Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures

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Stereotypes: United States: Arab Muslim Women as Portrayed in Film
(1,584 words)

Motion pictures are one of the most powerful teaching tools ever created. “There exists today no means of influencing the masses more potent than the media” (Pope Pius XI). “The cinema must and shall become the foremost cultural weapon of the proletariat” (Nikolai Lenin). This entry examines how image-makers have presented the Arab Muslim woman in film. History reveals that since the beginning of cinema, in fact for more than a century, Hollywood's movies have humiliated, demonized, and eroticiz…

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Shaheen, Jack G., “Stereotypes: United States: Arab Muslim Women as Portrayed in Film”, in: Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures, General Editor Suad Joseph. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1872-5309_ewic_EWICCOM_0148d>
First published online: 2009



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