It’s a males’ world

By Fatmeh Azzeh

February 2004

Women in the Arab World have been subjected to many abuses in the way in which they are represented by the media. We see women all over our television screens hosting entertainment programs, taking in calls, and presenting different shows. It is obvious to observers that these women are only used for their physical appearance to attract more male attention and even females who tend to view these beauty figures as ‘role models’ and aspire to, maybe one day, become more like them.

However, if we look at the more ‘serious’ programs, where political or economic discussion is involved, we notice a total transformation in the representation of women, where they are either nonexistent or very few. Men instead take on the important roles of hosting and being hosted in programs that involve politics, economics and social issues, since the dominant stereotype views men as less emotional, more objective and mentally superior to women.

Unfortunately, women in the media are represented from a male dominant point of view which pictures them as sexual objects. Images of females show them in close up shots with particular emphasis on their bodies, while men are shown in long shots with no precise emphasis. In advertisements, for example, there is a specific focus on the face and bodies of women, portraying them as commodities and seductive sex objects that can sell more products.

To increase the view of women as objects of the male gaze, we have been celebrating the increase in the number of beauty pageants in Lebanon as a sign of the liberation of women and our civilized society. Competitions of beauty have increased to the point that it is hard to tell who is winning what, but as the popular saying goes, “the more the merrier!”

Beauty pageants present a system by which girls learn, through socialization, that the only way they can progress or get ahead in life is by being beautiful. According to Naomi Wolf in her book “The Beauty Myth,” we live in a culture where we are taught that beautiful things happen to beautiful women, while ugly women are doomed. This explains the behavior of girls who rush to the opportunity of participating in and the possibility of winning a beauty pageant.

L. Mulvey writes in an article titled “The Spectacle is Vulnerable: Miss World, 1970,” that the Miss World competition celebrates “the traditional female road to success” by presenting “an erotic exhibition” in a more “glamorous” manner. Mulvey says that the condition of the women who participate in beauty pageants “is the condition of all women, born to be defined by their physical attributes, born to give birth, or if born pretty, born lucky.”

The problem with this representation is that women who participate in creating it do not realize what they are being subjected to themselves. This ‘celebrity status’ that is given to beautiful women makes them continue in commodifying their bodies as sexual objects of the male desire. Even worse, anyone who criticizes this must be either ugly or jealous of their success.

This view of women by society turns them into mere objects and rips them of their true selves. Girls learn from an early age that there are certain ‘standards’ of beauty, which if they do not achieve, they will be doomed by failure in their professional and private lives. This attitude towards beauty has created many illnesses and eating disorders in women who try to adhere to this image of thinness that is promoted by the media.

In the book “Women: Images and Realities,” July Siebecker says in her article “Women’s Oppression and the Obsession with Thinness,” that “When we see that our bodies and sexuality are viewed and treated as commodities, we begin in subtle ways to think of ourselves as objects.” Siebecker says that this leads us to believe that we can only have successful lives if we turn ourselves into “perfect objects” that can win the affection of men and be approved by society.

According to Siebecker, women want to be thin and beautiful for two reasons: “because we are told that we need to for our health, and to avoid being social outcasts.” These strong social forces work to create a low self-esteem in women who cannot achieve this perfect picture of what a beautiful and successful woman should ‘look’ like, ignoring other aspects of her mental or intellectual capacity.

As long as this stereotype of women continues, many will feel self-conscious about their looks and their bodies because they cannot look more like the Barbie doll image. 

Fatmeh Azzeh is a journalism student at the Lebanese American University. She wrote this article for Alternative