Musings on Prince of Persia

With the emergence of video games into mainstream entertainment in the past few decades has also come cultural baggage.  Though books and movies have been long since critiqued for portraying minority ethnic groups in a negative light, video games, in their interactive nature, have the ability to do so to an ever greater degree.

Prince of Persia is a video game franchise that started as an American made computer game for the Apple II.  The 1989 version then went on to inspire a plethora of sequels throughout the 2000s.  The game is based in ancient Iran and opens with our hero (the character the user controls) unjustly imprisoned in a palace dungeon.  The player is then informed the Grand Vizier is planning to take the throne and marry the princess, who has one hour to agree to the marriage or be killed.  The player has the obligatory role of saving the princess and restoring order to the faltering kingdom.

 In the same way many books and movies do, Prince of Persia decides to construct its plot around a mysterious foreign culture.  It interestingly assigns Iran as the specific country for the story to take place, somewhere where it won’t be too difficult to convince the audience that such corruption can occur.  Even the princess of such a country is left powerless to the domineering male character of the Grand Vizier.  She must be saved, and she must be saved immediately.

In Lila Abu-Lughod’s 2002 article “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” she discusses the ways in Arab women are victimized in Western cultures.  She argues that instead of acting rashly based on pity for a culture one knows little about we instead try to develop a more serious appreciation for differences among women around the world.  Although the dominant discourse in the United States is that these women are victims of abuse and strict local law, it’s important to first understand the cultural context.  The hijab, an often-sighted symbol of oppression in the Muslim and Arab worlds, is often times far from mandatory.  The hijab, for many Arab women, becomes the opposite: a statement of fashion and individuality.  In the same way that women of the West see Arab garb as oppressive, many Arabs see the ways in which Western media exploits the bodies of young women and think that Western women are equally victimized.  Although the victimization is happening on a different end of the spectrum (and often not conceived of poorly by those purportedly “victimized”) they are both examples of an aspect of culture being interpreted in distinctly foreign ways.

The cover of the 1989 game (seen above) portrays the Grand Vizier in a headdress grabbing the princess by the wrist.  This image also furthers the stereotype of the Arab woman as a victim of Arab men.  Although save-the-princess plots are fairly standard when it comes to video games, it’s very surprising the frequency in which the plot is framed within an Arab world context. 

It’s also interesting to note that the player only has sixty minutes to save his damsel in distress, further pushing the urgency of the situation.  If people don’t act now to liberate Arab women, corruption will run rampant and societies’ economic development will stagnate.  From here the exceptionalist United States, with its superior moral code, will be pressed even harder to intervene and find a solution.  Is this the discourse we want to present to the young generation?  By “othering” Iran as exotic and separate from the US the producers push this thought process on players.  Yes, the producers are simply trying to create a fantasy world in which players can get lost from reality, but it's unreasonable to deny the power they hold with the decisions they make as to setting, plot, and casting.  Though it doesn’t seem completely logical to blame video game producers for employing these strategies, it’s necessary that it is widely recognized how in the real world the situation is different.

By Grayson Smith

Works Cited:

Sisler, Vit. "Digital Arabs: Representation in Video Games." Digital Islam. Oct. 2006. Web. 01 Dec. 2010. <http://www.digitalislam.eu/article.do?articleId=1704>.

Defying Othering through Art: Lalla Essaydi’s “Les Femmes du Maroc”:

This piece explores the complex nature of Arab feminine identity through the lens of past and present by pulling inspiration from several iconic 19^th century American and European Orientalist paintings. For example, one photo is posed like Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingre’s Grand Odalisque. Essaydi recreates these depictions without male figures and elegant details so that the women become the sole focal point of the piece. She also displays small copies of the Orientalist original nearby on the wall to help visitors make the connection. She deliberately poses Moroccan women in draping white fabric. She illustrates, with henna, Arabic calligraphic script writings from her own personal journal that cover every surface of the print.

In the past, calligraphy was an art form practiced exclusively by men for the transcriptions of sacred texts. One of the purposes of Essaydi’s photographs is to eliminate the original Orientalist photos of their misogynistic and Euro-centric discourse. Historically, Orientalist paintings were used to eroticize the Middle East, thus giving Europeans a view of a mysterious land and the “new Islamic world.” Each woman in the set of photos has a moderately to openly hostile expressions.

"I always had this love-hate [relationship] with Orientalist paintings," Essaydi said. "I find them exquisite but at the same time, the content is absolutely outrageous."

