Stereotyping: A Psychoanalytic Analysis

Arabs, Arab Americans, and Muslims are often stereotyped in movies as sheiks, barbarians, or terrorist. As many Muslim Americans are visibly culturally distinct, it would be of value to explore whether attitudes of non-Muslims toward Muslim Americans resemble attitudes expressed by European non-Muslims toward members of these minority groups.

In this tedtalk, Melissa Boigon, who studies Islam and its relationship to the Arab-Israeli conflict, talks about how Islamophobia has become more of a fear of Arabs over the last 10 years. She thinks that has to do with the connotation to terrorists groups such as Al-Qaeda, and the way middle east conflict is portrayed in The United States today. She also discusses how American Entertainment portrays Arabs, saying that it's propaganda in the form of entertainment.

Stereotyping wasn't a big problem when living in Texas. Living in Wisconsin was a whole different story. People find it offensive, and it could end up being racist. Always remember what is being said to others and how careful one has to be. Even if they know what people are saying just for fun and no harm is intended, people can take it to another measure. Nothing shouldn't be done period and we shouldn't allow it.

These shortsighted views contribute to the major issues that affect Muslims, which involve prejudice and discrimination. Prejudice is a preconceived judgment, that is usually based on insufficient information (Tatum 102). Discrimination is the actions taken toward members of a group because of their group membership (Feldman 444). Specifically, these issues include harassment at airports, accusations of aligning their beliefs with ISIS, and alienation from U.S. communities. In particular, Muslim Americans can experience discrimination at airports for expressing stereotypical attributes of Muslims, such as Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, a

There are many examples throughout the film that show the use and damaging effects of this practice. In the first five minutes of the film, one example shows stereotyping in the Middle Eastern man Farhad and his daughter Dorri. Farhad and Dorri tried to buy a weapon at the gun store, to protect the man’s store. Due to a language barrier, the gun store owner begins to verbally insult the man by saying, “Arab people are all terrorists.” In the processing of purchasing the weapon the store owner makes inappropriate sexual references. This is example shows the store owner self-justification, involves denigrating a person or group to justify maltreatment of them (Prejudice). He was denied service for who he was; because of this experience he may have thought Americans are ignorant

Today one does not even have to wait for a movie to be released. Simply click the “ON” button on a remote and suddenly, thousands of news and television shows are available for one to enjoy. Muslims are also the target of prejudice in these news broadcasts and programs. One such television program released was a drama titled “24.” Issues and Controversies reports: “The show, which deals with a counterterrorism unit based in Los Angeles, featured a group of Muslim terrorist characters who were plotting to detonate nuclear weapons in the U.S. At the end of one episode, the terrorists successfully detonated a small bomb in a Los Angeles suburb, killing about 12,000 people” (“Race and Ethnicity in Entertainment”). This fictional show wrongly spreads the stereotypical image of Muslims and their clichéd image of the fundamentalists on 9/11. By adding the title and image of “Muslim” to the phrase “terrorist” the program wrongly advertised that potentially every Muslim could be a terrorist. This stereotypical image is similarly expressed in news broadcasts through the use of terrorism news. By increasingly using terrorism and Muslims in top

As I begin to type this essay, I cannot help but feel an oquet barcode over my head. This barcode, having been with me since birth, contains all of the terms used to describe me: Muslim, Brown skinned, Arab American. These terms, a result of the natural human characteristic to categorize what we see, are fallible, inaccurate, and potentially dangerous. For example, because of these terms entire groups of people can become labeled to certain attributes. As an Arab American, people assume many things about before I even speak with them.It is hard to have a different view of people when all you see or hear of them are from indirect sources such as the media, whose priority object is to make profit, even if it requires the creation of a twisted

Racial profiling increased drastically for Arabs and Muslims following the attack on September 11, 2001. As a result of this tragedy, many began to associate Arabs and Muslims as evildoers. They were seen to as sinister individuals who hijacked airplanes with bombs attached to their body. However, Muslims and Arabs are not the only victims of racial profiling. Hispanics and African Americans have experienced this same treatment due to the color of their skin. This could result from the belief that whites are treated with respect, royalty, and luxury. Because of America’s history, and the decade of enslavement, African Americans are defined as “slaves and dirty animals” whereas Hispanics were stereotyped to have the career as housemaids and farmer workers with the nickname “wetbacks”. Such depictions of these individuals are still an issue in today’s society.

