful of the fact that whenever a controversial local story erupts and finds its way into the outside world, we are doing the West a great favor by fueling these misconceptions with our often-brutal actions or so-called “customs”. Television plays a fundamental role in the making or breaking of a nation’s image. Saudi Arabia learned this to its regret when our image was literally ruined by the events of 9/11. The horrifying images that were replayed a million times over by the American and international media affected us as much as it did the Americans, with the difference that we were the evil, barbaric villains and they the innocent victims. That debacle led us closer to the perilous and so-called clash of civilizations, or rather “clash of ignorances” as someone recently suggested.
The sentencing in the “Qatif Girl Gang-Rape” case is nothing but a disastrous echo of the “Makkah Schoolgirl incident” in which 15 girls perished in a fire in 2002.
Time after time judgments such as that passed in the “Qatif” case mortify us as Saudi nationals by their appalling and overt misogyny that inevitably makes headlines in the international press. It is an urgent issue because these authorities keep catching us by surprise and exposing us to international ridicule and condemnation with their own narrow religious-political agenda. Despite governmental efforts to polish up our image, the judicial system and the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice have failed to modernize and persist on passing judgments that are evidence of a disturbingly misogynistic attitude.
At this very moment many international organizations are reporting and campaigning against the deeply unjust sentencing in the “Qatif Girl Gang-Rape” case. Do we really need the world to rub it in our faces every now and then that it is “in the name of Islam” that our societies are mistreating and killing women?
— Basma Al-Mutlaq has a Ph.D. in Comparative and Feminist Literature in the Middle East from SOAS, London University.