Throughout her work, Essaydi wishes to present herself though multiple, diverse lenses—as an artist, a Moroccan, a liberal, a traditionalist, and a Muslim. She invites viewers to resist stereotypes with her images. This particular piece, absent of male figures, functions to take the power back from the original Orientalist images and redistributes the power to these women and to all women who are objectified. She challenges the archaic view of the exotic, unexplored, Muslim woman and aims to create a more honest view of Muslim women. Thus, she challenges the idea of each woman as “the Other” in the original Orientalist depictions. She wanted to give the real image of the Moroccan women she knows. “She is not repressed - she has determination and creativity like any man or like any woman in the West or any other part of the world!" exclaims Essaydi. This sort of influence would be very powerful if it were spread more widely and throughout more of popular culture.

This painting was purchased by the Louvre and can be seen in the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers. Art is often considered high culture and inaccessible to the general public. Low culture seems to only show that Muslim women are oppressed and that cultural relativism isn’t something we have time to be concerned with. Does accessibility to low and high culture inform how we view a culture? Since certain people do not have the luxury to go to visit such an exhibit, do they not have the same impression of Islamic Women?

As stated in “Racism in the Name of Feminism: Imperilled Muslim Women in Norway,” the body of the Muslim woman is fixed in the Western imaginary as confined, mutilated, and sometimes murdered in the name of culture. The argument here is that this idea serves to reinforce the threat that Muslim men pose to the West. Cultural relativism is the principle that the standards of one culture cannot be used to understand or judge another culture. People that are not directly part of Muslim culture presume to know how Muslim men oppress Muslim women. We must use positive expressions such as this one to stop “othering”. If more people could see and experience this exhibit, preconceived notions about Muslim women and oppression of all Muslim women would be challenged.

By: Gianna Fazioli

Works Cited

Razack, Sherene. Racism in the Name of Feminism: Imperilled Muslim Women in Norway. University of Toronto Press. 107-144.

http://www.artwithoutpretense.com/2010/02/art-review-lalla-essaydis-les-femmes-du-maroc/

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/asr/v007/7.1unit04.html

Said, Edward W., “Orientalism,” in Moustafa Bayoumi and Andrew Rubin, eds.  The Edward Said Reader (New York: Vintage Books, 2000), 63-75.

Exploitation of Afghan Women

           Using women for war is the issue being discussed here. It is of course important to publicize problems in efforts to stop violence and oppression everywhere. However, the question is how does the U.S. go about publicizing problems such as domestic violence? And by doing so, are we perpetuating the exploitation and oppression of women?

Could the violence discussed in this video happen if the U.S. leaves Afghanistan? These pictures in TIME magazine are important but also very emotionally charged. This video explores the idea of Afghan women being exploited through large, moving pictures. Is this particular case a form of exploitation that can be accepted in order for their stories to be told to the rest of the world? How much of the story was fully given by this woman? Was it her choice to be photographed and interviewed and have her story told?

Anushay Hossaine argues that the use of these pictures would be okay if the U.S. was actually doing something for the women while at war and not using them as an excuse. Could exploitation in this way serve as a stepping-stone towards more meaningful and virtuous action? What could the U.S. do to offer support and aid for cases like this one without employing hegemony on the Afghani society?

In comparison, we were not allowed to see pictures of the dead soldiers for an intended purpose. In my opinion, sharing stories is one of the most powerful and empowering forms of communication and I support anyone who wants to share their story in order to bring to light their situation and enact change. However, if it is not the choice of the storyteller to give their information and share part of themselves with the public, I do not think it is right to force someone to tell their story. It is a violation of human rights and continues the “Othering” problem that we encounter when learning about other cultures.

Saving Muslim Women, as Lila abu-Ludghod argues, is the discourse that was used by the Bush administration to justify going to war in Afghanistan. This form of exploitation only furthers the problem because all we ever see as the American public is the horrific pictures, video clips and stories. We never here about what is being done to alleviate these problems or even the plan of action to change this violent oppression.

The media such as TIME magazine focused on the oppression of Muslim women and the campaign to Save Muslim Women after 9/11. Abu-Lughod claims that this discourse has a colonial resonance—that white men are positioned as needed to save these women of color. The women in this video don't explicitly say this, however they welcome aid from the U.S. if that were the only mission of the military.