In this photo a Middle Eastern woman is pointing a gun directly towards the camera, symbolizing the way she, like many others, are stereotyped in America. The picture is clear and concise, with front view and level angles that let the viewers see the struggles she has gone faced. Her face and arms display Arabic writings that symbolize the stereotypes given to them in America: terrorists, muslims, extremists, and fanatics. The picture is limited to the colors black and white to represent the seriousness of this issue. Her eyes staring directly towards the viewer causes them to feel sympathy, leading them to wonder why there is such hate towards Middle Easterners. The concepts of this picture go back to the main idea of the research question

After the attacks on September 11, 2001, media approaches have altered. On Television shows and movies, in newspapers and on the radio, there has been an increase in hate crimes targeting Arabs and Muslims. Most coverage today follows a script that represents Arabs and Muslims only in the context of terrorism. Evelyn Alsultany wrote a book called Arabs and Muslims in the Media in 2012. The stories explained the new standards in racial and cultural representations after 9/11.

That theme being stereotypes which can be seen throughout the whole movie as well. The Asian lady tells the Mexican lady that she can’t drive because a stereotype is Mexicans do not know how to drive also a big percentage is that they do not have their driver's license. In the next scene we can also see a Persian who looks islamic go into a gun store asking to buy a gun. The gunman and the Persian are arguing because the Persian does not know what gun to buy. As they argue the gunman calls him “Osama” as his name just because he looks islamic. In addition, he also tells him that he is not American. Also, the gunman tells the Persian all you do is Fly 747planes into our cities. Just in that particular scene is revealed a numerous of stereotypes towards Islamic people. Before it actually says he is Persian I thought he was Islamic just because how he was talking and also how he is dressed up. Where I did also stereotype him just because of his looks and how people view the Islamic race. For every race, the film shows a stereotype. For example, for African Americans there is also many stereotypes and the film pretty much nails every major one. There is a particular scene where the two thugs are walking out of a restaurant arguing because their own race sometimes does not even pay attention to each other. To get back to the point, the two thugs are walking and a white couple is also walking towards them. The white lady who is later known as Mrs. Jean hold onto her husband hand tight because she is scared seeing two African Americans and feel that they are going to one steal or hurt them. Considering this, it is also a stereotype because normally if we see two African Americans who look like thugs waking we usually assume they are up to no good. Another stereotype about African Americans in the film is when the good cop picks up one of the thugs. As they are driving the cop is listening to

Stereotypes exist everywhere. From styles of clothing to dishes of food, stereotypes exist because there is some truth in it. By social classifications and categorizations, people take small truths and instances from a small amount of people and generalize it into the broader population. The example given here shows that anyone that is Muslim or has a traditional Arab garb on can be considered a terrorist. This stereotype is taken from the event of 9/11. Since then, people have been calling anyone following the Muslim faith publically terrorists. In the video, one of the Jalal brothers throws a bag at people and they automatically assume it is a bomb. This presumption comes from the stereotype that all Muslims are terrorists. This creates a fear that would control one’s actions.

For over a century, Hollywood has given its audience a negative perception of Arabs. With its systematic dehumanization of minority groups, Hollywood has distinguished negative stereotypes of Arabs in their featured films. Most notably, filmmakers have indicated all Arabs as a public enemy. As reported by the article Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People by Jack Shaheen, the stereotypes deeply ingrained in American cinema not only sabotages the targeted group but also gives unfavorable ideologies to those in other groups. Therefore, when certain people think of an Arab, the first thing that comes to mind is someone who looks different and is threatening. Because of the unfair treatment given to Arabs and other minority groups, Shaheen

to 100 Years of Anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim stereotyping by Mazin B. Qumsiyeh “Arabs in TV and movies are portrayed as either bombers, belly dancers, or billionaires in reference to Arab men being portrayed as terrorist or as wealthy oilmen and Arab women being portrayed as sex objects...these stereotypes don 't only cause psychological harm (culture, insult) but also helps feed into actions that are physically harmful by dehumanizing a group first before attacking it.”

Would you like to be stereotyped? Stereotype means an idea of a particular type of person or thing using “all” when saying something about that idea or person. My position on sterotypes is that nobody should be stereotyped no matter who you are or how you look like.