Gender Stereotypes In The Other By Edward Saïd

Edward Saïd stated, “The West—as I see it—has no idea what the East is actually like. They just came up with a bunch of ideas ("representations") and then ran with them." In Western culture, most children are raised to believe that the Western way of life is the best way of life, which can be described as an ethnocentric perspective. The less developed or progressive countries are classified under “The East,” and the more developed are classified as “The West.” This creates a binary way of looking at the planet; an ‘us vs. them’ perspective. Throughout history, the two sides have created conceptions about the other, and about their sexuality. Whether these conceptions are true or not, this has resulted in stereotyping of “The Other.” Edward
In the West, these assumptions are displayed using art in mediums such as movies, news reports, and television shows. New York Times article on Afghani Women in shelters portrays women as figures that are victimized, while other sources of Western media portray Eastern women as hyper-sexualized, creating a stereotypical dualism. Hall’s reinforcement of the idea of stereotypical dualism is also evident in the Eastern male; While Edward Saïd explains the Eastern man as an aggressive, violent, sexual being, Western perspectives also portray these men to be weak through articles regarding American victories. Lastly, Disney’s movie Aladdin stereotypes the process of marriage and the general life in Middle Eastern culture. The stereotyping of males, females, and marriage in Eastern culture, result in tainted opinions the West hold regarding the reality of this
The plot follows a street peddler living in a fictional Arabian city, whose love interest is the Princess of the city with requirements to find a rich husband in just a few days time. To begin, the movie follows an Arabian singer riding on a camel which displays the first Western stereotyping of the Eastern man. Then the movie pans to a scene of action within the city where street peddler Aladdin steals bread from the market causing a chase between Aladdin and the big, muscular guards of the city who hold large knives are dressed in turbans. The representation of the occupations presented in these scenes display violence, poor income, and mindless work. Saïd states, “Slave trader, camel driver, money changer, colourful scoundrel: these are some traditional Arab roles in the cinema” (287). All of these occupations hold little respect or down right do not exist in Western culture. This symbolizes not only the difference between the two worlds (East and West) however the lack of respect the West holds towards the East and their supposed occupations. Past the palace walls in Princess Jasmine’s side of the story she is being pressured into finding a husband made of riches. It stereotypes what marriage is like in the Eastern world in that women are strictly seen as apart of an economic transaction. This scene also portrays the binary of the classes within the city; There are the beggars and the royals and nothing in between,