            In the same way that Chelser’s article, “The Violent Oppression of Women in Islam,” evokes strong emotion in the reader, there is a fine line between honorable efforts and exploitation of a devastating story. We should solely promote strategies and methods of empowerment with women caught in these very violent, unjust situations. The role of power dynamics is very critical here. It can be defying and counter-productive to take the power away from these women again by displaying their story as a charitable, sad case.

By: Gianna Fazioli
Works Cited
Spencer, R. and Chesler, P. 2007. The Violent Oppression of Women in Islam. David Horowitz Freedom Center. 5-25.


"Afghan Women Exploited by US Media"Youtube.com. 09 August 2010.

An Interview with Fatma Müge Göçek: How Collaboration Can Defy Othering

Fatma Muge Gocek is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies. Her research focuses on comparative analysis of gender issues in first and third worlds. She also studies the impact on women of processes such as economic development, nationalism and religious movements[1].

Please tell me a bit about your work with gender issues in other countries. How do you reconcile cultural differences, and do you believe that cultural relativism is a good way to go about dealing with the differences you encounter?

Self-criticism is a key factor when working with people in other cultures and in reconciling cultural differences. Criticism of first world scholars is also important. I think that collaboration between first and third world scholars on equal terms is a first step towards positive movement. Often scholars can be alienated from their own societies.

One of the most valuable attributes in my work is local organic feedback. Therefore, local dynamics can be taken into account. Transparency of your own subjectivity is important as well. Disclosing the problem that we can not alleviate the power disparity between the first and third world is something that I do. Agency has to be shared. 

“Cultural relativism interacts with powering equalities.”

Even if you acknowledge a culture as unlike your own, how do you approach it as a subject on your own level?

Our western system has organized society and meaning creation around the public sphere. When we hit the public sphere, we acquire meaning and we don’t have accessibility to the private sphere. If we encounter societies that do not have a thriving public sphere like we do, we assume that this is a limiting factor to their society. Women are not publicly accessible in the Muslim world, but there is of course a huge variation. At times, people stereotype countries such as Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan where women are primarily only in the private sphere because we do not understand this cultural difference and “othering” exists here. Private sphere here means that the people do not directly interact with the state, family life and education can be private. Education of their children, strong and frequent relations with extended family is often the full time work of women in such places. Also, in some Middle Eastern countries, political activity happens at home.

How do you interpret the campaign of “Saving Muslim Women?”

I believe that “Saving Muslim Women” is one way the military vilifies their occupation in Afghanistan as illustrated by Lila Abu-Ludhod. Another example of a similar Orientalist strategy occurred during the Algerian War with a set of postcards that illustrate French soldiers freeing Algierian Muslim women, some pictured as unveiled and naked.

Example Postcard of Unveiled Algerian girls

In the case of Egypt, some women use the veil to politically close themselves off from the West. Thus, they make themselves inaccessible to Muslim males and also imperial interventions, anti-colonial stand and it becomes very nationalistic from their point of view.

The question is whether wearing a hijab or veil is enforced or done by choice. It is a human right to have a choice. Having a choice is one of our human rights. However, generally Muslim men’s modesty isn’t focused on, while women are often held accountable for dressing modestly.

In your work, how do you compare female oppression in the West and the East? Could this be a helpful tool to unite and create coalitions?

When comparing gender roles in the U.S. to many of the places I have done work, the difference and emphasis on gender equality in the U.S. stems from the monetary value of labor. Men and women’s labor gets a value here in the U.S. and in the case of the farm in other countries; it is the value that comes back to the family. The post-WWII era, women were kicked out of their jobs. This demonstrates the inequality. It is much harder to delineate gender roles and/or inequalities in the countryside. However, with increased urbanization, Western modernity penetrates societies, and they experience similar issues. Similar to the U.S., most countries pay women differently than men.

We are given the illusion of equality but we do not get equally compensated. Women are still putting in more work in the house than men are. Domestic violence is another issue and how well equipped is our legal system with women in the workplace and this becomes very contentious. Women could empathize with women in the Middle East but not through physical appearance, we share more than that. Working on issues that we share, rather than working on the issues that set us apart. The women’s rights movement is divided in Turkey by ideology. Secular and religious women do not work together and this is a huge divide in the movement. Unless secular women take on the issues of religious women and visa-versa, real movement isn’t likely to occur. It is pertinent to separate the two ideas of what we are working with here and what people are working on here equal footing.

By: Gianna Fazioli

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[1] Faculty Biography—Women’s Studies http://www.lsa.umich.edu/women/faculty/facbio.asp?ID=16